Five things I know about style: Maxine Peake

1) Music is a huge inspiration to my style. I first got into it when I was 10: the new wave mod scene. I harassed my nan into taking me to Manchester underground market to get a fishtail parka and bowling shoes. Then I got my head turned by the casuals – I would get bored of one "tribe" and move swiftly to another… 2) The 60s mod theme did return frequently with me over the years. Up to seven years ago I was a big, dirty, shameless bandwagon jumper, but I now seem to have found a style that has settled and is individual to me. It's a real crossbreed of 30s, 40s and early 50s: rockabilly, land girl, a hint of Amish. 3 My favourite outfit is a giant bunny suit. I wore it in a music video for "Are You One?" by the Chanteuse & the Crippled Claw, and got to keep it. I can't tell you how many times I've fancied popping it on and going for a spin round the block on my bike. 4) I'm inspired by films from the early 50s, especially Jean Simmons in The Clouded Yellow – and by vintage swing, psychobilly gigs, sea shanties and English folklore. I love wearing navy dungarees from Cos, a 10-year-old nautical T-shirt from Agnès B and a cotton "dust jacket" by Old Town. 5) A few things make a person stylish: honesty, imagination with a sprinkling of humour. I still keep an eye on trends, but I don't follow them any more. Maxine Peake stars in BBC1's Silk, which starts on 21 February at 9pm Visit theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/fashion for more style advice