My friend Willy van Rooy found this picture of me on the internet…

it is by Guy Bourdin, for French Vogue somewhere early 70s. I`m so glad she found this because I have only a few of the pictures I made with him and I did not have this one. He was a very silent artist, working his details to perfection. The tightness of that belt around my waist was almost killing, I was almost breathless, unable to breath into my belly…and the photo session took a long time. Why is it so worth it? And is the result really worth it? Well, sometimes it is. The creative moment is ALWAYS worth it! Being a model is a co-creative work and working with so many different creative people is a tremendous  gift. Guy Bourdin was definitely one of them. When I met him he was already doing big campaigns, such as Charles Jourdan and was very well known.Here you can see some of his work

From a womans blog, THE GOLDEN OYSTER   it was sent to me by Gudrun Sjöden and it moves me to get this beautiful words written about  me and the subject of fashion. The pictures on the right is my own private style. Notice how the light influences the way the face looks. A knowledge used by most photographers.

ingmari lamy & gudrun sjöden & age & fashion

1 & 4 - gudrun sjöden || 2 - advanced style || 3 - ingmari lamy’s own blog || 5 - the sartorialist

- deutscher text am ende des artikels -

whenever a set of photographies showing gudrun sjöden’s latest collection is published, i immediately start looking for pictures with ingmari lamy in them. among all the strong, inspiring and beautiful women, she has the most personality and seems to be very comfortable in her own skin (the blessings of age – i’m looking forward to it, too).

she also runs her own blog where she writes about her experiences as a model. she introduces friends, projects, presents after-show-pictures, but most of all, her short, open minded and simply happy notes add quite a spiritual, but authentic approach to the rather superficial world of fashion if you withdraw the factor of art. you can see her optimism in pictures of her, and she also dares to express some vulnerability.

well, i really don’t like that 99% of models look the same, resulting in a lack of diversity. gudrun sjöden doesn’t do that and i am thankful for it. in addition, i find “appropriate dress codes for certain ages” ridiculous. clothes are about personality, and personality can only be achieved by free choice and not by compliance to rules other people have set up. to me, style is one of many possibilities to develop and share one’s personality (it is a skill that ingmari has obviously mastered – as well as designer gudrun sjöden herself). if you dress in accordance to your personality, you will always look appropriate.

in the future, i absolutely see myself as a shaman / herb woman / gardener – a personality that totally includes clothing from gudrun sjöden. as my wild flower and bee-friendly garden will need more time to grow, i will slowly grow into all of gudrun’s clothes. right now, i wear some of her pieces, but i chose them for being more urban and dynamic – a look that reflects aspects of my personality at this point.i’ll report about my diy projects as well as my gudrun sjöden clothes later this month! stay tuned~ a small preview:

And isn`t she really beautiful, strong and powerful! I can really see her as a shamanic woman teaching other women about the beauty and gifts of mother earth and themselves. Some more reflections on your own Beauty and how deeply we see it ourselves…or not.

HERE

The more I write and share about my friends the more alive the past becomes present and here I am again…

I love this picture of Willy and her husband Salvador, with the portrait he made of her having the same pose.

Here the two of them, when they lived in Ibiza I believe. I used to live on Formentera, the very next island and recognize the kind of hippie life style from there. Willy was always creating something and Salvador painting.

I actually don`t know if these portraits are made by Salvador or Willy. I`d say Salvador…?

A more recent Willy. Still keeping her very personal style.

And this one she made.

It`s amazing how we see ourselves and how the camera see us. What is the image we want to give of ourselves and who we truly are. As I explore deeper into the realms of INNER Beauty I find so much beauty beyond description, very alive but without a face. The face can somehow portray that but not totally, since it is so beyond our ideas of who we are and how the world see us. Anyway…here we are…deeply enjoying being here.

And HERE some more fabulous images

This is my friend Willy van Rooy! THE top model from the 70s! She worked a lot with Helmut Newton and many others of course…but she was a real favorite of Helmut, her amazing body and bone structure, her face, expressions, natural knowing how to  meet the camera and her kindness fitted him so well.

Here she is with her son Alejandro 1970. We were both friends and mothers back then. My son Josef a few years younger than her son. This is how she dressed! Every day very stylish, very 70s, very hippie chic. I know you will LOVE her site and blog. She has done some amazing artwork in creating shoes, jewelry, handbags, clothes, paintings…a very,very gifted and lovely woman. Well, I just shut up and give you THIS with all the JOY in my heart of giving a gift that I know will be so appreciated.

