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X- Not necessary now that the 'long view' is taken.

So I'm guessing that you haven't been too interested in the recent runway scene? A lot of your models are from the mid 2000s-ish or earlier.

Cindy Crawford was probably my first model crush- since I was maybe 7 years old. I remember watching one of the awful movies she starred in, and was heavily influenced by her as a beauty symbol.

Some of the Favorite Models...

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Disclaimer: Criteria varies per category .

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Favorite Editorial Models

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Interrestingly enough, this is probably the biggest group and also the group where attractiveness matters the least compared to other groups. That's not to say that some aren't also attractive.

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Gemma Ward

Tiiu Kiuk

Sasha Pivovorova

Shalom Harlow

Coco Rocha

Ana Maria 'Jaggy' Jagodzinska

Tsanna Latouche

Tanya D.

Daria Werbowy

Alana Zimmer

Many more since this is probably the biggest group, so need to think about that.

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Favorite Runway Models

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Gemma Ward

Naomi Campbell

Gisele Buncheon

Shalom Harlow

Cintia Dicker

Natasha Poly

Jordanna Dunn

more...

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Cosmetic Commercial Models

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Christie Turlington

Jessica White

Erin Wasson

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Spokesmodels

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Cindy Crawford

Behati Prinsloo

Marisa Miller

others

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Red Carpet/Event Models

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Iman

Liya Kebede

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more to come...*edit* Wrong thread, but you get the idea .

Are you trying to say, 'get with the times, geezer?!' Interesting observation, although I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it. Of course, my seeing past, present and future as simultaneous may be to blame, but that's a different discussion altogether anyway . With the runway, my criteria is mainly fluidity, presence and having a unique style in some way. Some have a unique walk and others have a certain confidence and alluring quality. It so happens that some of my favorite editorial models are awful on the runway though (such as Tiiu, Sasha P. ect.) whereas many commercial, plus sized and short models with superior style aren't likely to have equal opportunity obviously. As to the current runway scene, I don't see as many who are overly distinctive in terms of runway style, but I'm still a fan of the designers as well although most of the same ones are still working as did with the other models. There are still other past and current ones I could add to the group though. Standing out should probably be as if not more important than ever though since there are more models than ever and there's so much competition with celebs (many who are more model than anything else anyway) than ever.

My cousin struggled to get his Ph.D in law and I have several doctors in my family. My parents originally encouraged that I go pre-med, but they were scientifically illiterate types (like most people) and they did not have the ability to child-rear a future doctor with the proper early encouragement like studying biology, etc.. My uncles and cousins went and succeeded on a decade long...tortuous, high risk path and many people who attempted their way failed or dropped out with them.

I remember living with my cousins during summer vacation as a child being shocked at how much work and studying they did- literally, that's all they did with their lives. One was a Ph.D candidate and the other was trying to make his way into internal medicine. And they couldn't do anything else- no hobbies, girlfriend, friends, etc., because the competition & responsibilities were so brutal that to fail or drop out after they had suffered so much would have been an immense personal loss. Their choice of occupation also demanded full mental attention- the mastery of an immense amount of complex, esoteric material and techniques that most people would never want to do.

Yeah, law as in lawyer, but I was never formally educated in it. When I was a kid, I wanted to be like one of my cousins who was a lawyer. They let me read their books and terminology dictionaries, but when they lost a case due to a technicality, I was discouraged from that path. The person was obviously guilty and later even confessed, but they attained the evidence without a warrant. Then the next one got off by making a deal to give up someone worse. Of course, that happens all the time, but still had a big effect. Also, moving to the city removed a lot of the perceived glitz although there are more women . I've come to enjoy both though.

LOL, that hits him right on the head and seeing the word aristocracy reminds me of one of my first lists, 'Top 200 Words that Should Be Brought Back to General Usage.' Needless to say, I started narrowing it down to 20 or less since then . It is pretty funny to me that he uses phrases like 'pulling yourself up by the bootstraps' ect. and thinks of himself as the example of the American Dream due to being bankrupt a few times despite the fact that he was born rich. Last time I checked, being born rich wasn't part of the American Dream outline . On the other hand, a lot of the software giants were born somewhat well off but I still find them more interesting seeing as how they are at least innovators and showed some creativity. Of course, its no coincidence that many are the same age and from California, making them also at the perfect place at the perfect time as well, but still more interesting to me anyway.

