Twiggy Looks Back: From "The Face of '66" to Damehood in 14 Looks
VOGUE JAPAN
In Vogue's "Life in Looks" series, Twiggy goes through a set of photographs that span her life, from her first American Vogue cover in 1967 to the poster for a recent documentary about her. Each image prompts a story: how she was discovered, the photographers and editors who shaped her early career, her move from modeling into acting and musical theater, and the honors and collaborations that came later. Her closing point is that she kept her career interesting by not sticking only to modeling, and that this was possible because people along the way gave her the chance to try other things.
The Bert Stern Portraits and the Making of a Look
The first photograph is one of a series by Bert Stern, whom Twiggy calls one of the biggest fashion photographers of the 1950s and '60s. On her first trip to New York, Stern made a documentary of the visit. The shots show her pulling faces: scrunching her nose, opening her mouth. She notes that the images have "been around a long time" and remembers Stern as a brilliant man and a lovely photographer.
She calls her first year of modeling, after she was discovered in February 1966, "a whirlwind." At the time she was a schoolgirl and a mod who did her own makeup at weekends. She had already devised the look that became her signature: three pairs of eyelashes on top and lashes drawn on underneath. She says she got the idea from a rag doll in her bedroom.
Discovery: A Rejection, a Haircut, and a Newspaper Page
Twiggy's route into modeling started with a discouraging meeting. A friend of a friend who worked on a magazine suggested she meet a woman who might help her model. The woman told her she would never really make a model because she was too small and much too slim. Twiggy says she thinks she cried on the bus home. The same woman still wanted test shots because Twiggy had "a very interesting face," but said her hair, which she cut herself, was a mess.
She was sent to Leonard, a posh salon in Mayfair, only to have her hair styled for the photographs. Leonard himself happened to be in that day. He saw her across the salon, came over, and asked if he could cut her hair. She went back the next day for what she calls "the now very well-known haircut that kind of launched me really."
Leonard hung Barry Lategan's photograph of the haircut in his salon. There it was seen by Deirdre McSherry, whom Twiggy describes as a big journalist of the day at the Daily Express. McSherry asked who the girl was and wanted to meet her. Twiggy got a call at home inviting her to an interview. She already had the nickname Twiggy because her legs were so skinny. About three weeks later, the Daily Express ran a large page headlined "Twiggy, the face of '66." "On that day in February," she says, "my life changed forever."
First Vogue Cover and Diana Vreeland
The next image is the April 15, 1967 issue of American Vogue, which Twiggy believes was her first American Vogue cover and so her first Vogue cover of any kind. She worked for American Vogue before British Vogue. She credits this to Diana Vreeland, whom she describes as the fashion editor of American Vogue at the time and "like the queen of fashion," whose word was final. Vreeland brought her from the UK to America. "I will say that Diana Vreeland turned me global," she says.
The First Twiggy Dress Collection
A press photograph of a small fashion show in a showroom recalls her first clothing collection. Manufacturers had approached her to do a line of Twiggy dresses. She calls it a dream come true. Before modeling happened, she had wanted to go to art school, study fashion and design, and become a fashion designer. "So, I got two wishes," she says: to be a model, and then to work on a collection.
Melvin Sokolsky and the Twiggy Masks
On her first trip to New York in 1967, Twiggy was hired to model a clothing range for a fabric company. The photographer was Melvin Sokolsky, who wanted to shoot her around the city: at the zoo, with builders on a building site, outside a department store, and up the Empire State Building.
The shoot ran into trouble because of how much attention she was getting. She says she had arrived "after the Beatles" as part of the British Invasion. People had seen her arrive at the airport, where there was a press conference, and she was overwhelmed by the coverage when she had only come for a fashion shoot. On location, crowds gathered. Sokolsky tried to disperse them, but they kept coming back.
His solution was to take her back to the studio, photograph her face in black and white, and have masks made from the photos. Wherever a crowd gathered, he handed out the masks. The plan was to collect them each day and reuse them, but people kept them as souvenirs. Twiggy says she thinks the campaign won best advertising campaign of the year, and calls the period "an amazing time."
Richard Avedon's Painted Flower
Twiggy says she loves a photograph by Richard Avedon, which she dates to July 1967 from the caption. It was also taken during that first big New York trip. A flower was painted on her face and her hair was slicked back. She notes that over the years many people have copied the photograph, including recreations with famous actresses, but she still calls it a beautiful photograph.
