All language subtitles for About.Face.Supermodels.Then.and.Now.2012.WEBRip.x264-ION10

♪ I find it hard to believe
you don't know ♪

♪ The beauty you are ♪

♪ But if you don't
let me be your eyes ♪

♪ A hand in your darkness
so you won't be afraid ♪

♪ When you think
the night has seen your mind ♪

♪ That inside
you're twisted and unkind ♪

♪ Let me stand to show
that you are blind ♪

♪ Please put down your hands ♪

♪ 'cause I see you ♪

♪ I'll be your mirror ♪

♪ I'll be your mirror ♪

♪ I'll be your mirror ♪

MAN: What is it about plastic
surgery and facelifts?

What's your sense
of that whole world?

Well, that's a very
polite way of asking me,

I'm sure, have you had
a facelift? Ha ha!

Well, if you had the
ceiling falling down
in your living room,

would you not go
and have a repair?

WOMAN: As much as you like it
or don't like it,

it's a woman's business.

The men were accessory
to the fact.

I have seen so many girls
come and go

because they have nothing
going on inside.

MAN: This wasn't just about
the physical beauty.

They had character.

They had personality.

They had something inside
that came through.

WOMAN:
When you get older, you build
something else in your core

which goes beyond the physical,
because it has to.

MAN: This is simple.
Nothing in your face.

Looking here.

Beautiful.
Raise the bounce.

WOMAN:
I'm Carmen Dell'Orifice.

I have been a Ford Model
since 1947.

MAN: This is an amazing Avedon,

and you've never liked yourself
in it.

CARMEN DELL'ORIFICE:
You know why?

Because I don't like my feet.

They're just not sexy feet.

My mother used to say,
"You have feet like coffins
and ears like Sedan doors."

I internalized that.

For women in the '40s
and during World War II,

a nurse was very high level,
a teacher.

There was the dubious profession
of being an actress then,
slash-model.

What is--Model didn't really
exist as a profession.

It was really model/hooker.

This is in the days
when the Duchess of Windsor

and Mrs. William Rhinelander,
Mrs. Hearst,

and all these ladies who went
to Europe 4 times a year

to have their clothes
custom made.

Because of World War II,
that stopped.

WOMAN: Hello girls.
Having fun?

Certainly is a lovely day.

DELL'ORIFICE:
Advertising was beginning.

We began to dress ourselves.

am this young, comatose child
who was 5'9" and weighed under
100 pounds.

I had already worked for
Clifford Coffin, Irving Penn,
Cecil Beaton, Jaffe Balkan.

But who knows one
is living history
when one is just living it?

I got by and I fit in, making
money.

You know, to live my little
life, send my mother to college,

do all the things I wanted
by my first husband.

All the lovely things
that models did in those days.

MAN: Let me see
how this looks.

Beautiful.

You're gonna be
looking at me here.
Yeah.

So this is sort of your
your favorite side anyhow.

Yeah, I have--
I like both.

Ha ha!

We had light, space,
the photographic studios
are beautiful places.

When I looked at how
other people had to work,

going into an office,
staying in a cubicle,
it was incredible.

A world of wonderful people,
also very eccentric.

The hairdresser,
the makeup artist.

I don't think they can
live in any other places
but the fashion world.

I'm too old to have grown up
with the idea that a woman
should have a career.

Of course you would work,
but not a career.

Your family would come first
and--and then you'll adjust.

Not to bother your husband with,
"Oh, can I--

can you buy me that dress?"

You'll have that little bit
of money.

My mother, of course,
had a huge career.

But my mother's career was
seen as a special gift,
like a calling.

You know, like a nun
who has to go to a nunnery.

For sure, I didn't look at
myself in the mirror and say,
"You know what?

I have that look
that I could be a model."

It was completely--
a chance.

I worked with Bruce Webber,
who I just knew socially.

And he had asked me to pose
for some photos.

And I did because I thought,

"Oh, I'll buy many copies
and I'll keep these copies
for my grandchildren."

One day, when I'm old, I'll say,
"Look, I looked good."

Modeling taught me
that it was essential for women

not to depend on fathers
and husbands.

Modeling provided me
that financial independent

and that career, that discipline
that a career requires.

That you do know where you're
gonna be 8 months from now.

That you have to go to sleep
early.

That you can't eat that food.

I've got 28 covers of "Vogue."

9 of them were shot by Richard
Avedon and had changed my life.

If you were a fashion model
like Barbie,

you'd lead a different life
every day of the week.

WOMAN: Two of my older sisters
were modeling at the Apparel
Mart in Dallas.

It was about the fantasy
of beauty,

the fantasy of glamour,
the fantasy of this other life

that we would see in these
old black and white movies
and things.

I started my working career
in Texas at the Dairy Queen.

My mother used to say to me,

'cause I used to be really upset
about not having a boyfriend.

I used to say,
"Oh, I feel like a failure."

You know, "What am I gonna do?"

And she used to say,
"Well, look at Twiggy.

Twiggy's a model and she's even
skinnier and flatter
than you are."

And so, I was supposed
to go to--

Paris with my French club
in school.

And my mom made me
all these wonderful clothes.

We used to get the Frederick's
of Hollywood catalog.

So they were all copies of
Frederick's of Hollywood.

They're like snake skin
and red satin.

They went very, very tight to
the knees and then flared out.

Or they had, like, panels, like
snake skin with your legs would
come through with these panels.

We thought that Paris was
like that.

My French club trip
fell through.

But I had a car accident where--

they gave me penicillin,
which I was allergic to.

So the hospital said,
"If you don't sue us,
we'll give you $800."

So I said, "Ok."

Got to Paris and my mother said,
"The Riviera's the place to go."

My first day on the beach,

I bought a pink
metallic crocheted bikini
and some platform shoes.

This was the early '70s.

And they had painted cork heels.

When I put them on,
I was 6'4" or 5" or something.

And I had slept in pin curls,
you know,

little tiny pin curls
with a bobby pin.

So when I took it out,
it was like that.

I was actually expecting to
be discovered.

And I was, within,
like, an hour.

A guy came up to me and said,
"Would you like to be a model?"

I said, "Yes." Ha!

WOMAN:
When I was a child, I dreamt of
becoming an artist in France.

And before I could even
speak French,

I went around
speaking fake French.

