Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Sometimes life limits your choices - rising tuition costs may put university out of reach, or like me, personal circumstances might simply make it difficult to complete your education.
Three women in my family, close relatives, have had breast cancer, and two have died from it, and still I never thought it could happen to me. I didn't even regularly check my breasts.
I was so overwhelmed by the amazing response I had from thousands of women saying they felt beautiful in my first collection, I wanted to design more clothes they could love themselves in.
Food or the lack thereof can, at times, be coping mechanisms for people. While this isn't the best approach to good health, it's a part of people's realities. And it is nothing to be ashamed of.
When I stepped into the industry, I was dealt this bizarre persona of being this sarcastic fashionista 'it girl' who is friends with loads of celebrities. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Initially I struggled to find gluten-free products, but things have gradually improved, and now retailers like Holland & Barrett - with their new Free From range - are starting to cater for celiacs.
Most of my friends are male. And I've known some of them to literally go through mental breakdowns and still not talk about how they feel. Except to me. My shoulders are sodden with the tears of men.
Many weight issues stem from illness, be it physical or, indeed, emotional. And a large portion of people who sometimes struggle to maintain a 'healthy' weight deal daily with their own self-esteem crises.
I thought it would be more of a challenge than it was to cater for every size, but as you're aware of a woman's curves - they're kind of like a race track - you can create something glamorous and beautiful.
People are so passionate about their favourite artists making it to number 1, it almost reminds me of football fanaticism. Nowadays, it's 'One Direction' vs 'The Wanted.' Back in my day, it was 'Oasis' vs 'Blur'.
I'm going to get controversial here and say that monogamy isn't natural, especially not for men. It's a concept society birthed a few hundred years ago, even though men's DNA is busy telling them to spread the seed.
I was interviewing Daniel Craig and Naomie Harris for a Bond film a few years ago, and the moment I sat down, my dress ripped. No more bodycon numbers for me. I had to walk out of the room backwards when I was done.
Whenever I get negative comments on Twitter, it's always from girls - often ones who are trying to make it in the media. I don't understand why we can't put that energy into uniting and supporting each other instead.
After the cancer-free diagnosis, I thought I'd go off and do the things I never did in my teens and twenties. I realised putting things off in life can be dangerous because suddenly you can find you've run out of time.
I couldn't wait to leave school. So I did it as soon as I possibly could at 16. I had no clue what I wanted to do next other than being at school wasn't it and that I was desperate to make my own way as soon as I could.
Having an education is extremely valuable, but we need to help people connect their choice of studies to a potential career at an earlier age so that they are better prepared to get the job they want when the time comes.
I get particularly depressed by the way teenagers are portrayed in the media. They are massively underestimated. They are bright, intelligent people who are given less and less opportunity. They are an ignored generation.
So many people are campaigning, fighting, and even dying to make a statement in the name of humanity. These people have no voice that can be heard by many. I wish more celebrities would take the initiative to be that voice.
I've always been passionate about the concept of helping the underdog. It just doesn't make sense to me as to what kind of person would take a huge platform and not use it to do something, to change something, to help people.
With the arrogance of youth, I thought, 'I don't drink, don't smoke, I don't do drugs, so why would I get cancer?' The week I spent waiting for the result of the biopsy to see if it was malignant felt like the longest of my life.
What does this Heidi Parker look like pregnant? What does she look like first thing in the morning? Or bending over? What do any of these bloody 'journalists' look like that makes them find the normal appearance of celebrities so offensive?
Kim Kardashian was the first time I've seen a woman tormented about her weight gain while having a baby. But at least she asks for that attention by voluntarily obsessing over her weight publicly on her social media. But now nobody is safe.
We're in a situation where talented, motivated school leavers and graduates can send off a hundred CVs and not get a reply, and where a trip to the Job Centre is depressing rather than inspirational. And you know what, that just feels wrong.
People don't tend to be unhappy in jobs doing something that they love, so I think it's important that those entering the world of work for the first time are given as much information as possible on how to get into the career that they want.
One of the perks of growing up, but also one of the biggest challenges, is making decisions about the future. Deciding what kind of job you want, whether you want to finish school, or whether you want to go to university are huge choices to make.
There was a time when I was young and unemployed, struggling to start my career. During my A-Levels, I was hit by a car, which shattered my bones and left me confined to my bedroom for a year. Weirdly, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Something I can't stress enough is the massive importance of work experience. It's the only way to find out what work is really like when you're figuring out what path to take and to get an understanding of what it takes to achieve your career ambitions.
I was always very quiet, and I think everyone thought that was because I was a good child. I'd sit there in silence, but it wasn't until my mother was calling me one day when I was very young that she realised something was wrong because I wasn't responding.
It might seem a psychotic, insane thing, quitting a job after I'd built a great career over eight years, but it was a wake-up call. All too often we ignore those, forget that we don't know how long we're here for and that we need to make the most of every moment.
I used to wear these big shapeless clothes and ended up just looking like a potato in a sack. I've learnt now to accentuate the bits that I'm happiest with. That's probably my waist - a lot of my clothes go in at the waist and emphasise my hips, which I'm very proud of.
The economy, unemployment, the future... Politicians, economists, and journalists are constantly debating these key issues for our country but rarely come to an answer. But behind all this, there is a fairly simple truth: no matter what anybody says, jobs are hard to come by.
I suffered a lot of setbacks when I started; I didn't have any work experience and no real confidence to go after the career that I knew in the back of my mind I really wanted. It affected my confidence as knock-back after knock-back left me feeling like I might never succeed.
I got my transferrable skills from working at entry-level, gauging what I wanted from my career, and making sure I had what it took to get the one I truly wanted. But now there's a Catch 22: school leavers need experience to get jobs, but they can't get experience without jobs.
For a while, I became a model scout and agent, thinking naively I could change the industry from the inside, and even kicked off the famous 'size zero debate' with an article I wrote to the 'Evening Standard' about my concerns from behind the curtain of the business, back in 2005.
To those out of work, it may seem unfair for someone to complain that they aren't happy with the type of work they are doing, but the more we like our jobs, the better we do them. In the long run, this doesn't just make us happy - it makes businesses more successful and increases employment even further.
Along the way, I learned a lot about being told I didn't have the right skills for the jobs I wanted and how to overcome the setbacks and keep pushing forward. This is why I've become an Ambassador for LifeSkills, a programme created by Barclays to help one million young people get the skills they need for work.
I've got quite an old-fashioned figure. Back in the Sixties, girls had boobs, a tummy and wide hips, and bigger thighs as well. I think that's sexy - to me, that's what a woman looks like. I've got love handles - sometimes they're passion handles! I'm built for comfort, not for speed, and I like that about myself.
When I was a model at 15, I was eating one red pepper a day, and if I had a big day of castings, I would survive off a bag of Haribo, which gave me the 500 calories a day that would keep me alive. I was congratulated daily on my appearance - the more vertebrae upon my back you could count, the better my auditions went.
If you want someone, you have to be willing to wait for them and trust that what you have is real and strong enough for them to wait for you. If somebody jumps ship for you, that fact will always haunt you because you'll know they're light on their feet. Spare yourself the paranoia and the pain and walk away until the coast is clear.