The Boy Friend and the Turn to Performing
The next look is from her first film, The Boy Friend, directed by Ken Russell, in which she played the lead, Polly Brown. In the image she wears a Pierrot and Pierrette costume with little ballet slippers and white clown makeup for the song "Poor Little Pierrot." The costumes were by Russell's wife, Shirley Russell, who did the costumes for all his films and whom Twiggy calls "absolutely brilliant." She loved the 1920s and '30s clothes she wore in the film.
She thinks she was about 18 and a half when filming began. The film came out, she thinks, in 1970 or 1971, and she won two Golden Globe Awards for it. She says it changed her life: from then on she decided she didn't want to model anymore and wanted to pursue an acting and musical career, which she did. Later in the video she puts the decision in 1970, when she started doing The Boy Friend.
The Bowie Pin Ups Cover
The photograph with David Bowie started with a call from British Vogue, which Twiggy places probably in the early 1970s. She stresses how big Bowie was then, the biggest pop star certainly in the UK and probably in the world, and says she was a huge fan. A couple of years earlier she had heard his new single "Drive-In Saturday" on the radio, with a line she recalls as "She sighs like Twiggy, the Wonder Kid," and was thrilled that Bowie had said her name in a song.
A few months later, British Vogue asked whether she would do a cover photograph with him. She had never met him. He was in Paris recording the Pin Ups album, so she went there. She describes him as bright, clever, modest, and "a really great guy," as well as incredibly talented, and says they got on well.
After the shoot, back in London, the editor at the time said British Vogue couldn't put a man on its cover and wouldn't budge. While the two sides went back and forth, Bowie suggested putting the photograph on his album instead. It became the cover of Pin Ups. Twiggy thinks the image has had a much longer life that way, because it comes out again every time the album is reissued in a new format.
Biba and Barbara Hulanicki
A photograph taken in the big Biba store brings back "happy memories." Twiggy describes Biba as the dream place to shop from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s, and the first place in London where young people could buy affordable clothes. It was the creation of Barbara Hulanicki, whom she calls one of her dear friends. Biba grew from a tiny boutique to a mid-size one and then took over a department store, which Twiggy calls one of the most beautiful department stores in the world. For her, the photograph matters mainly as a memory of Barbara.
The 1983 Tony Awards
In 1983 Twiggy was starring on Broadway in the musical My One and Only with Tommy Tune. For the Tony Awards that year she designed her own dress: she drew it, took the drawing to a dressmaker, and asked whether it could be made. She points out the high cut and the points on the sleeves that go over the fingers. She thinks she got the hairstyle by braiding her hair the night before. She calls the Tonys the biggest night for theater in New York.
The Boyish Suit: Tommy Nutter and Savile Row
A paparazzi shot from the Drama League Awards in the mid-1990s, which she thinks took place in New York, leads Twiggy to her signature style. Looking back at the clothes she loves, she says she has mostly favored a boyish look and men's trouser suits. Men's suits for women weren't available in those days, so she went to Tommy Nutter, a Savile Row tailor, a friend, and one of the great tailors of that era. He made her boys' suits with waistcoats, trousers, and jackets. She doesn't think the outfit in this photo is a Tommy Nutter, but it is that kind of look.
Steven Meisel: A Promise Made at Twelve
In the early 1990s, two decades after she had stopped modeling, Twiggy got a call through her agent from Steven Meisel, who wanted to shoot a 10-page spread with her for Italian Vogue. She flew to New York and arrived at the studio before him. When he came in to say hello, she told him she was a huge fan and thanked him. He replied that they had met before. She apologized for not remembering, and he told her she wouldn't, because he had been 12.
The story, as Meisel told it to her: when she first arrived in New York in 1967, he was a 12-year-old living in New Jersey and saw the news on TV. He and a friend skipped school, took the ferry to New York, and found Melvin Sokolsky's studio. They rang the doorbell while she was being filmed for the Bert Stern documentary. Whoever answered told them to go away, but the documentary's director said to bring them up because it would be good footage. Twiggy came out of the dressing room, chatted with the boys, and signed pictures for them.
