Ahead of the film’s premiere, Glamour chatted via phone with the singer-songwriter about revisiting that pivotal decade, her thoughts on Taylor Swift, and redefining success in her 50s.
Glamour: Your ’80s mall style was so iconic. Did you save any of your jean jackets?
Tiffany: I still have those. I work with Children’s Miracle Network and sometimes I’ll do a selected piece to help raise money for them. But I still have all my stuff. All my jean jackets are collector’s items and they go to my son. I have all my first tour earrings. I have some of my cool boots from the ’80s, the old-school stuff. And of course, all my jumpers. Once in a while I’ll auction something off for charity. I know that one of my jackets went into the Hard Rock Cafe, and then it went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a minute, which was really cool.
You even had your own boutique at one point in Nashville, right?
Yes, which was so much fun. We carried vintage clothing, from funky finds to one-of-a kind pieces. I always loved being a part of the community. And I still have it now, but it’s online and called Radikal Redz. I couldn’t commit to the labor involved with having a [brick-and-mortar store], because when I decided to go back to music full-time, that takes you away from Nashville. My music is my first love.
So my sister and I kind of run Radikal Redz together. Of course, I’m the mall queen, so I knew a thing or two about shopping. Makeup artists and stylists would say, “Your collection’s really cool. Can I borrow this?” And my pieces ended up in a few magazines on shoots, and then my girlfriend was like, “You should really start to maybe rent some stuff out.”
Meanwhile, you mentioned your son earlier. He’s 31 now. Is he into music or fashion?
No. He is a structural engineer. He has a really good job. As a kid, he loved dinosaurs and Hot Wheels. And I was a tomboy, so I loved all of that, and I still love all of that. And I would come and start to play with him because he’d have all his stuff on the floor, doing his thing, but he’d say, “No. No, no, no.” And he’d put it back in a line. I was like, “Loosen up, Elijah!”
Too funny. Where does he live now?
He lives in Louisville, which is only three and a half hours from me. He and his girlfriend have been together nine years now and are just doing great.
A few years ago I was in Ogden, Utah, and as I was looking up information about the city, I discovered the Ogden City Mall was where you recorded the music video for “I Think We’re Alone Now.” How did that come about?
That was at the time when I was doing the mall tour, which started out because I recorded the album when I was 14. It came out when I was 15, right before my 16th birthday, and they were sending me to New York. I was doing clubs, but I was only 15. So I’d go out the door, back into the limo, back to the hotel, and that’s it. My label was like, “This is just not going to work.” So they thought of the mall. My rep said, “They have hair shows here and fashion shows, so why can’t we put her on a stage and just have her sing? And this is where her age group hangs out.”