I guess you could say I was
a rather strange child.

I was working as
a struggling artist in Paris,

painting, like, the scenes
in Montmartre.

And I had my little dog
in the bag going, "Don't
worry, baby. I will--"

I had a fake French accent.

Then I would say, "Don't worry
my little baby.
I will help you.

And then smack.

Right into a photographer named
Errol Sawyer.

For many, many, many,
many, many years,

I thought, "I'll do maybe
another two months of this

and then I'll go back
to my real life."

But you get to collaborate
with amazing people and--

and wear great clothes and--

better clothes nowadays
than in the '80s.

It's a fun job.

WOMAN: I didn't have success
as a model

like models have success today
or yesterday.

I had success because I was
known in a small little arena

called the Garment District
area, where designers book
runway models.

And I kept a full-time job
the whole time.

You know, you come from--
a neighborhood of people
with style.

Even if it's just about the guys
on the corner, you know,

the way they talk shit
and what they have on.

And you notice
the double pleated pants.

You notice the shoe.

You notice your uncle
when he comes in, what he wears.

I'll never forget.

My mother walks in
with 3 guys.

And they say, "Hi, Beth Ann.
Hi, Beth Ann.
Hi, Beth Ann."

They would all be talking
in the back room and dressing
and doing and talking.

I didn't know
what they were doing.

But when they would leave,
she'd leave with 3 women.

I couldn't put it together then.

I just knew that
they came in as guys

and then they seemed to have
gone out in my mother's clothes
as women.

You have these kind of
experiences in your life.

You just basically--
you're--you're sort of--

you're sort of, like, propelled
into whatever you want to do.

Ha ha!
Nobody's saying, "You can't.

Don't you dare."

My mother told me that I used
to tell her I was modeling.

And she used to smile and,
"Oh, that's nice."

And then I did a commercial.

And she saw me on TV,
and she was stunned.

And she honestly told me that
she always thought when I said I
was a model that I was a hooker.

And she said,
"Oh, you really are a model."

And I said, "Well, yeah,
what did you think?"

She said,
"I have to be honest with you.

I thought was just the way
you were explaining--"

Ha!

Nowadays, everybody wants
their child to model.

Back in the day, nobody wanted
anybody to be a model.

WOMAN: ♪ I'm waiting for a boat
to help me out of here ♪

♪ Mmm ♪

♪ Waiting for a boat to... ♪

WOMAN: I started modeling
in the early '50s.

I was paid $100 a month,

and I was the highest paid model
in Europe.

The ones who are top models,
each one of us, of course,
had to have kind of a walk.

And I was famous for my walk.

And Hookah, this friend of mine,
used to walk like this.

There was no music.
There was nothing.

You just walked in
and you walked out.

You didn't allow the buyers
to touch your dress,

because they were trying
to feel underneath

to see what was inside.

And so, you walked
like you had an attitude.

Like, "Don't touch me."

Not a smile on your face.

You walked in
and you walked out.

I don't wear makeup normally.

But if I know I'm going
to have a shoot like this,

I'm going to try and look
as good as I can

because what about all the
other girls in the damn shoot,

Right? I'm gonna look like
some dumb dumb? No.

I have never exercised
in my life.

I can't even touch my toes.

I've never dieted.

I never really thought of myself
as a model.

It was just a job.

WOMAN: Style is sort of
an expression of yourself.

It gives people the possibility
to be creative

and to express themselves
in ways

that maybe they can't express
themself in words sometimes.

My grandmother was this
incredible artist.

MAN: Might you be known
as a famous designer
of ladies' dresses?

You're getting hot.

Well, I only know two or three
dress makers,

so I'll take a chance
at Scaparelli.

That's the right--

[Applause]

MARISA BERENSON:
She was a total rebel.

When she was young,
she found herself ugly.

And so, one day,
she decided she was
going to change that

if she could.

And she planted seeds
in her nose and in her
mouth so that a--

flowers would grow out of
her nose and out of her ears.

She was very avant garde,

And she was truly an artist
more than just a designer.

So I grew up in that
environment, too, you know,

with all these
incredible people.

Dali and Cocteau and Vertez
and Picasso.

Dali wanted to paint me
in the nude when I was 13.

And my mother said, "Absolutely
not, you dirty old man."

"She has hip bones
like cherry stones," he said.

Ha ha!

My father took me to
one last coming out ball
with my sister Berry.

And at that ball was Diana
Vreeland, who I had known
since I was a very little girl.

And she was a great friend of
my grandmother's and my parents.

And she said,
"We have to photograph you."

And from then on in, you know,
I worked for "Vogue"
for 6 years solid.

I was never told
I was beautiful.

At school,
I was called Olive Oyl,

you know, because I was long
and lanky.

My mother used to say,
"You know,

you look like a Modigliani
and Berry looks like a Renoir."

And I'd look at Modigliani
paintings and I'd start to cry.

And I'd say, "I look like that?

That's the saddest thing
and the most depressing thing
I've ever seen."

I used to cut out all these
wonderful actresses at the time.

You know, people like Audrey
Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich and
Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner.

And think, "God, you know,
I wish I looked like that."

It's a handicap in
the acting world to be a model.

You're always thought
as brainless.

You have to prove yourself
much more than somebody who's
just started out acting.

To work with all those
great people in my life,

Bisconti, Bob Fosse, Stanley
Kubrick, it was just a dream.

WOMAN: My father collected up
all the photos that he could
of me.

Hang on a second. Ha!

These were my covers
he collected. Ha!

My mother, after 27 years--
Hang on. There's more.

My mother, after 27 or 28 years
after my father's death, finally
gave me my father's books.

When I walked in
for my first job,

I waited two hours
to see the editor.

I was behind time on my--
go-sees.

She walked in.
She said--

"Who cut your hair?
Your eyebrows look like shit.

And you're too big for
our clothes." Ha!

But the photographer
was John Stember.

And John said, "No, absolutely
not. She's staying."

And they fought over it.

And I had to stand there
while they were screaming
at each other,

this 17-, 18-year-old kid.

And when I walked off the set

, that same editor said,
"You lose 15 pounds,

I'll take you to the collections
in Italy."

I starved.

I starved.

I mean, an apple here,
a carrot there.

The minute you hit the ground,
they would get you up at 5:00
in the morning.

