How Do I Look? Lykke Li, Singer, age 22

(Portrait by Mischa Haller)

I don't like mixing colours, it confuses me. If I have the choice, I'll always go for black, white or grey, but not all at the same time. I like having a simple look. If I do experiment, I'd rather work more with shapes than with colours. When I was a kid, my mum dressed me in the craziest things: hippie, psychedelic shorts, flower prints from India, all sorts of madness. But now I can choose!

I am from Stockholm, which is one of the best cities in the world. The fashion there is very different to the UK; we have so many vintage stores and amazing Swedish brands. There is less choice in Sweden, they use fewer colours and all the brands have a similar look. I love Minimarket and Acne, but really I'm a vintage junkie. Usually I'll end up stealing stuff from my mother. In Sweden there's not such a thing about high-end fashion.

If I do wear heels, I like stripper shoes. But I'll never wear them with a tight top, only baggy. I don't do "inbetweenie" heels; they're either tiny or huge. When I wear heels, I always end up taking them off and walking home barefoot. These boots are by Acne; they were £250. They're easy to walk in, and they give a good shape to your leg.

My look is quite androgynous. This is my mum's jacket from the Eighties, which is more like a shirt. I like that it's loose and casual, quite masculine, but then it's made with this very feminine silk fabric. And it's black, which helps. My mum got it in New York. I found a box of her old silk shirts and stole them all.

Bare legs aren't suitable unless you're really tall, or it's really hot outside. I'm always cold. Sometimes I wear trousers, but they have to be high-waisted and loose and black. I like Seventies things. This black jumpsuit was a present from the designers at Minimarket; I chose it because it's very casual but also very cool. It would have cost about £80.

I've collected jewellery from all over the world. I buy a silver chain in every city I visit. The kazoo on a silk chain I made myself. I also like having lots of rings: these are from India, Morocco and New York. I never wear gold – I'm not the Russian type – except for one necklace with my name printed on it, which I got in Brooklyn.

Lykke Li's single 'Breaking It Up' is out on Monday. Watch the video: