Oprah Winfrey Is Finally “Having Fun With Fashion” at 71 Years Old

Oprah Winfrey wrapped up a fashion-forward 10-day visit to Australia and New Zealand earlier this month, where she was for a speaking tour (and her first visit Down Under in a decade).

The tour marked a shift for Oprah, who has been candid about using weight loss medications to help her live a healthier life. In a new cover story for People, Oprah opened up about her journey to self-acceptance just ahead of her 72nd birthday on January 29, and her longtime hairstylist Nicole Mangrum told the outlet of her Australia and New Zealand tour that Oprah was able to enjoy “having fun with fashion”—which wasn’t always the case.

“When she goes shopping, she’ll come back and do a little fashion show,” Mangrum said. After Oprah’s stylist suggested she wear only Australian designers while Down Under, “The thought of that would have sent me into a shame spiral 10 years ago,” Winfrey said. “Nothing could fit, and I would have to get myself measured. I would not be able to pull clothes off the rack and wear them.” For her recent trip, though, she said dressing was “a delight.”

“She’s looking better than she’s ever looked and more confident,” Mangrum said. “It’s magnetic.”

Oprah is opening up about her journey in a new book with Dr. Ania M. Jastreboff called Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It’s Like to Be Free, which is out January 13. “I feel more alive and more vibrant than I’ve ever been,” Oprah said.

In addition to quieting food noise with GLP-1s, she’s also stopped drinking, admitting that at one point, “I could outdrink everyone at the table.” The lack of desire to consume alcohol was an unexpected side effect of the medication. “I was a big fan of tequila,” she told People. “I literally had 17 shots one night. I haven’t had a drink in years. The fact that I no longer even have a desire for it is pretty amazing.”

Describing herself now as someone who has “more to give to everybody. I’m just more open to all,” Oprah said, “I hardly recognize the woman I’ve become. But she’s a happy woman.”

As she spoke to People for the interview from her visit to Australia, she was makeup-free, having just finished a croissant for breakfast. Not long ago, she admitted, “I would have been thinking, ‘How many calories in that croissant? How long is it going to take me to work it off? If I have the croissant, I won’t be able to have dinner.’ I’d still be thinking about that damn croissant!”

Instead, as People put it, she is “blissfully unbothered”: “I felt nothing,” Oprah said. “The only thing I thought was, ‘I need to clean up these crumbs.’”