You'd work till 12:00,
1:00 at night.

You'd get back up at 5:00
the next morning.

I was there for 10 days.

And when I got off the plane,

I was waiting in the airport for
my mother to come pick me up.

And--Ha!

I burst into tears 'cause she
walked by me, like, 6 times.

She didn't recognize me.

And when she looked at me,
she had such a horrified look
on her face.

And I was like, "What?

What are you looking at me
like that for?"

I was pale and green
from working so hard

and not having eaten anything.

And I was exhausted.

WOMAN: I started modeling
at the age of 15

already knowing
that the camera lies.

My parents escaped to Sweden
from the Czech Republic in 1968.

My parents used press,
Swedish press, in--

in order to try to get me out of
the Czech Republic.

That really didn't work at all,

but it made them really famous
in Sweden.

It also made me famous
in Sweden.

And there would be
these Swedish journalists

coming down to the Czech
Republic taking pictures of me.

And they always made me hold
my teddy bear.

And--you know, and would
sort of try to indicate to me
in Swedish,

which, of course,
I couldn't understand,
that I should look sad.

You know, I'd--I'd be hugging my
teddy bear and looking like...

[Sighs]

And that's pretty much
how I felt about the camera
ever since actually.

I was sort of already tagging
this big bag of history with me

because I had been called
a dirty communist

asshole bastard, whatever,
in school for--for years.

And so, when I had a chance
to escape that, to want to be
a beautiful model,

I don't think
there's any 15-year-old girl

that will turn down the chance
to be called beautiful.

You don't realize at that point
that you're also going to get
called ugly.

And they would open my book
with my--

my portfolio with my pictures in
and start discussing me,

start kind of cutting me apart.

"Hmmm, good nose.
Yeah, those teeth.

Oh my God, what are we gonna do
about those teeth?"

"Well, you just don't make her
open her mouth."

"Hmmm, I don't like the color
of her hair."

"Yeah, well, that can be fixed.
But what about those thighs?

We can't do anything
about those."

Every job felt like it was going
to be my last.

That people would actually
put me in, you know,

somebody's else's clothes
in front of a camera

always made me feel like I was
playing a very dangerous game.

I thought very quickly they
would find out that I'm really
just a political refugee.

And then they would
send me back.

And we did a lot of
really nice pictures

that then when I would see
the picture, I'd go, "Oh, look.

She looks good."

It was never really me.

The feeling is that it's like
you're not even really there.

It's not about yourself

or really how you look
or anything like that.

It's what the person perceives
from you.

My mother is a painter.

And when I was a little girl,
she said, "Pose for me."

And I sat on the bed,
and I opened a book.

And I just sat there.

And for the first time
in my life,

I felt really, really peaceful
because I was being appreciated.

And I saw creativity happening.

The way it was then, it was
either you were blonde
or you were very black.

And I didn't fit anywhere.

I'm 1/8 black, Irish, Cherokee,
English, Scottish, German.

Avedon used to say to me
all the time,

"Oh, you know, Pat,
I wanna use you much more.

But they just don't know what
you are."

"Ebony Fashion Fair" is very
important because, at the time,

there were no magazines
for people of color.

And there were really
a lot of women in America
who were not being catered to.

And so, what Mrs. Johnson did
was create a fashion show

that she would take around
America to every state
in America.

It was very hard work,
especially when we got
to the South.

We stop in this bus,
this Greyhound bus

to go to the ladies room in this
sort of out-of-the-way place.

And they said, "No, you black
girls can't come in here."

But me, they said,
"You can use the bathroom."

We see these guys coming to the
bus, and they're really angry.

And they're, like, carrying,
like, sticks and stuff.

And the bus driver says,
"We've gotta get out of here."

The bus doesn't start.

They started banging on our bus.

They were trying
to turn our bus over.

And the bus driver was trying
to get the bus to go.

And it was so frightening.

And I kept peeking up to see
these ugly faces.

And that didn't happen
only once.

I was up at "Vogue" and they
took the picture for the cover.

And I thought, "Wow, I'm gonna
have a Vogue cover."

But--no, I wasn't blonde enough
or something.

I said, "I'm going to leave
the country.

And I'm not coming back here
until you have a black girl
on the cover."

Naomi Simms was perfect.

Danielle Luna was perfect.

When it's time to go,
you need to go because
you will find something new.

On the runway, it's as though
I'm lifting off the ground.

I just wanna hear drums playing
and express all of that.

A rhythm you feel in your soul,

like this music in your heart
starts beating fast,

and it's almost orgasmic.

When you move your body,
it's like it's dancing.

What you try to do is let them
appreciate what you're wearing
by being alive in it.

I love these shoes.
Glad I don't have to walk.

You just have to carry me over.

Ok, I'm ready to move--

You do live in a bubble,
where everyone tells you

how beautiful you are
all the time.

And they run and get you coffee
or whatever you want.

I was the first African American
to grace the cover of "Vogue"

in August 1974.

Wow, that's a long time.

I found that--

Let's see if we
can scan it.

Oh, and is this the one?
Is this it?

No.

Is it--
Is it--Is it--Nah.

Here's the actual...

Ruth Whitney put together, like,
16 or 17 of my "Glamour" covers,

and on the front page, she wrote
something very special to me.

"Beverly, your covers always
meant something special to me

"because your face on the cover

"really did finally
change the way

"our white readers
thought of blacks.

Thanks for helping them along.
Ruth Whitney."

When I was modeling,
the career lasted 3 to 4 years.

That was your entire career.

And it was frightening.

I remember my girlfriend.

She's, like, graduating
from college and, you know,

getting married and putting
a down payment on the house.

Woman maturing and--and happy.

And here I am in fear and,
you know, supposedly living
this glamorous life.

I'm crippled, you know,
with the idea of--

of growing old and--
and where do I go next?

The whole age thing in our
industry, it's everything.

ROSSELLINI:
For me, the difference
was that I started at 28.

I think that gave me enough--
independence and substance.

Not that I was sure of myself.

Not that I looked at myself in
the mir--in a mirror and said,

"Mirror, mirror--ha--
on the wall, who's the
fairest of them all? Me."

I understood that it was
a career.

And I understood that
that was an image.

It wasn't me.

And then people sometimes
confused it.

