I ran into the timeless beauty Isabella Rossellini on the red carpet at Fashion Group International‘s fabulous Night of Stars gala last week. (Well, OK, she was on the red carpet; I was elbowing reporters along the fringes.) She was a vision of elegance, with impeccable posture and the calm countenance of someone who has spent her life around red carpets. You can’t look at Isabella without seeing her mother, Ingrid Bergman. You also see a woman who is aging gracefully, refusing to jump on the Botox and plastic surgery bandwagon. That is especially impressive for someone whose beauty and identity were so intertwined through her life. But clearly that entanglement was in the beholder’s eyes, not in the heart of this wise woman. I was lucky enough to have a few words with her…

Isabella Rossellini

JJ: What is your #1 tip for aspiring models out there?

IR: Well, you know, there is very little one can do. You are either selected for jobs—and it’s wonderful when that happens—or you’re not. There isn’t much you can do about it.

JJ: It’s good for aspiring models to hear that, because you just can’t take it personally.

IR: You can’t take it personally. And you shouldn’t lose weight or get plastic surgery to try to be accepted, because it either happens or not. It’s like winning the lottery.

JJ: Why did you come out to the Night of Stars tonight?

IR: I am here tonight because Natura is winning an award, and a friend of mine , Roger Schmidt, is the executive at Natura. I came to give him the award. 

Model Karen Elson

Model Karen Elson, truly aging like a fine wine, presented to Superstar Award winner Diane Von Furstenberg. Elson described her as the foxiest woman on the planet and the person who essentially runs the fashion business. I remember modeling for Diane for a Home Shopping Network episode shot at Diane’s HQ in the West Village, or more specifically the Meatpacking District; it figures that Diane was there long before it was declared the it place in New York.

Diane Von Furstenberg

Debbie Harry livened up the presenter panel. Glenda Bailey, EIC of Harper’s Bazaar, was thrilled to have someone as cool as Blondie introducing her.

Diane’s speech honored her dear friend Oscar de la Renta, with whom she dined weekly up until his passing several weeks ago. Her tender words revealed two close friends, disrobed of their celebrity and exposed to the same mortality we all face.

It was not a frivolous fashion fete by any stretch. But, the fact remains, dear readers, the fashion dictators can be a fickle bunch, so keep Isabella’s words in mind and don’t take it personally.

Stay tuned for some adorable scoop from Kids Fashion Week in New York!

ENTER the Modeling Mentor Model Search!

In my first blog post reviewing “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now,” I praised the fair, balanced view of the modeling industry that the documentary presented. My second “About Face” blog post features my 10 favorite quotes from these stunning women—most are inspiring, funny, innocuous. Now for “The Dark Side of Modeling” and the deeper questions about superficial beauty and aging.

Body Image

Carmen noted that when she started modeling and her image was splashed all over coveted covers, she was 5’9″ and weighed under 100 pounds.

Carmen Dell’Orefice

The photographers and fashion editors, even back in the 1940s, promoted the super-skinny look, which, 70 years later, has become the model norm. While my hunch is Carmen came by her teenage gamine look naturally, Carol Alt talks about starving herself to get thin enough for the Milan shows (then again, she claims to have been a size 16 when she was discovered!). China Machada says, “I never dieted. I never exercised.” I knew plenty of models like that: born with a model metabolism. More and more, girls who are not born naturally slender need to think about the extremes that may be required of them to fit in today’s sample sizes. See my blog on the model Crystal Renn’s book “Hungry.”

Especially as we age, the body ideal we see in magazines becomes less and less attainable. “The paparazzi everywhere looking for that one bit of cellulite— collectively it brings us down,” says Christie Brinkley.

Self-Esteem

Paulina Porizkova

Paulina started modeling at 15. She discussed a common problem with girls who start that young: “I was a typical 15-year-old girl as far as being completely insecure, and wanting to seem more grown up than she actually was by smoking and playing really hard and drinking too much. I arrived with girls who were 16, 17. I saw the ones who got into drugs, or became bulimic or anorexic. You see enough of that and you start to feel like it’s normal.” Later she adds, “Modeling doesn’t have anything to do with self-confidence. Working off your looks is pretty much the opposite. So maybe I became beautiful when I stopped modeling.”

