Veruschka: I Hated The Show I Walked In

The Daily Mail recently caught up with 71-year-old Veruschka, who was all the rage in the 1960s but returned to the runway at the Giles Spring/Summer 2011 show at London Fashion Week in September. And apparently she wasn't too impressed with the designer's work. Thus spoketh the Mail:

Veruschka believes she was a gimmick and that designers no longer have the skills to dress women who are not children with bodies that look like ironing boards.

'I didn't like the make-up in the show, and didn't think much of the dress. Now we are using the old ones, make them look great and show their power as well as their age.'

She is as dismissive of the trend for vertiginous shoes.

'In the Sixties, fashion was about liberation. It was about setting women free; it wasn't about being unable to walk.'

She did note that she was super-thin at the beginning of her career, starring in "Blow Up," but she said it was because, "I had been on a fashion assignment in Mexico and became terribly sick from drinking the water. I lost so much weight and was really ill and weak when I made the movie," however, she added, "I was in my 20s when I made the movie and found success. We were women, not children."

Veruschka also weighed in on plastic surgery and Botox, remarking, "I know that there are many things I could do, but I'm not interested. It's more important to be loving and to have a lively mind."

At Giles:

1965:

Comments

[gwensgal]

11:22 PM on 11/04/2010

I really get where Veruschka is coming from. I'm not anywhere near 71 yet, but I have noticed that the older I get, the more concerned I am with the things that really matter. I love to be cute, but I value comfort more these days. I want a relationship, but I value peace of mind much more. I want and need money very badly right now, but family, friends, and health of all kinds are truly priceless.

[ZenCrusader]

08:47 PM on 11/04/2010

She's vondervul ! makes me want to watch Blow Up again !

[love8rockets]

04:27 PM on 11/04/2010

it looks like she hated it.

[dinomom]

10:53 PM on 11/03/2010

luvved ya then, luv ya more now! I emulated the "look" in the '60's and remain healthy and happy and luckily thin at 60 because Verushka, Twiggy and Jackie O were role models. i think fashion is a large joke because i buy my clothes at thrift shops, wear them for ten years and everyone is dying to know where i get my look. i go for comfort and color not labels.

[Sabrina DAmico]

06:20 PM on 11/03/2010

Aww, beautiful statements. I finally got to reading the article after trying to figure out if what happened to her cheekbones was bad contouring or bad lighting. Who did that makeup... she's absolutely gorgeous and you just wouldn't know it from that shot.

[copelli21]

10:51 AM on 11/03/2010

I think she's absolutely right about many current designers.

[Brian Gorrell]

11:05 PM on 11/02/2010

The woman remains an absolute goddess.
Her dedication to HIV/AIDS is powerful.
I admire her and I'm proud to be an advocate like her.
Beauty is only skin deep.
Honor and integrity can not be kept at bay like wrinkles with botox and surgery.
You're born with a solid core.
Or you're not.

[Daisytoo]

08:00 PM on 11/02/2010

I don't believe she hasn't had plastic surgery & botox.

[Brian Gorrell]

11:07 PM on 11/02/2010

She did have some plastic surgery 25 years ago.
Minor surgery.

[Linda Williams]

07:41 PM on 11/02/2010

Go, girl.

[Linda Williams]

07:39 PM on 11/02/2010

Important: "to be loving and have a lively mind". That's the way.

[zLala]

07:26 PM on 11/02/2010

I like her comment that a lot of designers only know how to design for ironing board shapes, let's face it: that's what we see on the runway and who of us real women are buying those clothes?

[WoodsideCraig]

12:37 AM on 11/03/2010

No one that I've ever seen. Real women come in a variety of shapes and maybe I'm out of line here, but I think it's the job of the clothes to make them look good, not the other way around.

[Vanessa Belle]

06:14 PM on 11/02/2010

So she is asked to be in the show and agrees to do the show and then badmouths the designer by saying she disliked the dress and bitches about the makeup?

Classless.

[zLala]

07:28 PM on 11/02/2010

See Glencora's remark a few below, question answered.

[ZenCrusader]

08:53 PM on 11/04/2010

You have the not uncommon abillity to read and not comprehend coupled with the inability to discern class.

[Vanessa Belle]

12:16 PM on 11/05/2010

And you are not able to decipher and interpret English apparently.

Save the BS for yourself.

[arneader]

03:45 PM on 11/02/2010

She is so ugly.

[LynneSpreen]

03:23 PM on 11/02/2010

In fact, here's a pic of her from the 70s: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1351155884/g12c000000000000000396387f7fc5d750be92c2c3a4256a9e0d1aedcdb.jpg

[LynneSpreen]

03:20 PM on 11/02/2010

I loved her comment about the shoes and being free - we've forgotten so much about what was wonderful about the 60s and 70s. I remember seeing her in a photo back then - there was a moment in fashion when we saw an influx of several Russian beauties, all seemingly 7 feet tall, usually photographed with a couple of scary-looking wolfhounds. She was awesome! But models of every generation are simply blank canvases, to be draped and painted as the artist (designer) sees fit. It's not really fashion, to be imitated; it's art. To each his/her own taste.
www.AnyShinyThing.com, A Blog for Smart Women of a Certain Age

[theredqueen]

03:46 PM on 11/02/2010

Thank you for the link.

[fiibias]

12:19 AM on 11/03/2010

Take an advise or your two; once they were adolescents, a girl and a boy.