When it came to unveiling her feminine style for the first time on the July cover of Vanity Fair, Caitlyn Jenner wanted to really look – and feel – the part.
The 65-year-old, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, discussed feeling worried about how her first portraits as Caitlyn would be received by the world in new excerpts published online from her extended interview with VF‘s Buzz Bissinger.
“I mean these pictures – Annie [Leibovitz], Vanity Fair, spared nothing doing it right, and the wardrobe, everything involved with it were just, the people were just great,” Jenner said after the shoot. “It was, you know, two of the best days of my life.”
She described the final images as “over-the-top great,” despite being nervous about finding her authentic, female appearance.
“I was always worried – you never wanted to look like a guy in drag, you never wanted to look like a guy in a dress, okay. If you’re going to do that, come out, you really have to look the part,” Jenner explained.
She added, “You have to look very feminine, you have to be able to, what I call my presentation is extremely important because it puts people at ease. And if you can do that, okay, people are at ease, they’re just comfortable being around you.”
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Now, the reality personality thinks that people might even wonder after seeing the portraits, “My God, why didn’t you do this earlier?”
The former Olympic gold medalist also talked about how she will celebrate her big reveal – by living her life.
“I’m going to go enjoy life. I have nothing left to hide. I am kind of a free person, a free soul,” Jenner explained to Bissinger.
“To be able to wake up in the morning, be yourself, get dressed, get ready to go out, and just be like a normal person. That’s a wonderful feeling to go through life,” Jenner said. “I’ve never been able to do that; it’s always been confusion, it’s always been, you know, I’ve got one side [with] boy clothes, the other side’s women’s clothes. It’s like I cleaned the whole closet out – the boys stuff is gone, okay?”
This article originally appeared on People.com.
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