But, of course, that's part of
the success. It'll go. Ha!

So sometimes you'll
have to claim and say,

"Oh, but I--
I was that model." You know?

I think it's harder
when you're young.

Once you're gone and made up,

people forget that
you are 15, 16.

They think you are
a 20-year-old sex kitten.

And that's very difficult
to handle.

MAN: And were you
confident at that point?

I mean, you were
15 years old.

Did you kind of know
who you were?

Ha ha!

Show me a girl who is--

who knows who she is at 15
and I'll show you a freak.

I was a typical 15-year-old
as far as, you know,
completely insecure

and wanted to seem more grown up
than she actually was

by, you know, smoking
and playing really hard
and drinking too much.

And, you know, well, I'm--huh!

I arrived with girls
that were 16, 17.

And I could see what happened
to them.

I saw the ones
that fell by the roadside,

the ones that got into drugs,

the ones that had to go home

because they became bulimic or
anorexic or, you know, whatever.

And you sort of just look at it
and you go, "Uh-huh"

You know, because as a kid,
you're very malleable.

You know, like, you know,

you can be put in a room
for 10 years and told
that that's normal.

And you'll go, "Oh, ok."

What people called
sexual harassment,
we called compliments.

You know, when a 16-year-old
is flattered by a man

pulling out his penis
in front of her, that's--

you know, that's kind
of noteworthy.

WOMAN:
A lot of these girls were kids.

And with a little hair, makeup,

being surround by
sophisticated people, you know,

we made them into something
they weren't.

I think, unfortunately, you
know, we created a monster.

WOMAN: When I left New York,
I really left.

I left the scene.

I left drugs.

I left the fast lane,
the jet-set.

Where I grew up
in Center Island, Oyster Bay,

was a very secluded life,

very protected,
over protected.

seriously over protected.

We had a lot of help,
a lot of money, grounds.

I mean, now that I look at it,
I get it, Dad.

I get why you guys
wanted to be there
as much as I wanted to leave.

When I got to New York,
I was really 16, not 19.

And I was really shy.

I remember one day asking an
editor, "How do you do this?"

And she said, "Go--go inside,
and Beverly Johnson's in there.

Ask her how to do it." Ha!

And I went in,
and Beverly said,

"Just--just act like
you're the most beautiful thing

that ever walked the earth."

And I went, "Ok." Ha.

That's not really my thing.

The camera became
an avenue and a permission

be the part of myself
that I needed to be

in order to do that work.

And without the camera, uh-uh.

Ha!

That's what Helmet had--
did for me.

He understood and loved
to make fun those people
from where I'm from,

the sort of blue blood
line of people.

That's why I was able
to work with him.

We were both laughing. At me.

I was afraid of that side of me.

I knew it was strong,

and I didn't know how
to appropriately use it
in real life.

There was an article written
in the "Daily News."

I think of this now,
and it really is upsetting.

But it was called
"The Dark Side of Modeling."

And it--it was a picture of me.

And I knew that my father
went home on the train
with the "Daily News"

and that that's what
he was gonna see.

It was in the '70s.

Everybody was doing drugs of
some sort, mostly cocaine.

And every--And there was
nothing known about it.

What was known was that
it's not addictive.

I was so insecure
that I needed to do it.

Made me feel like I--I was--

I had something to say,
that I was worth being
photographed, that I--

that I could--you know,
that I was somebody.

Because I really didn't think
I could do anything.

JADE HOBSON:
When drugs came on the scene,

the look of the girl changed.

You'd certainly stop smiling.

Photographs became more serious.

I was on a shoot with
Francesco Scavullo.

Gia was one of the models.

I used to use binoculars.

I used to stand behind
the photographer,

and I'd use binoculars to see
every detail on clothing.

And while I was looking the Gia,

I could see the track marks
on her arm.

And I--
I mean, Gia looked great.

And yeah, I feel
somewhat responsible.

The photographers, the whole
industry of using these girls
when we were aware

of...the heavy,
heavy use of drugs.

We maybe exploited these girls

because it also brought a
certain look to the photograph.

I don't know.

We were definitely
out of it then.

We just weren't hip enough.

In my youth,
we used to stay out all night.

We used to go see the big bands.

But the only thing I ever
heard of were reefers.

And that's what the musicians
were supposed to smoke.

I have been at parties
and they were all...toke,

having a toke.

Ha. I think I'm saying it right.

And then they'd pass it around,
and you're supposed to smoke it.

WOMAN: I was lucky to have had
the experience of--

of staying at the Ford's house.

It definitely felt like being
in a dormitory.

I think anyone under 18
was sort of welcome.

Not anyone.
That's not true.

There was a few rooms.

And I think if you were working,

and the more you were working,
the more...

the more vacancy--ha ha--
there was there.

I forget how many models
lived with us.

They had to live by my rules.

It was like having
a bunch more children.

I've probably had more doors
slammed in my face

than any woman
you're ever gonna meet.

I knew where the wine was kept.

I left pajamas downstairs
in the kitchen

so when I'd come in late,
I could change into my clothes.

Jerry Hall has been quoted
about me,

saying it was the most
boring year of her entire life.

JERRY HALL:
They had a curfew.

You had to be in the house
by a certain time.

And every weekend, we had
to go in her station wagon

with her kids and her dog
out to Connecticut.

And then, you had to come when
she had these boring dinners
and things.

It was very difficult
having been so free in Paris.

Going out dancing
and dancing on the tables.

And going out with--

We had a lot of friends
who were transvestites.

And they were great fun.

And I got a lot of makeup tips
from them. Ha ha!

And having gone out every night
and had so much fun

and met all these wonderful
people to all of a sudden be...

you have to be in by midnight.

I quickly got out of Eileen's
because I couldn't go out.

Ha ha!

I couldn't wait to get away
from home.

Just couldn't wait.

My grandmother, she did not want
me doing this at all.

She never spoke to
Diana Vreeland again.

She--ha ha--was furious.

And she never spoke to me
about it

except to criticize the way I--
I went out dressed.

She thought it was the most
un-chic, dreadfully vulgar,

"How can you go out on
the street looking like this?"

One day, she handed me
this dress.

It was like an old curtain
found in some trunk
in some old castle,

like, you know?

She said, "I want you to
put this on and come to tea

"because I have this gentleman
you have to meet.

