Looking Back At The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Through The Years..

Sports Illustrated magazine has been around since 1954 and it was primarily a periodical that covered every avenue, of anything sports related up until a decade after it had been in publication.  In 1964, the magazines editor, Andre Laguerre invented the swimsuit edition to fill up the Winter months which were typically slow in regards to sports writing. It was a simple idea that became an effective marketing tool, being that it featured beautiful models in exotic locations.  It is thought by many in the mag biz, that the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue was behind the succession of the 'Super Model' and that could very well be since it made Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley and Paulina Porizkova, household names.  Here's a little re-cap of S.I through the years...


1964: Babette March, a former hairdresser turned model from Germany was Sports Illustrated's 1st ever Swimsuit Issue cover girl.

1974: Ann Simonton, an American writer & lecturer who ironically became a radical feminist activist.

1984: Paulina Porzikova, a Czechoslovakian model was the first Eastern European woman to be on the cover of S.I.  She's also known world wide for marrying Rick Ocasek, the lead singer of The Cars.

1994: Kathy Ireland from the U.S., Elle Macpherson from Australia & Rachel Hunter from New Zealand, known in the modeling world as 'The Dream Team'. 

2004: Veronika Varekova of the Czech Republic, graced the cover of the 40th Anniversary Issue.  A model, and also a successful climber who went on to brave Mount Kilimanjaro in 2008.

So to bring you current, Irina Shayk, a Russia model who has worked closely with Armani and was recently in a Kanye West music video was the latest of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models.

Given the change in the modesty factor throughout the decades, who knows what route the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue will take as the years progress?  Not to sound too prude'ish but it appears as though the vibe of the mag has moved in a sketchy direction since the beginning of the new millennium.  Curious, what do you think about it? 


huffingtonpost.com , marconews.com , sportsillustrated.cnn.com , sporcle.com 

Rocks Designing Daughters

It's old news that rock legend Paul McCartney's daughter Stella has been interested in fashion since she was a wee lass and showed her first collection upon completing design school in 1995. 

She has thus since made quite the reputation for herself on the fashion front and has created styles for Chloe', Karl Lagerfeld & Gucci.  Regardless of accusations that her rise to fashion fame was credited in part to her famous father, she has diligently worked her way up the ladder without using the McCartney name as a step stool.  I absolutely love her vintage inspired pieces for this years fashion week! How can you not?!  The colors, the patterns and lines are all amazing!

  
I was recently surfing the web and came across an article on Mick Jagger's daughter Georgia May who I had never even heard of being that Jagger has a big brood!  She started a lot of controversy modeling for Hudson's Jeans half naked when she was 17 which was deemed 'inappropriate'.

Obviously this was to her advantage because now at the ripe old age of 19 she's been taken on by Hudson no longer just as  spokesmodel but also as a designer for their premium denim brand.  Unlike McCartney, she came to the table with no formal design training just her good looks that by no doubt came from her mother, Mick Jaggers long time partner & super model of the 70's Jerry Hall.

Looks will only take you so far in the world of fashion design.  She's young and inexperienced and in this instance, I don't believe that had she not been the daughter of Mick Jagger & Jerry Hall she would even have the opportunity to model nonetheless design given all that it takes to break into both!  Given that she's under 5'7 which is considered 'short' by runway standards and has the signature 'british teeth' to which she stated..."I like the fact that I have good old-fashioned British teeth with a big gap.  Braces are ridiculous and who wants those gleaming white cosmetically enhanced American teeth?"

Yeah right!...If she wasn't Jagger's kid she'd be running to the orthodontist!  She knows she's got this by default...Long gone are the days of Lauren Hutton's signature smile!






 fahionica.com , thehappysage.com , zimbio.com , attire.com , imnotobsessed.com , modom.net, dopegirlfresh.com   

Sorry Janice Dickinson...You Were NOT The World's 1st Super Model!

A few weeks ago I happened to catch the end of Celebrity Rehab on VH1 and this years season featured the self proclaimed 'World's 1st Super Model' Janice Dickinson. Obviously she wasn't aware that the term 'super model' was already known in the 1940's so this prompted me to delve a little bit into the subject to see if there was any validity to the label.

Regardless of the fact that the writer Judith Cass used the term in 1942 for her article in ‘The Chicago Tribune’ which headlined…”Super Models Are Signed For Fashion Show”, Janice states claim to coining the phrase in 1979 when her manager, concerned that she was working too hard told her, “You are not superman” to which she replied..”I am a super model!”.  She obviously didn’t know what she was talking about being that the term had already become popular in the 60’s which was way before she was working the cat walk. 

That's "your bad" Janice for not schooling yourself on the history of your craft because anyone who's into fashion both vintage & current knows who Twiggy is and also knows that at just 16 she became the first prominent teenage model best known for her signature boyish hair style, long eyelashes and thin build.  She was modeling worldwide and was named ‘The Face of 1966” by the Daily Express.

There have been many since Ms. Dickinson who were referred to as super models such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley and the infamous wild child Gia Carangi however, the facts remain that on March 21^st 1967, The New York Times referred to Twiggy as the first super model & Glamour magazine did as well in 1968.

I don’t know about you but whenever I’ve pondered the words fashion and model, I’ve always thought of Twiggy…

Sorry Janice…J

source: images.fanpop.com , wikipedia.com , s3.hubimg.com ,  thehollywoodgossip.com . thebeat.ilyn.com