In Paris this season when Kirsten McMenamy came bounding out at the Givenchy SS08 with her signature madwoman-on-the go walk, one newbie was heard to exclaim, "Who's that old lady". Oh if only she knew. That old lady is a living legend, not only for the face, walk or poses but because of the entertainment she brought to the trade. Kirsten has morphed from glamazon to androgyne to Career Woman back to glamazon into her Grand Dame incarnation this October. Here are our Top 10 Legendary Kirsten Moments. She's so Marquess ( By way of Philadelphia)!
10. Mid 90's , backstage at a Marc Jacobs show at the Puck building. Kirsten McMenamy in a Chanel mini-skirt, legs wide open doing a full on Sharon Stone. In front of the paparazzi.
9. She once said :"With every step I take down the runway, I'm thinking "F*ck you! F*ck you, and F*ck you". Can you tell?
8. She got off the crazy fashion merry-go-round to marry Miles Aldridge who she met in Karl Lagerfeld's car. The wedding was attended by the likes of Mr. Lagerfeld, Naomi Campbell, Manolo Blahnik,David Bailey, Boy George, Rupert Everett and Vivienne Westwood.
7. After opening the SS05 Prada, Kirsten proceeded to hop up and down in place yelling"Its so great to be back!"
6. Because in that Avedon shot for Versace Kirsten really looks like she's about to clobber Nadja with that shoe! Commitment is important!
5. Speaking of Avedon, Kirsten once fled a Avedon/Versace shoot in tears, because she wasn't as "pretty as the other girls". They actually came running after to her to calm her down and continue the sitting. Kids, do not try this at home.
4. Speaking of Versace, again, mid-90's flashback to a Sound Factory after-party for the Versus show. The girls show up in their finale dresses for a photo-op. Kirsten to waiter "Could you get me a Coke please?" Clueless waiter to Kirsten "Get it yourself!" Kirsten shrieks "What didya say to me?", stands up to full height, unzips the Versace dress, steps out of it and stalks out of the club to her waiting car in nothing but bra, panties and heels.
3. Harper's Bazaar 90's sitting with Demarchelier. Kirsten is photographed dressed as a chic working woman in her West Village townhouse, toting her own infant daughter. Except rumors start to circulate that the baby isn't really hers, but her sister's. I still believe its Kirsten's offspring, no matter what they say, though the allegation makes her all the more mythic in TI's eyes.
2.This unlikely icon was a regular face in virtually every issue of the mainstream bible that is US Vogue during the mid to late 90's. And that was even with the shaved eyebrows.
1. When asked why she stopped modeling, right at her peak she said "I've been on the Concorde with Karl in head to toe Chanel. What else is there left to do?" TI would give his left arm for a model, any modern model who can spit sound-bytes like that!
TI's vote for modern model most likely to inherit Kirsten's throne ...Supreme's Lera Sheremeta. She IS your daughter now!
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Kirsten and her crazy...