To look at Elle McPherson and think....

[maggieryan]

What a stunner for her age. No signs of any plastic surgery. She's one of the few models that's aged well. That's all

I've never seen the appeal of Cindy Crawford, personally. Linda E was the best of that generation of models for me. And Helena C. Elle MacP: meh.

Anyone remember Sara Stockbridge from a similar time? Blonde, big green eyes, lively cheeky face. She used to model a lot for Vivienne Westwood. Utterly gorgeous in a really 'real person' way. I don't know what happened to her.

Yes I remember Sara Stockbridge, she was Vivienne's muse.

Emma Balfour was another one who disappeared.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2038964/The-misery-supermodel-Sara-cusp-joining-likes-Naomi-Kate-traded-catwalk-motherhood.html

DM link but says Sara Stockbridge has become a writer.

Thanks, HP! She sounds great, and good for her becoming a successful writer. I'm going to give her books a go.

God, she was gorgeous. All that joie de vivre and that big grin. Most models now look miserable as sin.

Now it seems that the best way to become a model is to be the progeny of someone famous, no matter what you look like. Brooklyn Beckham, Yasmin Le Bon's daughter, even Annie Lennox's daughter spring to mind. Have also never understood the appeal of Lily Cole.

Amber Le Bon Tali Lennox Leah Wood and of course we all know Mr Beckham Jr.

I saw Lily Col once, in Paris many years ago. What struck me the most was that she was wearing skinny jeans and there was a gap between her legs all the way from crotch to ankle, she was that thin!

Also, am I the only one struggling to understand how Brooklyn Beckham can be a model? I'm sure he's a nice enough kid but he's a very ordinary looking and certainly hasn't inherited his father's looks.

The Evening Standard magazine always has some actor/model/whatever on the cover who they're touting as the Next Big Thing. Invariably they end up being the offspring of someone famous - last week it was Marco Pierre White's son, this week it's Daniel Day-Lewis's eldest, who looks rather like a very young Morissey!

Brand Beckham seem to be trying their best to turn Brooklyn into a celeb. He looks like a hundred other teenage boys on any high street in the country.

In the 1950's models were usually the daughters of aristos, now it's the sons and daughters of anyone who has been famous ever.

Phil Collin's daughter is a film star now apparently.

Anybody who looks good for their age has had stuff done.

Her flat lineless forehead can hardly be natural at her age.

I look passable and I've had stuff done (v little).

I can remember many celebs before they had stuff done, Meryl Streep, Lulu, Anne Robinson, they look 20 years younger now.

The quality of the 'stuff' has improved that's all. So you can't see the joins!

Your next door neighbour's probably had stuff done f goodness sake.

Romeo is probably the best looking out of the Beckham boys but I bet even he wouldn't get a second glance from model scouts if not for his famous parents.

I think if woman is 50+ and looks like Elle Macpherson does, then it's probably because they've had work done. Which they are quite entitled to do but I wish they'd drop this charade that it's all down to good genes and drinking lots of water.

To be honest, I think that kind of look is a getting bit dated. I think women who aren't afraid to be their age look far more interesting.

Find me a woman over 50 in the public eye who hasn't had something done though. I'm sure even those vaunted for "growing old gracefully" like Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren have had at least some subtle tweaking.

If I have to stick to women in the public eye, then I can only think of Vivienne Westwood who I think looks every day of her 74 years and amazing with it.

But I've stopped looking in the media for inspiration and gone back to good old fashioned people-in-the-street watching where I see women all the time who look their age and look great.

Boasts boast sort of - we were in Harbour island when ds was 14months old there everyone goes on golf carts around the island, my ex dp and I were in ours with ds we stopped a woman to ask the way. She had a young child, told us the way and as we went off I said to dp god how does she look like that we both have same age kids. Two hours later there was the same woman turned on the persona and yep it was ELle but if someone had given me a million quid I wdnt have been able to tell who she was on the first meeting. She and dp went to a few anonymous meetings on the island and subsequently every where we went there was this supermodel calling out to my dp hi hi hi lol it was a great ego boost to him and yep she has the best body ever. Mind you I reckon if I was running 7 miles up and down the beach in a bikini twice a day I would too.

Vivienne Westwood who I think looks every day of her 74 years and amazing with it.
Such a shame that her business principles are so bad : tax dodging and unpaid interns.

I'd be interested to see what a lot of the slebs would look like without botox.
In my yoga class the average age is 50 and even the super slim athletic types are wrinkly around the eyes and between the eyebrows

Isabella Rossellini is astounding-looking, still, but looks her age, which I greatly respect.

The other day someone expressed to me that I didn't look 50, and my response was: "Oh, but I do! This is one version of what 50 looks like nowadays."

Disclosure: I do use botox, but modestly so.

Oh, my post sounds like a brag, but it's not. I am quite plain-looking. But I do have a smooth forehead. My BF is gorgeous, with a beautifully wrinkled face.

Everyone is entitled to a brag!

Another vote for Helena, she is my 'ultimate' woman in terms of looks.

I'll ignore anyone who tells me she has had work done???

Isabella Rossellini www.imdb.com/media/rm2230711296/nm0000618?ref_=nmmd_md_nxt yes, she does look great, but her neck and jaw line have improved from a few years ago. And she was developing eye bags in the some of the scifi pics. No sign of them now though that might be because of the permanent crinkly smile.

I think Mary Berry looks great.

I always thought Paulina Porizkova was the first supermodel in whose footsteps the Christis and Helenas followed. She's got a great personality, recognising the irony of how she made money. She once described how she "achieves" that famous look - she had to take off her contact lenses and she said she's blind as a bat without them. So she's just look straight ahead at the fuzzy camera and tried not to squint.

I love that you can see her age in her face. So natural and refreshing to see a beautiful woman with wrinkles.

Find me a woman over 50 in the public eye who hasn't had something done though

Kristin Scott Thomas and Emma Thompson.