She says she doesn't remember this and told Meisel she hoped she had been nice. He said she was lovely. On the ferry back, he apparently told his friend that one day he would photograph her, since he had always wanted to be a photographer. It took, she says, from 1967 until around 1992. She calls it "such a sweet story."
With Kate Moss
A photograph of Twiggy with Kate Moss was taken by a Scandinavian photographer whose name Twiggy gives as Solve Sundsbo, adding that she hopes she pronounced it properly. The shoot was for i-D magazine, which was photographing models from different eras. Moss was booked in the morning on the same day, so their sessions overlapped. The photographer suggested a picture of the two together, and both agreed. Twiggy says she loves the way Moss leans on her and describes her as "one of the nicest girls in the world."
She also draws a comparison. The two are roughly the same height. When Twiggy started in the 1960s, a model agency wouldn't have taken her because she was too small and too thin. She believes her success changed the criteria agencies used when taking girls on. Moss, she says, came along two decades later with a size and shape very similar to hers when she began.
The Damehood
Twiggy says she won't forget the day she received her damehood at the palace. She wore a Stella McCartney suit that McCartney made for her, with a small hat chosen by her granddaughter, then about four or five, on a shopping trip with Twiggy's daughter. She notes that you're meant to wear a hat at the palace.
She says recipients aren't told in advance. The letter arrived a few months before the ceremony, and it looked so official that her first thought was that it might be a tax letter, although, she adds, she pays her taxes. The language was legalistic, and she read it as offering her a CBE, which already thrilled her. The letter gave a number to call with questions. When she asked whether she was being offered a CBE, the woman on the line said no, it was a damehood, and suggested she sit down and make herself a gin and tonic. Twiggy notes she doesn't actually like gin. The honor was given to her by then Prince Charles, now King Charles. When he pinned it on her jacket, he said, "It's about time you got this," which she found very sweet.
The Documentary Twiggy
The last image is the first poster for Twiggy, a documentary about her life directed by Sadie Frost, which she says has just been released nationwide. The project started on Twiggy's podcast, Tea with Twiggy. About three years earlier, Frost, whom Twiggy describes as an actress and former model, had made a documentary on Mary Quant, and Frost's team asked if she could come on the podcast to promote it. The two got on well. When Twiggy asked about her next project, Frost said she had loved working with 1960s material and archives and wanted another subject from that era, then suggested Twiggy herself. They discussed it over lunch the following week.
Twiggy says the film has worked out brilliantly and that the premiere a couple of weeks earlier "has gone down a storm." She is happy for Frost and for herself. She notes that the poster uses an old photograph, and says that while most people have a photo album of their lives, seeing your life unfold on a big screen is very emotional.
Looking Back
Reflecting on the photographs, Twiggy says she has done many different things and still does, and thinks that is what has kept her interested in her career. She attributes this partly to the people who gave her chances beyond modeling, and partly to having been thrown into the spotlight so young. "I've had an amazing life, amazing career," she says, adding with a laugh that she isn't moaning about it, and calls the look back "very, very happy memories."
Hi Vogue, I'm Twiggy and this is my life in looks.
Ah. I do remember this. This was taken by the wonderful Bert Stern, who in the 50s and 60s, I think he was one of the biggest fashion photographers. And actually my first trip to New York, he came on board to do a documentary of my trip. And I think there's a series of them, me pulling faces like this, kind of scrunching my nose up and going like that, and this one with my mouth open. It's kind of been around a long time. But he was such a brilliant man and a lovely photographer.
That first year of modeling after I was discovered in February '66 was like a whirlwind. I was a schoolgirl and I was a mod. I used to do makeup at weekends and I devised that makeup and I became a model, which was three pairs of eyelashes on top, the drawn ones underneath, which I got the idea from a ragdoll that I had in my bedroom.
Somebody had a friend of a friend who worked on a magazine and said, "I think you should go and meet this woman cuz I think you could maybe model." So I met this woman. I was quite upset really cuz she said, "You'll never really make a model cuz you're too small and you're much too slim." And so I think I cried on the way home on the bus. But she said, "I'm going to do some test shots of your face cuz you've got a very interesting face. But your hair's a mess," cuz I used to do it myself.
