Tom Ford on Family, Fashion and Film

Tom's Bon Mots

Maybe it has something to do with his Hollywood connection, but Tom Ford delivered his lines — one-liners to be precise — like a pro. So many people wanted to hear what he had to say that the event sold out four months ago and upstairs seating had to be added for live-stream viewing. (The only other luminary who required a second round of seats at the Y was Woody Allen.)

Here, some of Ford’s ad-libs:

“It’s funny because my family has been in Texas since the 1840s or something. I put on a cowboy hat and I don’t look stupid. Most people look stupid and, with me, it’s like it just grew there. It’s very bizarre. I actually look surprisingly good in jeans and a plaid shirt on my horse in a cowboy hat.”

“I was one of those kids who was never comfortable being a child. I wanted to hang out with adults. I wanted to listen to what they were saying. I wanted to go to cocktail parties. I ended up mixing a few too many in my time.”

“Moving to Santa Fe coming from Texas was very exotic. I mean, Charles Manson was living there. Many of the roads were dirt. There were hippie communes.”

“Azealia Banks right now is amazing and Lianne La Havas is also great. But, c’mon, I grew up in the Sixties and the Seventies. Put on the Bee Gees and immediately I’m ‘Staying Alive.’”

“We are on camera so, yeah, there is a little powder there. Yes, of course, I do not come out fully made up every day but if I have a little pimple or something I am going to get a little concealer to cover it up.”

“A man can’t have a facelift very well because they cut here and then you have your sideburns in your ear. I quite like my beard. There is this little gap here. I am always looking to see whose got the hairs growing out of the side of the ears.”

“I relax by skiing, riding and playing tennis. And I figured out why. When you’re involved with any of those things, and other sports as well, you can’t be thinking of anything else.”

“My grandmother was married six times. She liked husband number three the best. His name was Hal. By the time she married the last time, she was 77 and she just called him Hal and he didn’t seem to mind.”

“I want to hear everyone’s opinion, I want to digest all of it and then I make a decision. And I usually don’t waiver once it’s decided.”