What I see in the mirror

Grayson Perry
Grayson Perry in his studio

My eyesight is going, so I have a hideously magnified mirror with an in-built light that shows every pore and cranny. I get a shock when I start putting on make-up and see the moonscape in front of me. I constantly check between an ordinary mirror and the magnifying mirror to see what I look like at a normal distance.

I'm lucky with my hair. Seven years ago it started to thin, but then it stopped and, at 48, I'm past the danger zone. I've never dyed it. If I start to go that horrible, Michael Heseltine tobacco-stained shade, I'll dye it white. When blonds go grey, it can look as if they smoke a lot.

Transvestites are good at conning themselves about what they see in the mirror. You are used to seeing yourself as a man, so when you put on make-up and a wig, you see only additions. It's easy to persuade yourself that you're looking glamorous and feminine. When you meet other transvestites, you see the whole package come through the door with the wonky wig and the lunar landscape make-up, and you think, "Oh my God, that's what I look like!"

I have several styles of [my alter ego] Claire - the little girl is probably best known. I also have fetish clothes. I work with students at St Martins and they make me weird and wonderful outfits. I wear them to parties and openings, or to the shops if I am in the mood.

Over the summer, I might not have any occasion to get dressed up - heat is the enemy of drag, as Boy George once said. If I've a long period of abstinence, I grow a beard. It's a novelty and makes my face look interesting.