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"    Lulu Johnson, Betsey Johnson, Cyndi Lauper; Photo: Imaxtree   Backstage at Betsey Johnson&amp;#039;s part birthday-bash, part runway-retrospective, things were getting wild. Television camera crews held court with balloons, champagne, and a model with a tiny pig. Yes, you read that correctly. And then there was the original wild child, the pint-sized Johnson, bouncing from interview-to-interview, greeting reporters with bear hugs and red-lipstick kisses. At 70, and with innumerable years in the industry, she&amp;#039;s still got it\u2014but really, who was ever doubting? Certainly not the crazily crammed line of fans clad in their street-style-blogger-friendly best, or the diverse bunch working the red carpet, ranging from Wendy Williams and Rick &amp;quot;Zombie Boy&amp;quot; Genest to Fern Mallis and Lil&amp;#039; Kim.    ELLE: Hi Betsey!  Betsey Johnson: Is that Tina Turner on your shirt? Tina has been my inspiration for years and years and years. Her spirit, her legs, her music, her everything. ELLE: Did Tina&amp;#039;s moves inspire your own (and those cartwheels!)?  BJ: I was a dancer for years. I wanted to be a Broadway showgirl or a Rockette. I&amp;#039;m a costume designer, really. A lot of my work is straight from that dancing costume\u2014little on top, puffy on bottom. Every little dress tells a story. It&amp;#039;s a riot of a show because it&amp;#039;s my life. This is a life retrospective, and all of my new brands. It goes from nuts, to crocodiles to inter-tubes. It&amp;#039;s crazy! ELLE: Who is a &amp;quot;Betsey girl&amp;quot;?  BJ: Just that she likes my clothes! I don&amp;#039;t make her a Betsey girl. I&amp;#039;m happy for whoever who likes my stuff.  ELLE: Have you already celebrated your birthday or is this the big bang? BJ: My real birthday was August 10th, so I spent that with all of my company people from the past. My good ole gang and my family. This is the big one, it&amp;#039;s the industry bang. It&amp;#039;s my best personal show of my life and my best all inclusive big bang fashion thing. It feels like the most fun show because I&amp;#039;m not panicked about reviews, the samples, shippings, the duplicates, the cuttings, returns, damages. I like being creative director.  ELLE: You look incredible. Fill us in on your beauty secrets. BJ: I had a face lift when I turned fifty.  ELLE: Nice! And your hair makes us drool with jealousy.  BJ: I don&amp;#039;t have my zigzags in yet! But the hair on the girls today was inspired by Young Frankenstein and even the original Frankenstein. And the makeup by Wonder Woman. It&amp;#039;s very futuristic. But bold and strong. I still have to run through and check the girls.  See the Spring 2013 Betsey Johnson collection. See all the Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear collections.    Photo: Imaxtree   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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