The 1990s tech guys (Gates, Dell, Ellingson, Jobs, Grove, etc.) have the US venture capital system (there's a important street in Cali called Sand Hill Road) to thanks for capitalizing and investing tens or hundreds of millions into their companies. It's a form of entitlement too in a way- (basically, a national competitive advantage). For instance, Japan never succeeded in developing such an infrastructure and their high tech entrepreneurs suffered accordingly and many found their way into the states (California and Seattle, especially).

But yeah, the Tech titans were part of groups that had a correct vision of what the future was to be like, and were able to execute their plans within the US system. They were the survivors.

With the American dream folklore, no matter what politicians say I think it's best for middle class average people to consign themselves to the fact that their chances of becoming billionaires are slim...but the American ultrarich's version of the American dream- which is turning 9 figures into 10 or 11..perhaps hits closer to home...

Haha, yeah, sort of. I was just guessing that you moved on after the mid-late 2000s. Some of those models (eg. Gemma) have moved past their day in the sun as far as high fashion goes...

You are right about the lack of distinction, though. Many models look too much alike.

Are you trying to say, 'get with the times, geezer?!' Interesting observation, although I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it. Of course, my seeing past, present and future as simultaneous may be to blame, but that's a different discussion altogether anyway . With the runway, my criteria is mainly fluidity, presence and having a unique style in some way. Some have a unique walk and others have a certain confidence and alluring quality. It so happens that some of my favorite editorial models are awful on the runway though (such as Tiiu, Sasha P. ect.) whereas many commercial, plus sized and short models with superior style aren't likely to have equal opportunity obviously. As to the current runway scene, I don't see as many who are overly distinctive in terms of runway style, but I'm still a fan of the designers as well although most of the same ones are still working as did with the other models. There are still other past and current ones I could add to the group though. Standing out should probably be as if not more important than ever though since there are more models than ever and there's so much competition with celebs (many who are more model than anything else anyway) than ever.

My criteria, which is self evident, is merely just derived from photos. I watch no videos at all. But your criteria is what I look for as well. I also consider the idea that 'this model is so gorgeous that she is almost from a different species' to be critical...

Winning big as a model looks very slim and appears to require very good agents/agencies that understand trends and how to promote their...'product'.

There was a model (the mediocre Carmeron Russell) that did a TED conference speech where she compared her success to winning the lottery. I wouldn't say it's that bad, but beyond talent, it looks like a lot of circumstances and moving pieces have to align to get one through. For instance, this person's parents were very wealthy majority shareholders of a publicly traded company and had contacts in Ford agency which had to help in some way.

There was an advocacy movie being hosted here called 'Girl Model' that was about the losers of the modeling process (Combing eastern European countries for beauties) with middlemen that I never got to see. But its contents should have some value.

Good break down of the titans. We could probably fill up a thread with studies about the benefits of having an environment of cultivate your talents. I mean, would Gates be Gates if he had been born in Mississippi at that time? That's not to take away from his hard work of course. I have a Sudanese friend who, if he's not a genius has to be close to it, but didn't have access to too many books until he was like 12. He's technically way smarter than most people I know, but wasn't in as good of an environment to cultivate his talents. Law is definitely a tough path, which is probably whey most of the ones I know take to the bottle . I guess that's the thing with the arts is there's so much subjectivity involved as art is subjective naturally. If you go to law school and excel, chances are, you're going to become a lawyer. If you make it through military training, chances are, you're going to be a soldier. On the other hand, there are amazing singers working 'regular' jobs because they didn't have 'the look' or they were 'too old' or maybe were young with the look and just didn't run into the right people. With acting, they say that if you haven't broken in by your teenage years, you can give it up in most cases. There are obviously great actors who could win golden globes given the opportunity, but will never get an opportunity. The same thing seems to go for models. I see slim, 5'10 women that look better than many of the top models all of the time who'll never get their foot in the door. Then, even with those in the business, some designer can decide on a whim that your look isn't in style anymore he and no one hear from you too much after. I remember when gaps first came in style, there was a girl saying an agent told her that she was 'too pretty' and that edgy was the new pretty. That ship seems to have sailed a bit as it looks like 'pretty' is pretty again although the others still have great success at the same time. People want to believe that Laetitia or whoever made it because she's one in a billion because that is more inspiring than 'right place at right time' . Are the Beetles one in a billion? Maybe, but are Nickleback? The right place at the right time benefits all.