Because I think
you should get married."

But I wanted
that wonderful adventure.

We lived the greatest adventure
of all in those days.

I was a liberated woman.

I had the pill.
I had the clothes.

I had the place to go.

We didn't know who we were with.

The girls with the boys,
and the boys with the boys.

Just fall in love with the
best-looking thing you can find.

And in the model business,

there's a lot
of good-looking people.

Powder was flying and the flames
were coming from the sky

and hell was breaking loose.

We weren't afraid of anything.

We were just so free.

And we just did everything
and wanted to taste everything
and do everything.

I mean, I was 16,

and I was brought up
in boarding schools.

How did I live by myself in New
York and just live like that?

Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol--
all these amazing people.

It wasn't just about
selling the clothes
and making a lot of money.

It wasn't.

It was about making a whole
world that you would enter into.

There was a lot of love
and friendship,

doing things together
and creating

and being part of
that same world together,
on that wave together.

People got lost in that.

We were just overwhelmed
with ourselves.

We were so arrogant.

Our clothes were, like,
getting heavier and stronger.

I've lost a lot of friends in my
life, a lot of great people,

either from drugs or from AIDS.

It was like a fire that just
went straight through the heart
of the business.

For the longest time,
your main concern was,

"Is my friend this thin because
they're smoking too much
or partying too much

or because they have AIDS?"

I started seeing everyone
dressed in black.

And they just started
disappearing.

And I knew it was the end
of the time.

[Applause]

I love to see people dancing.

It's so romantic and such fun.

This extravagant white satin
organza dress on Karen Bjornson
is just for that occasion.

Nothing is prettier
than a dress that moves.

WOMAN: I was 18 when
I started working for Halston.

He was like a prince.
Everyone was in love.

He was always looking out
for me.

I was so young
and impressionable

and he was so kind...
and funny and loving.

Never talked about Halston
at all.

It was amazing to be around
that creativity,

to be in the room with him,
with him designing and
cutting the clothes on me.

WOMAN: I knew she
had been a model,

but I didn't really
think of her.

She was Mom.

But then when she
started modeling again,

it was like, "Oh, my God.
She's Karen Bjornson."

I actually got to do
a show with her

during senior year
of high school.

And I wrote about it
for my college
admissions essay.

So, she's the reason
that I ended up

going to Harvard
for college, I think.

I didn't go to college.
So I felt that was...

Important.

Important.
It was a la--

I felt a lack with that.

And I wanted them
to have that.

Aw...

This is my "Cosmo" cover,
April 1972.

And it became
a very famous issue because...

[Laughter]

I retired for 13 years.

We moved to Connecticut in 1989.

I would dream about being
a model and modeling and...

and working with Halston and
hearing his voice calling me
to go out on the runway.

Those are the good dreams.

The dreams where you're
flying are the dreams
where I was working.

Then, when I was 50,
Ralph Rucci called
and asked me to do his show.

I was looking at the photos from
it, and the eyes bothered me.

Things are changing.

Go in the mirror and you push
and think, "Hmmm."

I did my eyes.

Money well spent, definitely.

Getting the product
in shape again.

I don't want to look younger.

I just wanna look well rested.

And then, you just say, "This is
as good as it gets today."

That's what I usually do
if I'm going on--a casting.

This is it.

I'm 58. I'm--I'm--

I'm a happy 58-year-old woman.

MACHADO: I was never one
to do plastic surgery.

First of all, I'm a coward.

I didn't go to the dentist
for 10 years.

So you can imagine.

Every time I go there,
I practically run him
out of the chair

before he gets me down
on the chair, ok?

So just the idea that they were
gonna do something to me.

But, of course, if it got
desperate, I would.

But now, it's past that time.

I don't buy creams.

I don't go to the facials.

I don't go to beauty parlors.

I wash my own hair.

My husband would have to
drive me there and pick me up.

That's already out, ok?

I mean, now that
I'm suddenly being
photographed at the age of 81,

I'm not that happy.

Right. You're
holding this--

Take off the--

Right. How the hell
did you do that?

I don't know.

[Laughter]

That's '58,
for Christ sakes.
Do you think I remember?

I wish he had photographed me
50 years ago.

It would have been easier.

It isn't that women
want to stay young.

It's that the whole society
makes us want to stay young.

Nothing to do with us.

I mean, you keep thinking
you're gonna be judged.

Most important thing you have

that'll make you look different
from someone else

is your expression.

So if you change that,
your whole look goes.

You could be, maybe,
better looking.

You might be more perfect.

You could--
you could fill out my cheeks,

and then, you know,
but you take out the lines.

But then there's nothing left
of you.

You know, sometime I'm surprised
that I look at images of my mom
when she was in her 30s,

and you wouldn't think she's 30s
because women in--

in 1940, 1950 seem to me
they wanted to look ladylike.

An image of a mature woman,
that it is appealing,

that it is sophisticated, it is
elegant, and that we aim at.

The modeling career is really
something that sort of brings
out your insecurities.

I mean, I remember girls who
were coming in, 25 years old,

and were worried about
their looks because there was
a 15-year-old girl next to her.

Until that time, well,
look at the model Dovima,

who was this absolute
fascinating natural beauty.

But she was a woman.

[Whistling]

You wanna know what comes
between me and my Calvin's?

Nothing,

I remember distinctly
in the "Daily News" that day,

on the front page, after
we ran the first commercials,

the Dow Jones broke 1,000.

And they put it
in the upper right-hand corner,

"Dow Jones breaks 1,000,"
which was a really big deal.

Gigantic picture
of Brooke Shields

in a charmeuse shirt
and the jeans.

Calvin Klein thrown off the air.

Someone came up to me one night
at 4:00 in the morning
at Studio 54

and asked me if I'd be
interested in doing jeans,
blue jeans.

After creating the--the--
the collection of jeans,

we decided that
we should be on TV.

Because to really reach America,

the way to do it
is through television.

I went to see Dick Avedon.

And we started to spend
every night together,
and crazy nights.

And with Doon Arbus.

And we just--
We would talk and talk.

And then Doon would be writing.

When we would read what Doon
was writing, we laughed.

Reading is to the mind
what Calvin's are to the body.

We thought that was so funny.

And provocative and interesting.

I mean,
I didn't ever think that--

that it would create such
a stir.

