SLV-Some Like it Vintage.com: Age Before Beauty

World's Oldest Working Fashion Model Carmen Dell'Orefice Turns 80‎

Dell'Orefice then and now
fashionist.ca

Isn't it amazing that model Carmen Dell'Orefice has turned 80 years of age! She is still a working model who has become such an amazing example of longevity in a business where anything older than this morning's muffin is normally scoffed at and rejected. Carmen started her modelling career with a bang with a cover on Vogue magazine 65 years ago.

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At age 13, Dell'Orefice was approached by the wife of famous photographer Herman Landschoff. At the time, the young girl was reunited with her mother and living a very poor life. Even after her official signing with Vogue, she still lived an impoverished life for many years.

Although Carmen lost her life savings twice, the first time to the stock market and the second time to Madoff, she remained positive and continued modelling.

I love this story about a girl from a broken family, who still managed to become a fashion icon of the world. We live in such a disposable time of so much waste and reverence for all things new, it's good to know that a beautiful woman like Dell'Orefice is still vibrant in what is considered an ageist profession.

I'm reminded of the 1995 movie "Clueless". There were some really funny quotes:

"Old people can be so sweet"

"Isn't my house classic? The columns date all the way back to 1972"