My Criteria

Commercial - good looks . Seeing as how I find commercial modeling boring for the most part, looks are the primary criteria for me on that end . I do require some charisma

of some kind for cosmetics ads though.

High Fashion Editorials - ability to convey the mood of the setting and general versatility. Looks don't hurt although not particularly mandatory. If you don't have naturally unique looks, said ability is more vital. For example, Erin Heatherton probably has hundreds of sisters walking around out there, but in her high fashion days, she had the modeling skills. As a commercial model, however, she just seems like another Californian blonde at the mall to me .

Commercial Runway - looks and charisma.

High Fashion Runway - distinctiveness, ability to embody said clothes and general style. I'd like to have picture examples, but imageshack and tinypic seems to delete my stuff as soon as I post it.

Indeed, you have a lot of good insights here.

Much of ultra celebrity is governed by circumstances and randomness.

With Gates, he was a rich guy's son and he and Paul Allen were able to work and experiment on computers at a corporate and government R&D labs since they were teens in the 1980s. (pretty incredible, since back then this was cutting edge stuff..). The duo went into business and their endeavors were backed by a series of millionaire sponsors that met them at the labs. But Paul Allen eventually grew tired of leading microsoft with Gates (infighting) and left with his billions$ of microsoft shareholder capital. There is an account of this in Paul Allen's autobiography 'Idea Man'.

There were a lot of close hairs as I recall- The platform role that microsoft took could have easily gone to IBM if a single corporate decision (regarding rights and patents) was made differently by 'big blue'. Pretty remarkable. But right now, microsoft is very much a mature company and no longer the biggest corporation in the world.

Good break down of the titans. We could probably fill up a thread with studies about the benefits of having an environment of cultivate your talents. I mean, would Gates be Gates if he had been born in Mississippi at that time? That's not to take away from his hard work of course. I have a Sudanese friend who, if he's not a genius has to be close to it, but didn't have access to too many books until he was like 12. He's technically way smarter than most people I know, but wasn't in as good of an environment to cultivate his talents. Law is definitely a tough path, which is probably whey most of the ones I know take to the bottle . I guess that's the thing with the arts is there's so much subjectivity involved as art is subjective naturally. If you go to law school and excel, chances are, you're going to become a lawyer. If you make it through military training, chances are, you're going to be a soldier. On the other hand, there are amazing singers working 'regular' jobs because they didn't have 'the look' or they were 'too old' or maybe were young with the look and just didn't run into the right people. With acting, they say that if you haven't broken in by your teenage years, you can give it up in most cases. There are obviously great actors who could win golden globes given the opportunity, but will never get an opportunity. The same thing seems to go for models. I see slim, 5'10 women that look better than many of the top models all of the time who'll never get their foot in the door. Then, even with those in the business, some designer can decide on a whim that your look isn't in style anymore he and no one hear from you too much after. I remember when gaps first came in style, there was a girl saying an agent told her that she was 'too pretty' and that edgy was the new pretty. That ship seems to have sailed a bit as it looks like 'pretty' is pretty again although the others still have great success at the same time. People want to believe that Laetitia or whoever made it because she's one in a billion because that is more inspiring than 'right place at right time' . Are the Beetles one in a billion? Maybe, but are Nickleback? The right place at the right time benefits all.

Good point on Laetitia. Someone like her would be passed over for modeling today- and so would many of the supermodels back in the 80s/90s.

One of my favorite models- Freja- could be somebody like this. Her career, after a few years of super-success seems to have hit a brick wall all of a sudden as her unique look became less in demand. I hope somebody more knowledgeable could fill me in on this...

My Criteria

Commercial - good looks . Seeing as how I find commercial modeling boring for the most part, looks are the primary criteria for me on that end . I do require some charisma

of some kind for cosmetics ads though.

High Fashion Editorials - ability to convey the mood of the setting and general versatility. Looks don't hurt although not particularly mandatory. If you don't have naturally unique looks, said ability is more vital. For example, Erin Heatherton probably has hundreds of sisters walking around out there, but in her high fashion days, she had the modeling skills. As a commercial model, however, she just seems like another Californian blonde at the mall to me .

