Christie Brinkley, 58
I must say, when I look back on my career, I feel slightly cheated. Ha! Most of my editorial happened in the '80s, and that is definitely not my aesthetic. I remember thinking, "Do my shoulders really need to be that big? And my hair?" I just joined Facebook last year, and people started posting pictures I hadn't seen in ages, and some of it's just really funny.
Even though it wasn't really my style, I did get to work with legends. I did several covers of
Bazaar with Francesco Scavullo, and working with him was fantastic. You would go into his studio, and there would be a big umbrella light with a string tied to the center of it. He would touch the string to your nose, and you just knew that, bathed in Scavullo's light, you looked the most beautiful you ever could.
I was discovered when I lived in Paris when I was 19. I was living as a struggling artist, and I didn't have a telephone or even running water. An American photographer saw me, and asked me to pose for him. Eventually I did, and he took me to an agency. I was mildly curious but I didn't want to leave Paris. Finally, on a trip home to California, I met Eileen Ford. I had done a few jobs by then and skipped town on a little vacation, which the clients thought was a bargaining tool. So, unbeknownst to me, I created a demand. That was a good lesson to learn: Fashion people want what is elusive.
I've had a long career, even though for the last 25 years the press has referred to me as "the former supermodel." It's, like, Jeez, give a girl a break. They called me that when I was making a very nice living as a model, even before I branched out. A few things have changed in modeling. For one, we can become brands now. Before, you were just a girl, or a clothes hanger, but now you can have a name. You're a real person, which is nice.
