For #tbt, and in honor of New York Fashion Week 2016, I remember my one modeling gig in a national magazine—Rolling Stone Feb 1991.
In the fall of my first year of medical school the school president announced that Rolling Stone magazine was looking for models—so I submitted my picture. I had fancied myself a bit of a rock chic—especially as a tween and a teen. I loved Rolling Stone magazine and was thrilled when I learned that I would adorn its pages with many of my idols. Back in the day, the magazine’s fashion section featured regular people from a particular demographic. One issue would feature kindergarten teachers…another fighter pilots…and in this particular issue–medical students. Yale Medical School, where I attended, Stanford, and Duke were the selected schools. There were about 10 of us featured in total.
Rolling Stone sent a hair, make up and wardrobe team with the photographer in a trailer that parked on Cedar St in New Haven in front of the medical school. I think they got 5 parking tickets that day. It was my first ever experience in a professional, on-camera situation. It seemed like hours to get my hair and make-up ready. The make-up artist gave me the bushy eyebrows, ala Brooke Shields, that was in fashion at the time. It felt strange as I had never groomed my eyebrows before that–but I went with it. They had selected a suit by Benetton as my wardrobe—I didn’t get to keep it. We did the shoot in the Yale Medical School Historic library which was a stately, mahogany-walled room. I missed most of my classes that day—but I had fun.
When the issue came out a few months later, with another Yalie, actress Jodie Foster, on the cover, it was very exciting. One of the deans posted the picture outside of her office at school. I saw a movie in which an actor was reading a copy of the magazine I was in. My mother hoped I’d get a letter from a prince (I had wanted one from Prince). Instead, I got a letter from a prisoner in Florida–named “Sweet Stick” (I had wanted a letter from Prince). But, I had to accept that that was show business—or at least, fashion. It’s funny, the girl in the picture would have never guessed that she’d end up in dermatology. Although many would think the connection between the two fields were beauty, I think of the connection is skin. Fashion, after all, represents our second skin. So perhaps this dalliance in fashion, for me, was a sign.
