About Face: Supermodels Then and Now

Supermodel Paulina Porizkova and Director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

I was looking forward to seeing portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield- Sanders HBO documentary about the stories of the original "Supermodels".  I had memories of many of these beauties gracing the covers of magazines I devoured.

It's challenging enough for many of us to face our own aging faces. I was curious to hear how much harder that must be for these women, who were lauded for their great beauty and lead incredibly glamorous lives.The voyeur in me, also was curious to see how well, (or badly!) they had aged.

It's a sprawling cast that includes: Isabella Rosellini, Jerry Hall, Christie Brinkley, Beverly Johnson, Pat, Cleveland, Patti Hansen, Marissa Berenson, Kim Alexis, Carol, Alt, Dayle Haddon, Bethann Hardison, Paulina Porzkova, Lisa Taylor, Cheryl Tiegs, China Machado and the exquisite 80 year old Carmen Dell'Orefice.

Some of the women were more well known for their runway work, since their ethnicity kept them from being featured in print, until Beverly Johnson broke that barrier by being the first African American model to land a Vogue cover.

Supermodels Then and Now is strongest when it spends enough time letting its subjects reflect about their experiences in depth. I got to "know"Isabella Rosellini, Carmen Dell'Orefice, China Machado, Jerry Hall, Marissa Berenson, Pat Cleveland, Bethann Hardison and Paulina Porizkova.  I appreciated hearing their stories and was happy to hear how comfortable they are in their older skin.

The others seemed air brushed over, so to speak.  I would have been more content with either another hour, so we got to hear every ones tale, or sticking with a smaller cast and delving deeper into the feelings about their physical aging.

Seriously...can we tawk about plastic surgery???  Throw me a bone.

Almost all of the women were still stunningly beautiful.  Most looked to be slim and healthy which, to a large degree is something that is within our control. I'll admit to breathing a sigh of relief..to some extent, if they can keep it together, so can we...

I just wish I knew how they were doing it.

xox,
DD