All I wanted to do
was sell product

and create something that
was exciting and interesting,
great to look at.

I wasn't interested
in influencing anyone else.

And we sold a lot of product.

ROSSELLINI:
When I reached my 40s,

Lancôme felt they needed
to substitute me,

in spite of the fact that
all the marketing research

proved that
I was very successful,

that people loved that
I was actually reaching 40
and doing anti-age cream,

that they loved
the familiarity of a face.

And they could follow my aging.

But the voice that won over,

and so I was asked to leave,
was the voice that women
dream to be younger.

And advertisement
is about dreams.

It's not about reality.

And I don't know
that that is true.

See, I am an old fox.

And I say, "I'll buy that cream
'cause I know that works.

"I buy that eye shadow
because I tried many

"and I know there is 5
that work.

Or this lipstick."

It's harder to sell to me.

But it's easier to sell
to my daughter.

So I think advertisement talk to
the young people, not to the
dream of women to be young.

But it has also the
bad consequences

of creating an industry
that perpetuates this idea
that women sh--

to be beautiful,
should be young and thin.

CAROL ALT: My "Playboy" stuff
made people angry.

MAN: The "Playboy" stuff
you did at 47?

48. Ha ha!
48, baby.

They asked me to do 50.
You know what?

My point was trying
to teach women

that you can be healthy
and happy.

You know, for a girl
who said to her dad,

"I promise I won't do
underwear."

This was my favorite photo.
This was my favorite shot.

I didn't like this one so much.

I just thought it was
too out there, in your face.

My mother said to me,
"Oh, Carol,

I see more in the museum,
for heaven sakes."

I'll be 50 in two weeks.

At first,
when you're 17, 18, 19--

even till 25, you can starve
yourself and lose the weight

and still maintain energy

because you're living
on the body's reserves.

One day, I was shooting, and I
was watching this other girl.

And I was the name
on the project,

but she captivated the set.

I was curious.

Like, what happened from 23
that she was

to the 33 that I was
that I went from that to this?

CARMEN DELL'ORIFICE:
When I was 37,

I was brought in by a girlfriend
to a doctor who said,

"Carmen, you have ruined,
ruined your skin."

Which I had.

He said,
"I'm gonna plane your face.

This is not a peel.
It's not acid.

It's like the dentist,
you know, when you have
your teeth cleaned."

And he took my face off.

Hello, don't give me
an argument.

Why don't I do this?
Why don't I go--

Why don't you wrestle
in a Botox...

All the new stuff.
No, I've had--

You're looking at all those
years of silicone injections
by one doctor.

Beth Ann Hartson is a tomboy.

Am I gonna do anything
to myself?

I'm gonna try
and get this ass down.

And that'll be doing planks
in the morning.

Tighten. Release.
Tighten. Ha ha!

That idea of having a nose
that's the same nose
somebody else has,

I can't imagine wanting that.

I admire many other women
and think,

"Oh, wow, she has beautiful
eyes or beautiful hair
or beautiful skin."

But it doesn't mean
that I want those things.

When you live in a culture
like we do in America

that's just going crazy with,
you know, paparazzi's
everywhere.

And what are they looking for?

They're looking for that little
bit of cellulite peeking out
from your skirt.

Collectively, it brings us down.

If I thought I'd advertise it,
I'd get a facelift.

Why shouldn't you?

Why, if--if you feel better
about yourself,

that's the most important thing
about living.

You have to like who you are.

I think Botox and whatever--
Look.

I think it's bad that we have,
as role models,

people who look scary
to small children.

They're cutting up their faces.

They're doing
all these strange things.

Their ears have gone weird.

They take fat from their bottom
and they stick it in their lip.

So when you kiss them,
you're kissing their bottom.

That is so disgusting.

Every garbage bag needs
to be changed.

The face is a tool.

You know, you can use it
in one way or another.

And I've always used my face
sort of like a mask, you know?

I like moving it around and--

I think I'm going
for the draping.

Hoo, voila.

I am debating in my head.

One day, I get up, and I say,
"Hey, there's this
new technology.

Why not use it?
Let's go do the operation."

But most of time,
I wake up saying,
"Is this the new feet binding?

"Is this a new way of
being misogynist?

"Is this a new way to tell women
you are ugly?

Deep down, you should be this
and this and this."

And you give a lot of--

other standards that are
impossible to be reached

because the laying problem
is misogyny.

In your 20s,
you want to have children.

You're looking for a mate.

Need to attract a certain thing.

It's funny. I have skin
like my grandma.

It, like, turns splotchy
in the sun.

I think it gets worse with age,
too.

So, oh, yeah, something
really nice to look forward to.

At 50, you don't need
to attract the same thing,

so why do you need to look like
you still want to attract
the same thing?

I'm 45, and I do not need to
attract fertile men anymore.

I'm not really interested.

I've got my kids, got my man.

I'm interested in attracting
different things now.

You know, I watch women my age,
my peers,

and I see how they're getting,
you know,

20 years younger-looking than I.

And it's not that I don't go,

"Hmm, I'm kind of being
left in the dust here
with my moving forehead

and my strangely elastic face."

To me, the most beautiful thing
there is in another human
is confidence.

And nothing says "I'm not
confident" as much as Botox.

MAN: But it's like
you have a contract
with a higher being.

Ha!

I mean, I know you
haven't had anything done.

No, not yet.

Not--Well, you don't--
you look--

You look amaz--
You look amazing.

Absolutely amazing.

How can you tell?

By just looking at you.
You can tell as
a hairdresser, right?

You know, like--

No, it's like--
I won't mention names,

but I worked once with
a major, major, major,
mega, mega, mega movie star.

And she was always saying
how she never, ever had
anything done.

Right.

And I saw the scars.

Right.

And she was very nervous
about me even going near her.

Right.

And she was on television
that night being interviewed.

And the interviewer said,
"You look so amazing.

Have you had anything done?"

And she said, "No. I--"

Well, I guess as long
as you look amazing,

you can pretend
that you haven't.

When I very first started
in the business,

models were still
clothes hangers.

And over the years, the industry
has allowed models to put a name
to the face.

Once people put your name
to the face,

business opportunities open up
and branding opportunities.

I need a thing.

Hey, sailor.

