Barbra Streisand Is 'Too Old to Care' If People Think She Dresses Provocatively

Barbra Streisand doesn't let age determine how she dresses.

The 81-year-old multi-hyphenate shared in a recent interview with The New York Times that she believes "people should express themselves and wear whatever they feel on any given day."

Streisand said self-expression has "nothing to do with age" and revealed that she was afraid to show her sensual side early in her career. "I was too afraid to be seen that way at that time. Now I'm too old to care," she explained.

The legendary singer gave a behind-the-scenes look at her decades-long career in her memoir My Name Is Barbra, which was released in November. Streisand told the BBC that same month that she was inspired to write the book in order to have a say in how her story was told.

"It was the only way to have some control over my life," she said. "This is my legacy. I wrote my story. I don't have to do any more interviews after this." In a recent conversation with PEOPLE, she spoke further about her interest in wanting to "set the record straight" about her personal life.

"I guess when you get famous, there's a certain section of people that want to believe bad things about you," she told PEOPLE. "This woman [who reviewed the book] talked about, 'Well, I thought I was going to read a book written by a diva… She's not anything like that. She's a down-to-earth person. She's vulnerable.' It's like she saw me through the book, so I accomplished what I set out to do: set the record straight by telling the truth."

The EGOT winner will add another title to her name in February when she is honored with the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 30th SAG Awards.

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"Ever since I was a young girl sitting in the Loew's Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, I dreamed of being one of those actresses I saw on the screen. The movies were a portal to a world I could only imagine. Even though I was an unlikely candidate, somehow my dream came true. This award is especially meaningful to me because it comes from my fellow actors, whom I so admire," Streisand said in a statement.

According to a press release, the award is "given annually to an actor who fosters the finest ideals of the acting profession."