Her Top Eight

I woke up this morning to a post that my man wrote about the women who have made an impact on him and shaped his beauty standards during his boyhood, teenage years and (lucky for me!) the present.

I MADE THE LIST!! And in the top spot! Now, do I really believe I beat out Farrah, Suzanne, Angelina, Donna, Naomi et al??? YES!!!! Because every single day this man makes me feel like I am the prettiest, sexiest, and most interesting woman on the planet. That got me thinking…how have the women that I admired during my formative years (and beyond) shaped my own ideas of beauty? And does that admiration influence how I feel about my own features, figure and aging? I was fortunate to grow up in an era before breast and butt augmentation, long pointy salon fingernails, and designer labels (unless you count the Gloria Vanderbilt jeans I saved up for ;-) The women on my list are from my generation…well, a few are older…a few a little younger…two are no longer with us…one is much younger…but they all have something in common. Let’s see what that might be. 1. Ali McGraw The year was 1970 and the movie, “Love Story” was a smash hit. Everyone was going around reciting the famous line (which we now know is completely ridiculous and misguided) “love means never having to say you’re sorry.” My mom and older sister took me to the drive-in to see the double feature of “Love Story” and the disaster movie, “Airport.” I was seven, blonde and blue-eyed…and mesmerized by the raven haired, brown eyed beauty of Ali McGraw. She featured heavily in magazine spreads…with her bohemian style, bra-less aesthetic and HATS! My love of hats was born in that Chevy Nova with the drive-in speaker hooked onto the window.

2. Susan Dey I’ll never forget sitting on the floor in front of the TV in our 10x12 living room and watching “The Partridge Family” from 1970-1974. All my school friends talked about the lead, David Cassidy…and he WAS a cutie!…but, I paid just as much attention to Lori Partridge, played by Susan Dey. She was tall and thin and graceful…with long straight hair…and she wore bell bottoms! I do believe I bought the pair of bell bottom blue jeans off EBay that I wore on our trip to Idyllwild to see the snow because of Susan Dey.

3. Farrah Fawcett She made both of our lists…so I’ll include the iconic poster! 1976! I was 13 and had never seen anything like Farrah! We all had our hair “feathered” cut and rode skateboards because her character, Jill, rode one in an episode of “Charlie’s Angels.” It was all for naught…out of all the beauties and style icons on my list…Farrah is the one who, in my opinion, had a beauty that was the most unattainable. The hair…that SMILE. In my mind, no one has come close to her for “California Blonde Beauty” save the next one on my list….

4. Christie Brinkley Heading into the 1980’s, Christie Brinkley was this high schooler’s summer ideal…long, blonde hair…golden tan…long limbs…. She is the first model on this list and she made being tall cool. Christie is about 5’10…the same height I was until I grew another two inches ;-)

5. Brooke Shields The year is 1981 and this is a still from the movie, “Endless Love.” Parts of this was filmed in Hyde Park in Chicago and this is how Brooke hit my radar. We all went to see this movie…a bit embarrassing since I went with my two maiden aunts and there was a steamy sex scene. Brooke was 15 here, a natural beauty…but also an unattainable one. I don’t think I’ve ever consciously borrowed from her style wise..not even a pair of Calvin’s…she makes the list on beauty alone. Like a statue. Or a painting.

6. Jane Birken I became aware of Jane, rest her soul, long after her ingenue heyday in France. In 1984, Hermés started making “the Birken bag”…a purse inspired by Jane. I read about it in the fashion pages of Vanity Fair Magazine that included a small photo of Jane. I had to know more! So I went to the library and found other photos of her in French magazines…but it was only with the internet age that I’ve found a treasure trove of photos and video clips from her movies or concerts. To see a young Jane, with bangs…her simple French bohemian style…bra-less…all arms and legs…one wonders how the Kardashian aesthetic of breasts, asses, a face full of makeup, spiked heels, and wigs ever became a thing.

7. Cameron Diaz Cameron first caught my eye in the movie, “The Mask,” but it was “Something About Mary” where we all fell in love with her. She was so simple looking…sweater sets, short bob hairstyle, barrettes, Keds sneakers… She was tall and geeky and casual…and like most tall girls, she wore capri pants in this movie. A style I still live and die by today.

8. Gisele The only modern beauty on this list…and one who I just started paying attention to in 2016. Another natural looking girl who just happens to be the highest paid super model ever…it was her cat walk at the 2016 games in Rio to one of my favorite songs, “The Girl from Ipanema” that made me say, “wow!” Because she is an addition to my list long past my own formative years, I don’t think she impacts my own style or beauty regimen…but she does make me take up yoga every few months, lol. She’s been practicing daily for 20 years…and I’ve been torturing my wrists on the mat off and on for 7 years now.

And, there you have it. A few of the women who have shaped my beauty ideals. Oh…and since I made the rule that the top 10 had to be pared down to the top 8, Angelina Jolie and Grace Kelly didn’t make the cut. PS…if I were to do a top 8 of the men that I have had crushes on over the years, it would include: A young William F Buckley, Roger Daltry (Tommy era), Robert Redford (“The Way We Were” era), Robert Conrad (The Wild, Wild West era) Shaun Cassidy, Alan Rickman, Adrian Brody and (since I’ve officially entered my ‘robbing the cradle’ era,) Harry Styles. But, that’s a whole other post!