And she sent me to this hairdresser's called Leonard, which was a very posh salon in Mayfair in London. I was going to just have my hair styled for the photographs and Leonard happened to be in that day and he saw me across the salon and came over and said, "Can I cut your hair?" And I went back the next day and he did the now very well-known haircut that kind of launched me really.
He hung the photograph that Barry Lategan took of this haircut in his salon and big journalist of the day, Deirdre McSherry, who worked for the Daily Express, said, "I love the haircut. Who's the girl? I've never seen her before." And she said, "I want to meet her." So, I got a call at my home saying would I go up for an interview. And she said, "I'm going to write an article about you." And I already had the nickname Twiggy cuz my legs were so skinny. About 3 weeks later, it was a big page in the Daily Express saying, "Twiggy, the face of '66." And on that day in February, my life changed forever.
Oh, it's another bird. This is April 15th. So, that would be 1967. I think this is my first ever American Vogue cover. So, it's my first Vogue cover because I worked for American Vogue before I worked for British Vogue. And that was because Diana Vreeland, who was the fashion editor of American Vogue in those days, and she was like the queen of fashion. I mean, whatever Diana Vreeland said was it. And she brought me over from the UK to America and really changed my life. I will say that Diana Vreeland turned me global.
Oh, this is funny. This I was approached to do a line of clothing by manufacturers. And I think this is the little fashion show that I did in the showroom because all the press photographers are there, of my first collection of Twiggy dresses. I loved doing that. It was like a dream come true because if what happened to me hadn't happened, what I wanted to do, I wanted to go to art school and I wanted to study fashion and design cuz I wanted to be a fashion designer. So, I got two wishes. I got to be a model and then I got to work on a collection.
Oh, yeah. Oh, this is interesting. This is from a series of photographs taken by another great photographer, Melvin Sokolsky. And on my first trip to New York in '67, I was hired to do photographs of a clothing range. It was a fabric company and Melvin was taking the photographs and he wanted to do me all in different places in New York, like at the zoo, and this was with builders on a building site, and that coming outside of a department store, and up the Empire State Building.
And the first day we went out a crowd would gather because what had happened, I had arrived in New York, it was my first trip to New York. And I'd come in after the Beatles; I was part of the British Invasion. So people had seen me arriving at the airport cuz there was a press conference, and I mean, I was overwhelmed by all. I'd gone in to do a fashion shoot and I had all this press coverage.
When we went out and Melvin was taking the pictures a crowd would gather and he would try and disperse them but they kept coming back, so he had this idea. He took me back to the studio and took photos of my face in black and white, which they made masks of, which you can see here. So wherever we were in New York when a crowd gathers, he just gave out the masks and the plan was to collect them back every day and use them the next day, but people wouldn't give them back. They were keeping them as a souvenir. And actually it won them, I think, best advertising campaign of the year. I think it was an amazing time.
Aw. I love this photograph actually. This was taken by Richard Avedon. It's July, it says there, so it must have been July 1967. On that first big trip to New York they had the idea to paint this flower on my face, it's beautiful actually, and slick my hair back. Over the years a lot of people have done copies of this photograph; they've recreated it with famous actresses. But it's a beautiful photograph.
Aw, I remember this very well. This is from my first movie called The Boyfriend, in which I played the lead girl called Polly Brown, and it was directed by Ken Russell. There's a scene in it where it's a song called Poor Little Pierrot. So, I've got a Pierrot and Pierrette outfit on with the little ballet slippers and the white clown face. His wife, Shirley Russell, did all the costumes. She was absolutely brilliant. She did all the costumes for all his films and she was amazing. And all my clothes in The Boyfriend are so beautiful because they're all like 1920s, 30s. Absolutely gorgeous.
I think I was like 18 and a half when we started filming. It came out, I think, in 70 or 71 and I won two Golden Globe Awards for it. And it changed my life because from then on I decided I didn't want to model anymore. I wanted to pursue this acting musical career, which I did.
The Bowie Pin-Ups photograph. This is interesting, actually, because I got a call from British Vogue about doing a photograph with David Bowie. This must have been probably early 70s. You've got to remember that Bowie was enormous. He was the biggest pop star, certainly in the UK and probably in the world. And I was a huge, huge fan.