We were both Sarah Moon, David Bailey, Giaan Paolo Barbieri and Kenzo girls. For Kenzo we did the first shows together. Dancing out on the catwalk, hugging and kissing, drunk from the champagne we had moments before…we had lots of fun together but were also having deep philosophical talks about life and beyond. With Sarah we did photos, very doll like photos back then. Among my treasures still to be found! I have some that I will show as soon as I find them! I really love Susan and hope she is well. She is one of the friends from the past I like to meet again now.

Susan loved to write and was very bright. She wrote a book about her life as a model:

They Still Shoot Models My Age

In 1969, at a bus-stop, Susan Moncur is recruited by Eileen Ford, who runs New York’s most prestigious modelling agency. The next year she moves to Paris. Photographed by David Bailey, Sarah Moon, Helmut Newton, Serge Lutens, Gian Paolo Barbieri, Norman Parkinson and many others, Susan Moncur becomes one of the top fashion models of the decade. In 1983, her son is born and Susan Moncur very quickly discovers that, now as ‘thirty-four year old model with child’, she is no longer a hot property. Exposing and self-exposing, They Still Shoot Models My Age captures the precariousness of a profession desperate for young, new faces. Now a journalist and actress, ‘retired’ model Susan Moncur is also a witty, talented writer.

I found these pictures on a site for models from the 60-70s. Here is one of my friends from that time. Sorry for the quality…

Donna was amazing in front of the camera and on pictures.

She had these deep eyes

big and soulful

As we both worked with Bob Richardson we were both influenced by him. This is a very Bob picture…very skin to skin, naked, intimate.

DONNA MITCHELL  was and is such an icon. She worked with Bob Richardson long before I did and they were also friends. Donna and I were not real close friends but we spent much time together, like night times walking across Brooklyn bridge in N.Y. (it was so magical at night) and then going home to her house, she lived with Aron Rose back then, a very talented non-fashion photographer. Their living room was dark, we lit candles and sat on the bed and pillows listening to Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, drinking tea. Sometime around 5 am I would walk home. Donna wrote poetry back then and did poetry readings in different places at night. Like me, more of her friends were in art than in fashion.

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As time goes by…it also stands still. When I see this picture from Harpers Bazaar taken by Bill King I remember those times. It is a time frozen in time and yet very alive here and now time.

Photo: Bill King for Harpers Bazaar. New York.

I remember doing the make-up myself, putting on lash by lash with super precision, shiny white highlight in the corner of the eyes and on eyelid, then the brown “banana” to give depth. The hair was done by a hair-stylist, it was my own plus xtra pieces. All of this preparation took a LOT of time…hours of time. So did the picture itself, my arm was completely numb from holding the watches in position for about half an hour of time. I can say that here I was really an object being shaped and positioned to their liking. I don`t look very alive here. I don`t like this picture very much. Time will tell if that will change. Time to go out in my day now…!

…ACNE! They did a very great show in Paris. Beautiful colors and shapes, a very fine flow in the show.

A scenography with moving walls covered in silver metal

Classic cuts with patches in strong colors…

and graphic stitches.

Coats and jackets held in with a loose string

Patches and flow…

I Love long dresses…

and skirts.

Watching this show made me happy

to see that fashion goes really colorful and wearable with such a beautiful flow

Patches of Gold

Classical coats and long skirts

with yellow shoes…an Acne touch lately

See how fine this is

Ending with white…the scene closes

foto: Ingmari Lamy

She is a role model of inner and outer beauty. So REAL in what she says and does. A true ambassador of awareness of life. She spent more than 700 days living in a tree to protect it and make a difference. And she DID make a difference! Imagine if all the models traveling the planet earth could bring some super knowledge from one place to another, about things we all need to know to preserve life and beauty here on this paradise Earth.  That for me is true use of fashion. Before I move on to fashion stories again I just have to share this again:

JULIA BUTTERFLY HILL

and

JULIA IN THE STORM

and there is so much more to see if you want…I`M inspired. I WANT this kind of total commitment. And somehow I DO have it.

Frida Kahlo was more than fashion she was absolutely a woman of wild deep passion. Now her wardrobe is being shown for the first time.

See it HERE