The big beauty con
The pressure to look a certain way is relentless, but it won’t make you happy, says Sadie Frost
Studio Soho
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Having spent decades in the limelight, first as a model and then as an actress and a producer, I have often been scrutinised for my appearance. Today, with social media playing such a dominant role in our lives, you no longer need to be famous to face a similar level of scrutiny.
Girls face immense pressure to look perfect. They’re encouraged to look the same and the “must have” list keeps changing – from a big bum to big lips to a dimpled chin. It’s a con. It doesn’t make you happy and it isn’t sustainable.
In 1967, a year after she burst on to the fashion scene, Twiggy was asked by an interviewer, “Are you beautiful?” The model replied, “Not really.” The world disagreed. Twiggy, the subject of my new BBC Two documentary, became a global icon whose influence still resonates today.
The question was very much of its time. Twiggy didn’t look or sound like any other model. Before she was discovered at 16, most models came from upper-class backgrounds. As Joanna Lumley, who also started out modelling before becoming an actress, told me: “A lot of us looked very much like each other.”
Twiggy was told she'd never make it – too short, too skinny
But the gamine Lesley Hornby, with her elfin haircut, transformed everything. She was told she would never make it – too short, too skinny, no bust. She had freckles. Undeterred, she created her own look, inspired by the face on her rag doll: heavy kohl eyeliner and three sets of false lashes. It’s a look we all recognise today.
Twiggy didn’t just turn the modelling world on its head. She went on to become a successful actress in films such as The Boyfriend, hosted her own TV show and sang with stars like Bing Crosby and David Essex.
She had her detractors, but she kept going. When a US interviewer asked, “The bosom is back, do you think perhaps you can’t compete?” her response was pithy: “The bosom’s never been out.” As a teenager she had to hold back tears when Woody Allen put her on the spot on American TV and asked her to name her favourite philosopher. She famously turned the question back on the Hollywood director – and he couldn’t give her an answer.
Sadie Frost. Debbi Clark
Making the documentary – which follows my 2021 film on Mary Quant – and seeing how the geeky Twiggy with her androgynous look embraced her individuality made me reflect on how we view beauty. The pressure from social media to look a certain way is relentless. It makes holding on to what makes us unique a real challenge.
It’s particularly hard as you get older to look in the mirror and feel happy about yourself. But I think that just living your life – going for walks, exercising, doing yoga – radiates on your face. You feel beautiful because you feel alive.
I had relatively good teeth in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, with everyone having theirs whitened and straightened, mine don’t look so great any more. But my teeth are my teeth – and I can eat well! I’m not going to have an expensive procedure to make them whiter and straighter. I’m not having a go at anyone who gets work done, but I think it’s a good debate.
At 75, Twiggy still fronts campaigns for brands like Charlotte Tilbury, and she hasn’t had any work done. She always gave the impression that she was dressing for herself. As model Erin O’Connor put it: “She used her body in beautiful ways which spoke instantly to women, as opposed to just for the pleasure of men.”
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I hope more of us – from young girls who are now consuming expensive skincare they don’t need, to older women under pressure to turn back time – embrace our individuality and what we have. There’s immense power in that. That’s what Twiggy did. That should be her legacy. SADIE FROST
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