And a couple of years earlier, I'd been at home and on the radio, you know, they were playing pop music and his new single came out and it was called Drive-In Saturday, and there's a line in it where he says, "She sighs like Twiggy, the Wonder Kid." And I was like, "Oh my god, David Bowie just said my name in a song." I was so, cuz I loved him. I thought he was brilliant.
And then, a few months later, I got the call saying would I be up for doing a photograph for the cover of Vogue with Bowie. And I said, "Absolutely, I'd love it." Cuz I'd never met him. He was at the time in Paris recording the Pin-Ups album. So, I went to Paris and met him and, you know, he was just an amazing man. So bright, so clever, so modest, just a really great guy. Apart from being incredibly talented. And we got on really well.
We did the photograph, I went back to London and then the then editor said, "We can't put a man on the cover of British Vogue." They wouldn't budge. So, while we were going back and forth with them, David said, "Why don't I just put it on the cover of my album?" Which he did. So, it became the cover of Pin-Ups. And it's had a much longer life actually because every time it's reissued in a different format, out comes the cover of Pin-Ups.
Aw. Aw, that's happy memories. This is taken in the big Biba store. Now, Biba, for those who don't know, I think most people in fashion do know. Biba was the dream place to go and shop in the mid-60s, late 60s, into the early 70s. Biba was the first place in London that you could buy affordable clothes for young people. And Biba was the inspiration of a wonderful, wonderful lady. She's one of my dear, dear friends. I love her so much, Barbara Hulanicki. And Barbara brought Biba to London.
This is one of the photographs taken in the big Biba, cuz it went from a tiny boutique to a mid-size boutique and then they took over a department store and it was one of the most beautiful department stores in the world. But I love this cuz it's my memory of Barbara.
Oh gosh, in 1983, I was doing a big Broadway musical called My One and Only with Tommy Tune. This was the night of the Tony Awards and I had this dress made. Actually, it's very high cut. I just went to a dressmaker. I did a drawing and I said, "Can you make this?" And I had the points here that go over the finger. I love my hair. I think I did that by braiding it the night before. But it was a great night. I mean, it's always a great night. You know, it's the biggest night for theater in New York.
Oh. This must be another pap shot. This is the mid-90s Drama League Awards, which I think are in New York. But it's interesting because my signature look has mostly been, if I go back to look at the clothes I love, I love that boyish kind of look, men's trouser suits. You couldn't get men's suits for women in those days. So I went to a tailor called Tommy Nutter in Savile Row. He was one of my friends and one of the great tailors of that era. And he used to make me, you know, boy's suits with waistcoats and trousers and the jacket. And I don't think this is a Tommy Nutter, but it's that kind of look. So I've always loved that look.
Aw. Well, this one's interesting. So this is early 90s. So bear in mind that I kind of quit modeling when I started doing The Boyfriend. So in 1970, I decided I wasn't going to model anymore. I wanted to pursue my performing career. In the early 90s, I got a call through my agent from a wonderful photographer called Steven Meisel. He wanted to do a 10-page spread with me for Italian Vogue. I flew to New York and we did this amazing spread.
But the funny thing is that I got to the studio in New York ahead of him. I was in makeup and hair and he came in to say hello. I got up and said, "Oh, it's so lovely to meet you. I'm a huge fan and thank you for asking to do it." And he said, "We've met before." And I went, "Oh my god, I don't remember. When did we meet? I don't remember." He said, "No, you wouldn't remember." He said, "I was 12."
And what happened, when I first went to New York in 1967, he was a 12-year-old boy. He lived in New Jersey. And he'd seen on the TV that I'd arrived in New York. He and his friend decided they wanted to come and meet me. So, they took the day off school. They got the ferry over from New Jersey to New York. They found where Melvin Sokolsky's studio was. They rang the doorbell. And at the time, I was being filmed for the Bert Stern documentary.
And somebody answered the door and they said, "We want to meet Twiggy." And the person said, "No, you can't, you know, go away." And the director of the documentary said, "No, no, bring them up. It'll be good footage." So, these two young boys came up. I came out, and now, I don't remember this and I told Steven that. He said, "You came out of the dressing room." I said, "Oh, I hope I was nice to you." And he said, "No, you were lovely." And I signed pictures for them. And we chatted and they went away really happy, apparently.
