Unhappy With Your Body Too?
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Unhappy With Your Body Too?
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The 1960s waif like model, Twiggy, craved Marilyn Monroe curves. Does everyone have body issues? Back in the Mod 1960s, when Twiggy conquered London and fashion changed forever, the waif of a teen with huge eyes, a boyish bob and long legs craved the glamour and curves of a different icon. "Whether you're thin, fat, small, dark, blond, redhead, you wanna be something else," said the world's first boldface supermodel. "I wanted a fairy godmother to make me look like Marilyn Monroe. I had no boobs, no hips, and I wanted it desperately." What she wanted was all around her: fuller-figure models with names nobody remembers, many of them middle-class or upper-crust older girls biding their time before landing husbands. Absent any of that, what Twiggy had was extreme youth, a thirst for fashion and triple-layered false eyelashes that fed her right into the decade's social revolution alongside the Beatles and Pop art. Now 60, she remains a one-name wonder with a joyous laugh, a gift for chat and a home girl cockney accent. She has achieved, slightly, some of those coveted curves, but she has not lost her edge. The singer, dancer, actress and author is not done just yet. Bringing skinny back Twiggy soon will hit the HSN shopping television network with an affordable line of skinny jeans, ruffled blouses, gypsy skirts, jackets and accessories in bold colors and price points of under R726. That, she said, would have pleased her younger self, who saved up spending money to splurge at London's popular Biba boutique.
Lots of people who wear lots of different sizes. The "Twiggy London" line will be available up to around size 46, said the creator, who cites genes, not starvation, for the rail-thin look that made her the face of 1966 at age 16. It is not the first time Twiggy has indulged her interest in design, or remote shopping. Her "Twiggy Collection" of last decade was sold online through the portal Great Universal. There were other home shopping ventures as well. Back in the '60s, she put out a line for teens but left it in the dust of some bad business partners after three years. "We were very green then. We're a bit wiser now. A little bit older, a little wiser," she laughed. Conquering the US At 1.68m – short for a model – Twiggy weighed only 41 kg when she exploded into the culture. Before she was discovered, she was already painting on tiny lower lashes – "my twigs" – to help make her eyes look as large as tea saucers. Her look was perfect for emerging unisex trends and ever-rising hemlines, but it opened the debate still raging over whether skinny models promote an unhealthy body ideal, especially for young girls. "It was debated when I hit the headlines and I always came out and said that I was very healthy, which I was, and always ate, which I do. I love my food. I just come from a lineage. My dad was very slim, so it's kind of in the genes really," she said. 
Clothing obsession Twiggy's interest in fashion design was stronger than modeling ever was. |
