First off: Cindy C is about to turn 50. We know it seems hard to believe, but the world has been graced with Crawford's beauty (and beauty mark) for close to half a century now. (Her infamous Pepsi commercial aired 23 years ago, if you want to feel really old...or really young, in the case you're drawing a blank.) So yes, 2016 will mark the 50th year for the former cornfield worker, OG supermodel, MTV House of Style host, workout-video maven, Meaningful Beauty founder, Malibu mom, and newly minted author. In honor of this milestone, Crawford has released Becoming.
The book falls somewhere between a memoir and a coffee-table tome, and is packed with coming-of-age and behind-the-shoot stories, musings on life in and out of the biz, and, of course, tons of gorgeous photos. "It's not a tell-all or an autobiography where I tell my deepest, darkest secrets, and I don't really have that many anyway," Crawford confesses to us. "It’s really more about life lessons and the journey of growing up and becoming your adult self."
Sorry beauty buffs, as much as we'd appreciate her knowledge, Crawford decided not to include the makeup and hair tricks she's learned on her journey. "I do so [many] beauty and exercise tips in magazines and websites, and that wasn’t what I was feeling right now," she continues. Still, it would be impossible to tell the story of Cindy Crawford without at least a little beauty banter — the proof is ahead. Read on for nine beauty-related facts — straight from her book — you may not have known about Crawford, from how the supers came to be to the hairstyle she wore on her wedding day.
She Used To Do Her Own Hair On Photo Shoots
“During my Chicago modeling days, in addition to doing our own hair and makeup, we also had to bring a bag of accessories to shoots. Black pumps, nude and black stockings, and earrings. This was modeling 101. Most mornings I’d set my hair in hot curlers, pack my 'model bag,' and walk two blocks to Skrebneski Studio.”
She Used To Do Her Own Hair On Photo Shoots
“During my Chicago modeling days, in addition to doing our own hair and makeup, we also had to bring a bag of accessories to shoots. Black pumps, nude and black stockings, and earrings. This was modeling 101. Most mornings I’d set my hair in hot curlers, pack my 'model bag,' and walk two blocks to Skrebneski Studio.”
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She Did Not #WakeUpLikeThis
“[Photographer Herb Ritts] truly saw the best version of everyone. He wanted you to be your best self, and I think that came across in his pictures. I always say that Herb made me look like the way I wished I woke up in the morning.”
“[Photographer Herb Ritts] truly saw the best version of everyone. He wanted you to be your best self, and I think that came across in his pictures. I always say that Herb made me look like the way I wished I woke up in the morning.”
She Misses The Pre-Digital Age
"While there are a lot of good things about being able to see and manipulate an image instantly, it can also interrupt the rhythm of the model and the photographer on set... It can make me very self-conscious when I hear a lot of whispering by the monitor... With digital photography, the team has less tolerance for even one bad frame. If something doesn't look good, the photographer will stop me, possibly missing out on something weirdly beautiful and unexpected that might have happened next."
Smiling Doesn’t Come Naturally To Her
“In modeling, as in the case with most jobs, your skill set improves with practice. You learn how to work your face to its best advantage, and finally, how to smile naturally on demand (it took me at least 10 years — I think that’s why I didn’t smile much in photos in the beginning of my career and, thus, perfected my look with my mouth slightly open and teeth showing a bit)."
"While there are a lot of good things about being able to see and manipulate an image instantly, it can also interrupt the rhythm of the model and the photographer on set... It can make me very self-conscious when I hear a lot of whispering by the monitor... With digital photography, the team has less tolerance for even one bad frame. If something doesn't look good, the photographer will stop me, possibly missing out on something weirdly beautiful and unexpected that might have happened next."
Smiling Doesn’t Come Naturally To Her
“In modeling, as in the case with most jobs, your skill set improves with practice. You learn how to work your face to its best advantage, and finally, how to smile naturally on demand (it took me at least 10 years — I think that’s why I didn’t smile much in photos in the beginning of my career and, thus, perfected my look with my mouth slightly open and teeth showing a bit)."
She Lives To Tell How The Supermodel Was Born
“Liz Tilberis asked Peter Lindbergh to shoot the January 1990 cover of British Vogue. She wanted him to portray the image of a 'new woman for the coming decade.' Peter thought it would be impossible to accomplish with just one face... When the issue hit the stands, there was a lot of excitement… George Michael saw the cover and specifically requested the same girls for a new music video he was shooting… They sent me a Walkman and a cassette tape to listen to the song 'Freedom! '90' so I could memorize the words by the time I got to set… Not long after the 'Freedom!' video was released, Gianni Versace booked Naomi [Campbell], Christy [Turlington], Linda [Evangelista], and me for his runway show in Milan. The show closed with 'Freedom!' blasting as the four of us came skipping down the runway holding hands and lip-syncing the lyrics… I always think of these images as the day the supermodels were conceived and the Versace show as the day they were born!”
She Was A Barefoot, Barefaced, Beachy-Waves Bride
"Rande [Gerber, Crawford's husband] and I headed off to Paradise Island in the Bahamas for the wedding weekend. We told our guests that the dress code was no shoes, no jackets, and no ties. We wanted our wedding to reflect who we were as a couple: authentic and down-to-earth. I wore very little makeup and my hair in beach waves. I wanted to look like the best version of the girl Rande loves waking up to every morning."
She Makes Growing Older Look A Lot Easier Than It Feels
"I wish I could say it was easy for me to be getting old. After all, I have had a lot of fun in this body. I always tease my daughter — who, everyone agrees, is a mini-me — and say, 'You have my old hair — I want it back!' Or, 'You have my old legs — I want them back!' She just giggles and says, 'It’s my turn now,' and she’s right.”
She Wishes She Were More Of A "Yes" Person
"To a young girl from the Midwest, landing in the middle of the New York fashion scene was overwhelming. I often felt like the naked king in The Emperor’s New Clothes — when would people figure out that I didn’t belong? I often held myself back, too tentative and unsure to really immerse myself in my surroundings. Did I want to go on Armani’s yacht for a few days? 'No.' I knew I could be 'Cindy Crawford' for eight hours on a shoot, but I was scared I couldn’t deliver her 24/7… It was easier to say no. I said no too often. I didn’t want to risk making awkward mistakes… I’d love to tell that hardworking girl with her nose buried in a book that it is okay to live it up a little bit.”
She’s Her Most Real When She's In The Makeup Chair
“I know I have a dressing-room personality that is slightly funnier and raunchier than I might have at a dinner party. In fact, it’s practically mandatory! In order to keep up with the humor with some of the biggest personalities I’ve ever met, I have to bring my A game. But the makeup room is also the place where I could talk about the fight I had with my boyfriend or about feeling homesick. There, tears are dried, and friendships are cemented, so that by the time I step onto the set, I feel invincible."