[Laughter]

I would say,
for the past 25 years,

they've been referring to me
as former supermodel
or former model.

But it just keeps
on chugging along.

Great.
That looks good.

That's perfect. Perfect.

WOMAN: You know, we've
got another long skirt
in white, too.

This Chloe one.

They don't have
a long one.

Yeah, we do,
don't we?

Unbelievable.
This is...

WOMAN: My sons, when they went
to college, they said,

"Mom, thank you so much
for never doing nude pictures."

Now, 30 years ago,
we didn't have Google.

And so, who would know,
when you're in a little
studio by yourself,

that 30 years later, somebody
could Google you and boom.

All the whole,
you know, lacrosse team

from my son could find my son's,
you know, mother.

For me, it was a walk
with growing up and maturing.

I went from innocent not knowing
anything to thinking that I was
better than other people.

Then I realized
I'm not happy that way.

I'm happy going home early
and working out

and just being a mother
and being a wife.

And you know,
what made Kim happy was--

was more family.

We have that
breakdown.

[Chatter]

We have
all that stuff.

Yeah, we do.
Don't we?

I'm good with A lines.
I'm good with--

All right.
Hold on.

WOMAN: Being smaller
than everybody and dark
and curly haired,

not really the look
of the times,

I had to work much, much harder

to make myself able
to participate in a shot.

I felt that there were many
girls way more beautiful
than I was.

But I did feel I was bringing
more to what I was doing than
just what I looked like.

For me, it was that,
through a picture,

I could communicate, or felt
like I could communicate.

That's where beauty lies, is how
do you come up with a smile?

How do you find it without being
superficial?

And how do you translate your
experiences, good and bad,

into something that's meaningful
to yourself and to others?

We're gonna set
the seamless.

We don't have the same 12-footer
that we had in New York.

Take this out of--
take it out.

[Chatter]

Oh, my god.
Ha ha ha.

There she is.

So why don't you hire a model
who's got long legs?

Ha ha!

I don't know if I would
become a top model today

because the looks are so...
glamorous and exotic.

Well, I think that people saw
a sweetness that they liked.

For a long time,
people didn't know my name.

But I was this person that they
felt very close to, which was
always very interesting to me.

Because sometimes
I would sit in a salon,

and I would hear the people say
to one another,

"Have a good time
at the birthday party tonight.

And say hi to your grandma."

And I thought, you know, they
have this little community.

They have this little, you know,
family that they go to
every day

and friendships,
which I never had.

And then, "Cover Girl," "Sports
Illustrated," and "Time"
magazine used my name.

And then, it got to be
so I'd walk down the street

and people would say,
"Hi, Cheryl."

And that was a good feeling
because...

I felt, well,
I have a lot of friends.

You know, and if anything ever
happened to me,

I fainted in an airport
or whatever,

I would know that there would be
a lot of people there.

When I finished
my college education,

my agent said to me,
"Cheryl, you finished
your formal education.

"But the key to beauty,
and I've always believed this,

"is always educating yourself,
always learning something new,
always doing something new.

Have something to talk about."

And I never forgot that.

And I think that that's
how one ages beautifully.

Wedding plans.
My daughter.

Getting married.

Long neck and shoulders,
back and down.

And relax my mouth. Ok.
Thank you, sweetheart.

I love you.

I just want to just
cut a bit off here,

bit off here,
open you up.

Yes.
Too heavy in--

Too heavy, yes.

And just
open it up and...

Gosh.
Thank you.

Ha ha!
Ha ha!

You were my last
"Vogue" cover.

MAN: What year was that?

About 1845.

[Laughter]

JOHNSON: I just don't think
discrimination can be a trend.

In the stadium at Fashion Week,
every culture is there.

But particularly, a lot of
people of color are there.

And here on the runway
are just all white models,
very clone-like.

And here we are peering
into this sacred world.

I didn't like that
one freakin' bit.

A designer would call me
and say, "Ok, I gotta
talk to you.

You gotta find me
a great black girl."

I said, "Ok, sounds good.
How many girls are you using?"

"36."

"And you want me to find you
one great black girl?"

They said, "Yes."

And I said, "Now, don't you see
there's a problem with that
right there?"

And no one wants to think
themselves as a racist.

But no matter how much they say,
"Oh, it's not my aesthetic.

It's just not my aesthetic."

The word aesthetic is borderline
racist at this point.

In 1958, I came here
in September, and I was
photographed by Avedon.

"Harper's Bazaar" did not want
to publish the photographs

because I was the first
non-Caucasian.

They said, "Everybody
in the South is gonna drop
their subscriptions."

And Dick said,
"I'm not gonna renew my contract

unless you publish
these pictures."

But Dick also told me,
"Your career will be
very restricted

because you're
too exotic looking.

You're not gonna be used
in catalogues.

You're gonna have a few ads,"
which I did have.

"And you're gonna do editorial."

But he said, "You know,
that's not enough for you.

You should do more."

I became senior fashion editor
in "Harper's Bazaar" in 1962.

Can you imagine?
It was only 3 years before

that they didn't even want me
published in the magazine?

I was a TV producer.
I had my own store.

I sat at another magazine
called "Leers"

for the woman who was over 45.

I brought up two children.

No one ever gave me $20.

How would I sum up my life?

I'm a survivor.

WOMAN: While I'm
late for a plane.
I'm like--

I had no idea that
he was that type of guy.

WOMAN:
Oh, you did not?

Oh, he loved the tomboy.

Oh, he loved angst.

This was really a departure
for me.

It really was just about
making some money

to help my father
pay for my education.

It was never, like,
"Oh, I think I'm so gorgeous."

When that first editor in John
Stember's studio said to me,

"You're too big for our clothes.
Your hair looks like shit.

And who the hell
plucks your eyebrows?"

Well, I was too big
for their clothes.

And my hair did look like shit.

And who the hell
plucked my eyebrows? I did.

So, it didn't hurt me.

Like, I don't care.
I knew who I was.

I knew where I was going.

I mean, after that,
it changed a little bit,

but I always still knew
who I was.

I'm a fireman's daughter
from Long Island.

And it'll never change, ever.

If this the way
to cut hair?

Oh, it's how
I do it.

Now my 8-year-old is gonna look
at me and go, "Who are you?"

Ha ha!

TAYLOR: I did get self esteem
from succeeding in something.