Commercial Runway - looks and charisma.

High Fashion Runway - distinctiveness, ability to embody said clothes and general style. I'd like to have picture examples, but imageshack and tinypic seems to delete my stuff as soon as I post it.

Your criteria is definitely more specific than mine. I also find commercial modeling to be mostly boring and overly photoshopped but there's still stuff worth saving in my view. I like Editorials the best (like most people). I never saw Erin Heatherton's early career as she was already in VS by the time I joined BZ.

I think she has a nose job, BTW... :neo2:

Why don't you try hosting galleries with postimage.org? I think all my junkyard galleries are still there (I hope). Individual images do disappear after a few days, though.

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Karlie's back: This is the Karlie I miss and lurve...

Vogue USA July 2013

“Destination Detox”

Ph: Mario Testino

nudity

facebook.com/hyaku.kato via WilliamsLe010919

I'll have to give that imagehost a shot . That is an interesting point about the supers and even a comparatively recent model like Freja. On the other hand, now that 'thinspiration' seems to not be in fashion as much, I don't see as many of those either and the ones I do have gained a little weight.

It is always good to see Karlie doing high fashion work . One of the models I can't quite explain my liking for is Lara Stone. I know some would automatically answer by patronizing her by saying she has a great body, but to me Brooklyn Decker's body is highly similar and she does nothing for me . I do find her face interesting although she's not one of the 100 prettiest Dutch women I've seen by any means and I usually view edgy beauties in an artistic more so than attractive light. Maybe she just gives me a cavewoman vibe that I like . Along the lines of models making it currently, I really wonder the same thing with actresses. For example, Kathy Bates is one I really like, but in recent times, she probably wouldn't have been considered to have 'the look' and would have probably faced discrimination. On the flip side, there's probably some 90s D list beauties who maybe would have fared better recently. Placement is fascinating in that way. Stone also doesn't have a particularly pleasant voice although I don't mind it. I think I like when she looks pissed the most .

Lovely vid of Julia here

Lovely vid of Julia here

Thanks Lindsay...I miss seeing her model. : )

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I think Lara Stone has an significantly better model face and incrementally body than Brooklyn Decker. Their bodies are similar, (but pre-pregnancy) Lara's has simply been in better shape while Brooklyn has gained weight over the years.

Lara's face can be found in many artworks featuring beautiful women over the past few hundred years. I suspect that that's a source of her popularity. Personally, my memory of her consists of her numerous 'artsy' nudes....which tends to stand out.

I'll have to give that imagehost a shot . That is an interesting point about the supers and even a comparatively recent model like Freja. On the other hand, now that 'thinspiration' seems to not be in fashion as much, I don't see as many of those either and the ones I do have gained a little weight.

It is always good to see Karlie doing high fashion work . One of the models I can't quite explain my liking for is Lara Stone. I know some would automatically answer by patronizing her by saying she has a great body, but to me Brooklyn Decker's body is highly similar and she does nothing for me . I do find her face interesting although she's not one of the 100 prettiest Dutch women I've seen by any means and I usually view edgy beauties in an artistic more so than attractive light. Maybe she just gives me a cavewoman vibe that I like . Along the lines of models making it currently, I really wonder the same thing with actresses. For example, Kathy Bates is one I really like, but in recent times, she probably wouldn't have been considered to have 'the look' and would have probably faced discrimination. On the flip side, there's probably some 90s D list beauties who maybe would have fared better recently. Placement is fascinating in that way. Stone also doesn't have a particularly pleasant voice although I don't mind it. I think I like when she looks pissed the most .

Her face is definitely fascinating. Speaking of such, this is a model http://www.bellazon.com/main/topic/6585-agnieszka-wichniewicz/ who I have a strange crush on although she probably wouldn't be considered conventionally striking. She just has a certain renaissance kind of look that I find interesting for some reason .

Karlie's back: This is the Karlie I miss and lurve...

Say, have you seen any of the game Remember Me? It has some pretty interesting ideas, but it's received understandably mixed reviews and fails to live up to a lot of its potential. Some of the design is just gorgeous though (Y)

deadendthrills.com

Unfortunately, I never heard of it...After 'Rising Storm' last month, I haven't been paying attention to games. I've just done a search on youtube and the whole thing is already uploaded.

