Christie Brinkley Got Super Candid About Body Image Issues Looking At An Old Photoshoot

Emily Becker

From Women's Health

  • Christie Brinkley shared one of her Cosmopolitan covers from the '70s recently on Instagram.

  • In the caption, the supermodel explained some of the body images issues she was dealing with at the time.

  • But she also wrote that she thinks the fashion industry has become more accepting since then.

Supermodel and entrepreneur Christie Brinkley has spent decades dominating the fashion and beauty industries. With a portfolio that includes notable magazine covers such as Sports Illustrated and Cosmopolitan and a contract with CoverGirl, it can be easy to assume that Christie has lived an effortless life of glitz and glamour. However, the 65-year-old model and actress just opened up on Instagram about how her early successes impacted her body image and what she wished she had known when she was younger.

If you don't already follow Christie on Instagram, she frequently posts photos from earlier in her career alongside images of her family together. Her most recent post was a throwback cover of Cosmopolitan from 1977, in which Christie looked super fit in a high-cut purple bikini. In the caption, she described some the differences between shooting then and shooting a cover now, and noted that they didn't have retouching back then, so everything had to be perfect.

"I remember [I] was worried that I looked fat," she wrote about the experience in the post. "I’m so glad that today our industry appreciates all shapes and sizes so we can just focus on being healthy. Not cookie cutter."

View this post on Instagram

In 1977 this bathing suit caused a stir! At the time all the bikinis were low slung on the hip.This high leg cut leg made the hip a new erogenous zone. I couldn’t figure out how to put it on as just one string holds it all together! Francesco Scavullo shot all the covers for #cosmopolitan back then . He had a big umbrella with a string that ran from the middle of the umbrella which contained a light to the tip of your nose . You were in perfect light at the end of that string. They did not have retouching back then so they really perfected the make up and every strand of hair. I remember was worried that I looked fat. I’m so glad that today our industry appreciates all shapes and sizes so we can just focus on being healthy. Not cookie cutter. Still there is something in some young girls that often makes them feel they just don’t measure up . I was one of them. I look back at these and think that worry was such a waste of time. If only the perspective we gain with age that elevates the worries could be absorbed by the younger generation but I do think shifting the focus to feeling great is a great step in the right direction. Just thinking out loud as I sift thru a few photos . Wishing everyone a great day ( and decade! ) #1977 #kamali #swimsuit #cover #christiebrinkley #cosmo #

A post shared by Christie Brinkley (@christiebrinkley) on Jan 13, 2020 at 10:17am PST

She continued: "Still there is something in some young girls that often makes them feel they just don’t measure up. I was one of them. I look back at these and think that worry was such a waste of time. If only the perspective we gain with age that elevates the worries could be absorbed by the younger generation but I do think shifting the focus to feeling great is a great step in the right direction."

Some Instagram fans responded to Christie's post saying that she still looked just as good today as she did then, and others thanked her for not being afraid to discuss body shaming.

"Holy purple goddess!!!!! Everything about this! 💜" wrote actress Kate Hudson.

"You thought you were fat?!?? Absolutely stunning! But yes I agree on the feeling of body shaming. The industry appears to be better now and yes beautiful comes in all sizes. ❤️" commented another fan.

As the fashion industry continues to become more accepting of bodies of different sizes and shapes, Christie's post is an important reminder that being happy is much more important than any number on a scale or a photo on a magazine.

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