It was not an easy thing to do,
and I succeeded.

That gives me real,
true core confidence.

Good,
stay like that.

I don't regret anything.

I see that it could have
gone a different way,

and I still don't regret
anything.

I did what I had to do.

Where I am right now
is where I need to be.

And I'm just really glad
I didn't die in the process.

MAN:
Yeah, right there.

Good.

WOMAN:
Am I covering the boob?
Yeah, you're good.

Right, stay like that.
Very simple changing.

Not very much.
Gorgeous.

All right, we got--
Oh, sorry. We got to catch up.

[Laughter]

Thank God for fashion
'cause where would I be now?

I was just praying,
"God, please give me
something that I can do."

In the '50s, you know, how as--
with women

and the physique
and the kind of beauty.

And I was absolutely
not beautiful.

And fashion gave me feathers,

'cause I could fit
into the clothes.

And that made me feel sexy
and beautiful,

just like the girls
who were well endowed.

I was staying in Rome with
Danielle Luna, and were decided
to go see Josephine Baker.

She loved us.

She--She told us how important
we were to her.

She said, "Well, my girls, I
have faith that everything I did

was worthwhile
because I see you here."

PORIZKOVA:
I don't really know
when it happened

where one day I thought, "I
deserve to be called beautiful."

That thought probably
didn't even come to me
until about two years ago

when I looked at old pictures
of myself and thought,
"Damn, I was good looking.

What was wrong with me
back then?"

Ok, now this is--

Ha ha!

Oh, my.

Now, this is what
I want you to--

It's Morticia.

PORIZKOVA:
I look at pictures of myself

back when, you know, I was 24
or whatever,

and I thought I had fat thighs
and ugly legs and puffy legs and
neh, neh, neh, neh, neh.

And I look at my body now,
I'm like, "I should've been
naked all the time."

'Cause now, I go to the gym,
like, 6 times a week and,
mmmm, no.

But I know that
by the time I'm 75,

I'm gonna go,
"What was I talking about?

For a 40--
I mean, looked--I looked great.

Feeling beautiful is
being self confident.

And modeling doesn't
have anything to do
with self confidence.

Working off of your looks
makes you pretty--

makes you pretty much the
opposite of self confident.

So maybe I became beautiful
once I stopped modeling.

ROSSELLINI:
For sure, my social stature
has diminished

because I know I'm not invited
to the "A" parties anymore.

Ha ha! My daughter is.

What is completely disappeared
from society is the wisdom of
the old people.

Ha ha!

As you grow old,
you don't count anymore.

So that is, I think, the
greatest fear about growing old.

And until a few years ago,
as you grew older, your
social status grew.

You were a person of experience.
You were a person of wisdom.

You were a person that
lived throughout the crisis

and would be able
to help handle it.

I remember my ma,
she told me once

that growing old,
well, that's the only way
to have a long life.

And I'd rather have that.

She didn't seem to be
very affected by old age.

And that might have been also
another reason why I don't feel
that affected by it either.

Of course it's no fun getting
old and sick and dying.

We all know that's coming,
and it's a bore.

But people are living longer.

They're healthier longer.

They have sex longer.

Why shouldn't we be allowed
to age?

And why shouldn't we be
respected for it?

When I turned 50,
I felt a sense of achievement.

I've lived 50 years.
I've made it.

I think there's something
to be said for that

and to be celebrated.

And the other thing about
getting older is you can be
a little more eccentric,

you know?

People let you.
Sleep late.

Go around in your lingerie.

Ha ha ha!

BERENSON:
Women have to be everything.

Mothers, lovers, wives,
business women.

They have to know how to do
everything today.

It wasn't like that
in our day so much.

You know, we just flew through
those periods just completely--

I look back at that time.

If I had been maybe
a more business minded,
like women are today,

at the peak of my career,
I basically gave it up and
got married and had a child.

I don't think regret is a good
thing because you can't do
anything about it.

So it's a useless emotion.

If I hadn't done it that way,
I would never have
had my daughter,

I wouldn't have had
the learning experience
of all of the ups and downs.

The most important part
of my life is to

feel like an asset
to the world at least
in some small way.

I mean, we're only
little, tiny creatures here
and then we go elsewhere.

While one's passing
on this planet, you know,

to at least leave a little ray
of light, I think, is important.

I guess I began to feel I was ok
when somebody I really loved

kissed me.

It's not so much what
I'm seeing in the mirror

but what I'm, you know, feeling
in a connection with somebody

I want to feel close to.

The society has
decided the age 50 to 100
is not sexually viable.

But someday the models of today
are gonna be my age.

I think my career
has lasted so long,

which is now 65 years,

because I'm not doing this thing
in front of the camera

to get love and be approved of.

I get my love privately.

When I go into a casting, which
I do as little as possible,

'cause if they don't know
who I am by now, forget it.

And they say,
"Oh, you're too tall.

Or you're not this,"
or whatever, I just leave.

It's as simple as that.

There's another job
or there isn't another job.

We all have to go sometime.

And when I go, I wanna go
with my high heels on.

Ha ha!

LOU REED: ♪ All of those things
yeah, that you got to give ♪

♪ Yeah, you wear it so well ♪

♪ You wear it
so well ♪

♪ Yeah, you wear it so well ♪

♪ You wear it
so well ♪

♪ All of the stories, honey,
that I know you could tell ♪

♪ Yeah, you wear it so well ♪

♪ ...well ♪

♪ And your face hides it
so we can't tell ♪

♪ That you knew
we'd wear so well ♪

♪ You wear it so well ♪

♪ You wear it
so well ♪

♪ Yeah, darling,
you wear it so well ♪

♪ You wear it
so well ♪

♪ Yeah, baby ♪

♪ You wear it so well ♪

♪ You wear it
so well ♪

♪ Yeah, now, baby ♪

♪ You wear it so well ♪

♪ You wear it
so well ♪

♪ Yeah, now, darling, now ♪

♪ Yeah, you wear it so well ♪

♪ You wear it
so well ♪

♪ All of those things
that make poets sing ♪

♪ You wear it so well ♪

♪ Yeah, you hide it so well ♪

♪ And all of the things
that you used to tell ♪

♪ You hide it so well ♪

♪ Can't tell from your face
that you knew it so well ♪