Sexual Harassment

“What people called sexual harassment, we called compliments,” explains Paulina. “When a 16-year-old is flattered by a man pulling out his penis in front of her, that’s noteworthy.” (You’ll be relieved to hear nothing like that ever happened to me!)

Isabella Rossellini felt fortunate to have started when she was older (I concur). She says, “It’s harder when you are young. Once you are made up, people forget you are 15 or 16. They think you are a 20-year-old sex kitten.

Drugs

Lisa Taylor’s life, spiraling out of control

Lisa Taylor recounts a low point of her career: “On the cover of The Daily News, there was a story called “The Dark Side of Modeling,” with a picture of me. I knew that’s what my dad would see on his train ride home from work.  It was the 70s—everyone was doing drugs, mostly cocaine. I was so insecure, I needed to do it. It made me feel like I was worth being photographed, that I was somebody.” At the end of the film, Lisa (who has had a low-profile life since), stated: “I did get self-esteem from succeeding in something. I don’t regret anything. I’m just really glad I didn’t die in the process.”

Gia Carangi

Fashion editor Jade Hobson recalls seeing track marks on Gia’s arms during a shoot (Gia suffered a heroin addiction and died of AIDS in the 80s): “I feel somewhat responsible for using these girls when we knew of their heavy, heavy use of drugs. Maybe we exploited these girls, because it gave the photos a certain look.”

Plastic Surgery

Some have, some haven’t. “I did my eyes,” admits former Halston model Karen Bjornson, who revived her career at 50. “It was money well spent, getting the product in shape again. I don’t want to look younger, I just want to look well rested!”

Karen Bjornson

Octogenarian Carmen says her fountain of youth is silicone injections, administered by the same doctor over the years.

Carmen Dell’Orefice, modeling into her 80s

Bethanne Hardison’s secret is an exercise tip: “Planks in the morning!”

China Machada says, “I would never want to do plastic surgery. First of all, I’m a coward.” She quips, “Now that I’m being photographed at 81, I’m not that happy [about this decision]!”

Paulina says, “In your 20s, you are trying to attract a mate. At 50, you don’t need to attract the same thing, so why do you need to look like you are 20? I’m 45; I’m interested in attracting different things now. I have friends looking 20 years younger. It’s not that I don’t feel like I’m being left in the dust, but there’s nothing more attractive to me in a person than confidence and nothing says a lack of confidence like Botox. The only thing you have that is uniquely you is your expression. Change that, and your whole look goes. You may be more perfect, but you’re not you.”

Jerry Hall comments, “We have as role models, people who look scary to small children. They’re taking fat from their bottoms and putting it in their lips. That’s just gross!”

Aging

Isabella Rossellini theorizes: “It isn’t women who want to stay young, it’s the whole society… You keep thinking you’re going to be judged.” Lancome dumped her for a younger woman when she turned 40, claiming advertising is not about reality but about dreams. Ever wise, Isabella comments, “I don’t know if that’s true. I’m an old fox; I know which creams work, which products I want to buy. It’s easier to sell to young people, but targeting them perpetrates this idea that women to be beautiful have to be young.” She continues, “Growing old, nowadays you don’t count anymore. Before, you were a looked up to as a person of wisdom.” The star chuckles about not being invited to the A-List parties anymore. “Now my daughter is!” she adds. “My mom would say, the only way to have a long life is to grow old. She didn’t seem very affected by growing old. Maybe that’s why I’m not either.”

Isabella Rossellini

“I’m 50,” Jerry says, joyously. “That’s something to be celebrated!”

Carmen: “We all have to go sometime, and I want to go with my high heels on!”

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The Icons of “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now”

I got in on the conversation in a Q & A with Timothy Greenfield-Sanders on HBO.com

Watch the “About Face” Trailer Here:

I have so much to write about this documentary, that I’ll be doing a series of posts. Stay tuned for more from: Paulina Porizkova, Carmen Dell ‘Orefice, Isabella Rossellini, Jerry Hall, Marisa Berenson, Christy Turlington, Carol Alt, Kim Alexis, Beverly Johnson, Bethann Hardison, Pat Cleveland, China Machado, Christy Brinkley, Lisa Taylor, Cheryl Tiegs, Karen Bjornson, Calvin Klein, and Jade Hobson.

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