The Latest Numbers

I have now posted pictures of 268 different women as of this posting.

Another special series - a second collection of beautiful singers and other musical performers - will be my focus for the month of October 2009.

Back soon. :-)

The Beauty of Retrospect, Part Nine: More Karen Graham Photos

Sooner or later, I always revisit seventies supermodel Karen Graham, my first celebrity crush. :-D



The picture above, from 1973, may or may not have come from one of her Estée Lauder ads, but I actually found it in the archives of, of all places, a Russian fashion magazine!



These two pictures are from Estée Lauder ads, taken by the Chicago photographer Victor Skrebneski. The one above is from 1976, the one below from 1981.



While not an actress - her original ambition was neither modeling nor acting but teaching French - the Mississippi-born-and-bred Karen Graham had many people believe she was the glamourous woman in the ads, even though she was and remains far more down to earth and simple than these photos suggest.

But the class she exhibited in these poses was very much for real. :-)

The Beauty of Retrospect, Part Nine: Clotilde Redux

Did I dig Clotilde in the eighties?



Boy, did I ever! :-D



Kristin Darnell made a name for herself - her middle name - modeling for several clients in the early 1980s, not just Ralph Lauren. As Kristin Holby - her maiden name - she made a name for herself as an actress, albeit briefly. She played the original girlfriend of Winthorpe (Dan Ackroyd's character) in Trading Places.



The Web site to her current dressmaking business is here.

Model Kara Young

Kara Young is another high-profile fashion model from the eighties who helped make that decade seem better than it really was. :-)



In addition to numerous appearances on the covers high-fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, and Glamour, she also dabbled in acting, having appeared in the 1988 Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America.

Newswoman Margaret Warner

In a time when TV news outlets like the Fox News Channel gives us "news bunnies" - anchorwomen known more for their looks than their brains - Margaret Warner proves that, in broadcast journalism, dowdy is beautiful.



Currently a reporter and foreign correspondent for PBS's "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," Margaret Warner was a print reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, among other publications, as well as a commentator for CNN before going to public television. Her reporting has won many awards.

Fun fact: Margaret Warner was on the panel of the second 1988 presidential debate between George Bush and Michael Dukakis, and so she was present when Bernard Shaw asked the Democratic candidate the question on capital punishment that destroyed Dukakis's career.

Actress Vinessa Shaw

Vinessa Shaw is another young actress making waves in Hollywood.



She's best known for her roles in the recent remakes of 3:10 To Yuma and The Hills Have Eyes. More recently, she starred in Two Lovers as Sandra, the down-to-earth girl who unknowingly competes with another woman (the glamorous Michelle, played by Gwyenth Paltrow) for the affections of sensitive Larry (Joaquin Phoenix).

I won't tell you the ending of the movie, but I'll say this much. The world needs more Sandras and fewer Michelles.

Supermodel Bar Rafaeli

This stunning supermodel is one of the hottest exports from Israel.



Bar Rafaeli is currently in great demand for her modeling abilities. In addition to the inevitable Sports Illustrated swimsuit shots, she has been the spokesperson for fashion brand Luisa Cerano and the clothing line Hurley. She's also modeled for Subaru and the Italian jewelry line Marco Bicego, among others.