What do you think of it, and what should I look for? Thanks for the recommendation. :blueeyedbaby:

Say, have you seen any of the game Remember Me? It has some pretty interesting ideas, but it's received understandably mixed reviews and fails to live up to a lot of its potential. Some of the design is just gorgeous though (Y)

Her face is definitely fascinating. Speaking of such, this is a model http://www.bellazon....ka-wichniewicz/ who I have a strange crush on although she probably wouldn't be considered conventionally striking. She just has a certain renaissance kind of look that I find interesting for some reason .

Quite a few high fashion models have faces that somebody with knowledge of art history would recognize. A recent one: Amanda Booth has a classic nose.

Art and models that look like art!

Still not really compelled to follow her, but that editorial is extraordinary (Y)

I miss seeing her do that sort of thing. Her portfolio in 2011 was awesome...

Just a note:

#- I am going to do an index of my junkyard links. It's about time that I do..

Note 2- Layla's comments about hair reminds me that I have an thread idea about models, so-called 'severe foreheads' and bangs.

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I made my bangs thread.  Please vote!!!:

http://www.bellazon.com/main/topic/48999-to-bang-or-not-to-bang/

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Also, Sanja uploaded this in Dewi's thread: I just loved it.  

Unfortunately, I never heard of it...After 'Rising Storm' last month, I haven't been paying attention to games. I've just done a search on youtube and the whole thing is already uploaded.

What do you think of it, and what should I look for? Thanks for the recommendation. :blueeyedbaby:

 

Say, have you seen any of the game Remember Me? It has some pretty interesting ideas, but it's received understandably mixed reviews and fails to live up to a lot of its potential. Some of the design is just gorgeous though (Y)

From the wiki it says that the game is designed around 'Neo-Paris'.  So someone native to the city would understand it better.  I've seen a few glimpses on youtube and there are interesting ideas.  It's really weird 'world', actually.  I don't really know what's going on and what the artistic significance/influences are...What are the monsters, for instance?

Are there many NPCs in it?  From my google I only see the architecture but no people.

The most outstanding part of it is the design of the world, and the extent and detail to which it was realised. The most disappointing thing about it though is how little of it you get to actually see and explore, being such a linear game. Like I said it's really quite beautiful and fascinating. Beyond that, they tried some interesting things with game mechanics which fell short of its potential. The story is quite interesting, although rife with cliches.. you'd probably not get much out of watching the YouTube footage. It's another of those I have the "The Art of..." books of (Y)

 

From the wiki it says that the game is designed around 'Neo-Paris'.  So someone native to the city would understand it better.  I've seen a few glimpses on youtube and there are interesting ideas.  It's really weird 'world', actually.  I don't really know what's going on and what the artistic significance/influences are...What are the monsters, for instance?

 

Are there many NPCs in it?  From my google I only see the architecture but no people.

The enemies are largely either armoured human security guards, or things called 'leapers', which are mutated people who've come about as the result of 'memory addiction'. Basically splicers from Bioshock, but substitute Adam with memories

From what I've seen, the design is intricate but it doesn't feel like 'people live here' like Metro most certainly does. It is 'different' though..  I'll say more when I see more.

Speaking of this, what do you think of 'The Last of Us' and the whole Zombie novel, comic book, TV show, and videogame craze?  As with most entertainment fads this one passed without me taking part in it.  I saw 'Shawn of the Dead' and '28 days later + sequel' and that's about it.

 

Much of the game is you on your own, up on rooftops, underground, in high security facilities, etc - so there aren't that many NPCs you encounter. Most of them are these 'valet' robots doing menial jobs, but they aren't interactive. There are only a handful of locations that are populated with people. You can overhear conversations, and some will acknowledge you but it's not on the same level as Metro/Bioshock.

The enemies are largely either armoured human security guards, or things called 'leapers', which are mutated people who've come about as the result of 'memory addiction'. Basically splicers from Bioshock, but substitute Adam with memories

 

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Junkyard update!

http://www.bellazon.com/main/topic/44606-cult-icons-junkyard/page-18

Quite a few high fashion models have faces that somebody with knowledge of art history would recognize. A recent one: Amanda Booth has a classic nose.

Art and models that look like art!