At 69, Christie Brinkley Wants To See More Women Her Age Represented In The Beauty Industry

Feb 21, 2023 by apost team

Christie Brinkley is a world-famous supermodel. The beautiful blonde was born in February of 1954 in Michigan before growing up in California. After graduating high school, Brinkley took her first leap of faith and moved to Paris to study art. It was in Paris that her world changed. One day, while in a Paris post office, a famous photographer discovered her. 

Shortly after, Brinkley would go on to sign three national ad campaigns. Brinkley's beauty quickly became a worldwide hit as her rise to fame grew. The supermodel would make history as she graced the cover of three Sports Illustrated magazines three years in a row. Soon it was more than just Sports Illustrated calling. 

Brinkley signed a huge contract with beauty brand Covergirl for 25 years, one of the longest and biggest beauty deals ever. She was also stepping on every magazine cover imaginable, including Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Glamour, just to name a few.

Besides striking gold in her career, Brinkley was the apple of quite a few bachelor's eyes. The supermodel would go on to have four marriages. First to François Allaux in 1973, American singer Billy Joel in 1985, Richard Taubman in 1994 and Peter Cook in 1996. Brinkley shares children with Joel, Taubman and Cook. 

Working as a supermodel as well as in the entertainment industry, Brinkley has remained in the public eye all these years. She often does public or press appearances, and the star is just as stunning. In 2022, Brinkley opened up about prioritizing herself and her health. 

In an exclusive interview with People, Brinkley shared her thoughts on Hollywood's pressure on women and their appearance. 

"When I came into this business, it was a very narrow idea of what was beautiful," the supermodel said. "But age is the last thing that it's pretty hard to sell." In another People interview, the star said, "Women are not to be brushed under the carpet because they're a certain age," Brinkley told People in the January 2014 cover story.

"I think ageism is one of the last frontiers," Brinkley added. "We have been constantly expanding our ideas of beauty and opening our arms to embrace all shapes and sizes and ethnicities and preferences."

"When I started out, I remember very clearly a group of successful models saying, 'You will be burned up and thrown away by the time you're 30,'" she also said. Brinkley has been successful in Hollywood as well as internationally known for nearly 50 years now. 

Brinkley is so well known for her timeless beauty that she wrote a book on the topic, named "Timeless Beauty," which came out in 2015. She also launched her skincare line, Christie Brinkley Authentic Skincare. 

The stunning supermodel also said she relies on gratitude as a part of her skincare routine as well. 

"It all has to do with your spirit and the energy that you deliver, that you bring into the room with you. That's what is going to define you," she said. "Forget anti-aging this and all of that. It's really about gratitude," she said.  

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The model often posts to her Instagram, which has over 834,000 followers. From daily life to behind the scenes of her work — followers get an up-close and personal look at her life. She also posts modeling pictures on her social media platforms, a new way of modeling compared to past avenues. 

Brinkley told People: "I am aware that sometimes looking through a magazine or an Instagram can make women not feel very good about themselves. Sometimes when people are raving like that, I feel like my response is, 'No, no. no. I just posted a picture that's really flattering.' I'm obviously not going to put up the worst ones. But I hope in doing that, that it's inspirational in that I did just turn 67."

The star also wanted to share that she hopes people can find inspiration from her pictures.

"It is possible. That's the message that I hope that these pictures inspire people to know that you're never too old to get it together, that the body will respond when you give it the right tools, when you treat it right, and I want to help women do that," Brinkley said. 

However, the supermodel wants people to know that despite her beauty, she has worked very hard to change her life through perspective.

"I've been saying it for so many years, but gratitude truly is the key to a happy life," she stated. When you are capable of looking around you, no matter what's going on, and being grateful for the good things that you still do have," Brinkley added. 

"And then from there it's like... Wow. Two arms, two legs, my sight, my life, a roof over my head, somehow or another a career that keeps marching on that I love, and my friends who make me laugh," she said.

In the August/September 2022 issue of Long Island Woman, the 69-year-old Brinkley reiterated her love for the inclusivity movement in beauty but added it still had a ways to go. For starters, she opened up about how she believed more mature women should be celebrated for their beauty and would “like to see more women my age in magazines.” 

According to Prevention, Brinkley said: “The most beautiful thing about this beauty industry is that its arms are wide open trying to make sure that they embrace and celebrate every size, shape, age, race.” 

Brinkley said representation has an enormous impact on people as “they see themselves and find themselves on the pages and feel good about themselves.”

As for aging, Brinkley again stated her disdain for ageism and said people should focus on how they feel instead of how old they are.

“I think it’s really important not to focus on the numbers. I think it’s really great if you can forget how old you are and keep just charging ahead, doing the stuff you love doing. I know people that are focused on the numbers and what that represents. I think it’s really important to just be more aware of how you feel,” she said.

She also consoled those who feel self-conscious by saying everybody feels insecure sometimes – even her! She cited the Sports Illustrated swimsuit photo shoot with her daughters as one example. However, she urged for the focus to steer clear of the negative.

“I’ve always been of the school of, ‘You’ve just got to be grateful for whatever you’ve got. You’ve got two arms, two legs, two eyes.’ It’s silly to stress about anything else. Be grateful. So what if it’s five pounds up, it’s you and it’s all good.’”

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