By Mary O'Brien
Tell us about your early days in Melbourne.
I first arrived in Melbourne in 1980 and I didn't know a single person. I arrived in Chapel Street, South Yarra, and when the taxi dumped me with my six suitcases full of costumes, I sat on my cases and wondered what the bloody hell I was doing. I found a boarding house in Redan Street and I moved in, turning my suitcases into tables, and for three nights I slept in one of them as I didn't have a bed. This is the first outfit that I made and I stayed out all night dancing.
Alannah Hill samples gelati on St Kilda beach.Credit: Melanie Faith Dove
What's your favourite building?
I like the St Kilda Sea Baths. I love the building, and I find it quite grand and full of ghostly little wonders. I love gelati and sometimes when I'm overwhelmed, I sit there and stare into space licking an ice-cream. Of course, I wouldn't venture into the Sea Baths but I do like a little pink gelato.
Alannah Hill: 'My first outfit that I made myself and I stayed out all night dancing!'
What film has best captured your sense of Melbourne?
I was a featured extra in Dogs in Space and I was so appalling that I cannot watch it. I had a crush on the director, three girls, my boyfriend who was the art director, and Michael Hutchence. I kept dreaming that I was going to be asked to play the lead role and I learnt all Saskia Post's lines. The film was set around the time I first arrived in Melbourne as a lost, lonely misfit, and when I found the Crystal Ballroom (St Kilda), where I used to dance, I felt I had found home. I was so surprised that there were other misfits to play with who seemed even more lost than I was.
The doorway you would most like to go through?
I would love to go through the doorway of heaven. I fantasise about seeing my mum coming towards me, and me telling her how much I love her and miss her and how devastated I am that she died on her own and I didn't get to see her. I want to tell her about my son, Edward, 11, who is going to be a wild teen and I will have to watch him closely.
Dogs In Space stars Michael Hutchence and Saskia Post.
Where do you go for inspiration?
I love a vintage store called Madam Virtue in Crossley Street where they sell high-end vintage Dior, Chanel and Valentino. There are secret racks out the back and I fossick around, finding all manner of quaint, delightful little objects. There is so much happiness in finding a metre of 1930s lace or even a beaded trim that I can trail around after myself as I wander around.
Your favourite escape from the city?
A beach location in a posh little house with some shops down the road that I can visit daily. I don't swim and I don't really care for the beach, but I love to sit and ponder and to take Edward and his dog into the water. I hate the sand but I love the space and the light. I love it even more if there is a thunderstorm because I love the beach in the rain.
Where do you take visitors to Melbourne?
I take visitors to the Royal Botanic Gardens, I buy takeaway scones (which I pretend I made), and we sit and watch the ducks. I often climb a tree and I like to lie on the grass and read. I'm a bit of a recluse and if someone is coming to Melbourne I might even hide and tell them I am in New York when, really, I am in the botanic gardens climbing trees.
The best people-watching spot?
At 7.30am in my car, watching people leaving a nightclub. People are so tired, so weary and so full of emotion. It's often sad as they are so mixed up, hungover and full of the nightclub horrors. I also like to watch people in the supermarket to see what they are buying. You can tell a lot about a person by what's in their trolley.
■ Alannah Hill returns to this year's L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival on Thursday, March 21 for the L'Oréal Paris Runway 04 presented by madison. See lmff.com.au and ticketek.com.au