And apparently, he said to his friend on the ferry back to New Jersey, "One day, I'm going to photograph her," cuz he'd always wanted to be a photographer. So, it took from 1967 to 1992 or whatever it was for him to photograph me. But I just thought it was such a sweet story.
Aw, me and Kate. This is by Sølve Sundsbø. I hope I pronounced that properly. He's a Scandinavian photographer, a wonderful photographer. And we were doing a shoot for i-D magazine. And they were photographing all different models from different eras. And the day I was booked to go in, Kate Moss was in. So, she was in in the morning and we overlapped. I went into makeup and Kate was having her photograph taken. And then Sølve came to me and said, "As you're both here today, it would be lovely to get a picture of you together. What do you think?" And I said, "Well, I'd love it. I'm game for it." And he asked Kate and she said, "Oh, yeah, that'd be great."
But I love the way she's leaning on me. It's brilliant. I love Kate. She's so lovely. And it's interesting because we're both kind of the same height. I mean, she's obviously much younger than me, but you know, when I hit in the '60s, I wouldn't have been taken by a model agency cuz I was too small and too thin. When what happened to me happened, it changed the criteria of what agencies would take girls on for. And Kate came along two decades later and was very similar size and shape to me when I began. And, you know, she's one of the great models and one of the nicest girls in the world. I love her.
Oh, I remember this day. Won't forget this day as long as I live, I don't think. I'm in a beautiful Stella McCartney suit that she made me, and a hat that, funny enough, the little hat, cuz this is at the palace when I got my damehood. The hat, I went shopping with my daughter and my granddaughter, and my granddaughter picked this hat. I think she was about, oh, she was quite little, about four or five. You're meant to wear a hat at the palace.
So I'll never forget the day. They don't let you know that you're going to be offered one. And I remember the day the letter came, a few months before the ceremony. And it's a very official letter, and I think my first thought was, "Oh my god, is it a tax letter?" You know, not that it should be cuz I pay my taxes. It was just like, "Oh, what's this? It's very official." And when I opened it, it's all in very kind of legalese language and I thought it was saying that I'd got a CBE, which, you know, I was thrilled about. I just couldn't believe it.
At the bottom of the letter it said, "If you ring this number, there'll be somebody you can, you know, talk to and ask questions." So, I rang this nice lady and I said, you know, "It's Twiggy here. I've just got my letter. Am I right in understanding it's a CBE that I'm being offered by the palace?" And she said, "No, no, it's a damehood." I went, "Oh my goodness." She said, "I think you better sit down and make yourself a nice gin and tonic." I mean, I don't like gin, actually. But it was given to me by the then Prince Charles and now King Charles. When he pinned it on my jacket, he said, "It's about time you got this." Which I thought was very sweet.
This is the first poster for our film Twiggy, which is a documentary directed by Sadie Frost on my life. It's just been released nationwide. It happened because Sadie Frost, who's a wonderful actress, and she's been a model and various things, about 3 years ago, she did a beautiful documentary on Mary Quant. And I do a podcast called Tea with Twiggy. And her people asked if she could come on to promote Quant.
So, I said, "Brilliant." She came on the podcast, we got on really well, and I said to her, "Are you going to do any other documentaries?" And she said, "I'd love to do another one." And she said, "I loved doing Mary Quant because I love doing all the stuff from the '60s and getting all the archives. And it's such a great period. So, I'd like to find somebody that worked within the '60s era." And then she said, "Oh, I should do you."
So, I kind of said, "Oh, okay. Well, let's talk about it off camera." So, the following week we went out to lunch. And it's worked out brilliantly and we had the premiere a couple of weeks ago and it's gone down a storm. So, I'm
Really happy for Sadie. I'm happy for me, and it's been a very happy experience. And I love that photo. Again, that's an old photograph, but it's a nice poster.
Most people have a photo album of their lives, but to actually see your life unfold in front of you on a big screen, it's very emotional.
You know, it's interesting looking at these photographs because I've done lots and lots of different things. I still continue to do lots of different things, and I think that's what's kept me kind of interested in my career, because I didn't stick to just modeling. But it was because I met people who gave me the chance to do other things, because I think I was so young when I was discovered that I was kind of thrown into that spotlight. I've had an amazing life, amazing career. I'm not moaning about it.
This is Twiggy and this has been my life in looks, and it's been amazing to look back. Very, very happy memories.
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