The Beauty Sleuth

Recently, I have been thrilled to see more and more of my all time favorite models gracing the pages of many well-heeled magazines. I admit to being a product of the 90’s, but I came up in the fashion/beauty business when there were these über-beings called Super Models. While they were not your typical super being, you know the kind that buzz around cities, saving people and such, they definitely had a major effect on how we women felt about ourselves. They came in many shapes and sizes, from reed thin and tiny (think Kate Moss) to curvy like Cindy Crawford or long, lean and athletic like Naomi Campbell to name a few. It made us feel like we could fit in somewhere and in almost every magazine, you could find a model you could identify with.

It was also a time when photographers like Herb Ritts, Peter Lindberg and Matthew Rolston were really kicking it big time and created some of the best fashion moments of that era. Liz Tilberis was at the helm of Harpers Bazaar and Fabian Baron was blowing us away with his vision, showing us what true innovative creative direction was all about. It was the time of U2 rocking it and musicians like Axel Rose starting the new again trend of model + rocker ( but I am not really sure that trend ever went out away) by making it a point to date the hottest Super model of the lot, Stephanie Seymour. On the flip side, Cindy went for the suave and eternally handsome, Richard Gere and they became the IT couple of that decade. Oh, but I am waxing poetic of an era long gone, because nowadays, its all about the Celebrity of the Moment. I am using this term very loosely here. While there are legitimate celebrities around promoting fashion and beauty brands, we are currently being inundated with quasi-celebs who are capitalizing on the current IQ of television and promoting reality show road kill. Personally, I detest having it all shoved down my throat at every corner. But I digress.

I want to celebrate seeing Christy Turlington in a recent Italian Vogue edition, and also seen as model for several high end fashion brands—She looked as she always does, perfect, serene and just amazing. Eva Herzigova as herself for Janet & Janet, and Helena Christiansen in English Elle editorial and advertising, looking as dark and mysterious and just plain sexy. It made me happy to see the girls in these magazines— it offered my eyes and brain a break from the usual celebu-fodder I see everywhere. I know I sound like I don’t like them. I do, I really do. But I think there is a place for actors and celebrity folk. Like in movies or on a TV show or something more visceral, like a stage. Leave the glossy pages of women’s fashion to the models and give them some room for a new breed of Super Model to emerge. They work hard for it and deserve their own place to shine. It’s about time they had their stage back.
Here’s to the Super Model!