See iconic model Twiggy now at 73

Reluctantly taking her appearance to the next level, Twiggy complemented her elfin-like face and big blue eyes with a pixie hairstyle in a unique look thatโ€™s been replicated over the decades.

Though she transformed the fashion industry with her youthful style, the legendary cover girl recently revealed that she didnโ€™t want the androgynous buzz that defined the look of the Swinging Sixties, and that she was just too shy to deny the work of a famous hairstylist in a โ€œposh salon.โ€

Celebrating her 74th birthday on September 19, weโ€™re taking you back to the 1960s when Twiggy first inspired the famous baby doll styles we still see today!

In 1966, the British-born Twiggyโ€“whose birth name is Lesley Hornbyโ€“was looking for a trendy new look to help launch her career. Standing at only 5-foot-6, the aspiring young model was told she was too short to succeed in the competitive fashion industry.

Turning 74 on Sept. 19, the former supermodel recalled having her shoulder-length hair styled for some test โ€œhead shotsโ€ at Londonโ€™s House of Leonard and meeting the famed British stylist, Leonard Lewis (professionally known as Leonard of Mayfair).

Lewis was looking for models to try out his new crop haircut.

In her recent guest appearance on Jessie Wareโ€™s podcast, โ€œTable Manners,โ€ the former style icon revealed that she never wanted to have her hair cut short.

โ€œI went in to have it shampooed and set and Leonard saw me, and he said, โ€˜Let me do my new haircut on you,โ€™โ€ Twiggy told Ware during the podcast. โ€œIโ€™d been growing my hair, for a moment I kind of went, โ€˜I donโ€™t know whether I want my hair cut.โ€™ But I was in this very posh salon in Mayfair so I was a bit too shy to say I donโ€™t want it done, and I kind of nodded.โ€

The next day, Twiggy returned to the salon and sat in Lewisโ€™ chair, bracing herself for what was coming.

โ€œI went back the next day and I was in there for seven hours, where he cut it and then I went out and had it colored and then re-cut. Oh, it was mad,โ€ she said with a laugh.

And though the androgynous look wasnโ€™t what Twiggy was chasing, she quickly understood why Lewis earned notoriety as a stylist.

After perfecting her golden blonde crop, Lewis had British photographer, Barry Lategan, snapped Twiggyโ€™s pictures.

โ€œLeonard put it up in the salon and a journalist saw it,โ€ Twiggy said, referring to the Daily Express fashion editor Deirdre McSharry, who while having Lewis style her hair, saw Twiggyโ€™s daring do in the photos. โ€œThatโ€™s how it all happenedโ€ฆWhen that haircut started, when that photograph was taken, that was the pivotal moment.โ€

The pixie cut highlighted her large blue eyes, which she emphasized with mascara on her lower eyelashes.

In a conversation with Vogue, Twiggy explained the inspiration behind her doe eyes: โ€œI was also constantly playing around with make-up at home. I had a rag doll that had those spikey eyelashes, so I bought false eyelashes for myself and created what became known as my sort of โ€˜look.โ€™โ€

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English supermodel Twiggy poses for a portrait during the filming of โ€˜Twiggy in Hollywoodโ€™ directed by Bert Stern part of a three episode documentary series that aired in the spring of 1967 on ABC-TV, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
The former supermodel also said as a youngster, when she wasnโ€™t in the strict confines of her school, that she rebelled by wearing makeup and miniskirts to Saturday night mod clubs with her friends.

โ€œI went to a grammar school, so it was quite strict. We wore uniforms and makeup was not allowed. So, on the weekends, me and my friends would sit like most teenage girls and play with makeup.โ€ She continued โ€œAnd thatโ€™s how that makeup evolved.โ€

And the eyes became part of her signature look.

A few weeks after the shoot for the Daily Express, several picturesโ€“now iconic black and white images that launched her modeling careerโ€“along with the headline โ€œTwiggyโ€“The Face Of โ€˜66โ€ appeared on the pages of the paper.

The following month, she did her first shoot for Vogue and her โ€œlife became a whirlwind.โ€

The quintessential mold for mod fashion, Twiggy was the role model to many women and, still in her teens, she became the first celebrity that Mattel used as a blueprint for a Twiggy Barbie.

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Over the next several years, Twiggyโ€™s name became synonymous with the trailblazing British designer Mary Quant, who revolutionized fashion with short hemlines, freeing the female leg.

After only a handful years of modelling, Twiggy retired in 1970 and explored stage and screen acting, along with singing.

Her movies include starring roles in 1971s The Boy Friendโ€“a performance that earned her two Golden Globesโ€“and Club Paradise (1986), where she played the lead alongside the late Robin Williams.

The Americaโ€™s Next Top Model judge also worked on a fashion line exclusive to Marks & Spencer and ppeared on several of the brandโ€™s billboard ads.

In 2011, she released the album โ€œRomantically Yours,โ€ that features cover songs like โ€œBlue Moon,โ€ โ€œThey Canโ€™t Take That Away from Meโ€ and โ€œRight Here Waiting.โ€ Her only daughter, Carly Lawson (born 1978) is a guest vocalist on some of the tracks.

Still on the frontlines of fashion, the stunning woman was ambassador for Lโ€™Oreal and she partners with other brands as a designer.

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These days the icon is keeping busy with her own podcast, Tea with Twiggy, where each week she has intimate chats with her famous friends.

And despite all her achievements, Twiggy, one of the most recognizable faces of her generation, said her success can only be measured by the bond she shares with her incredible daughter.

After her father, actor Michael Witney, died at 52 at her fifth birthday celebration, Carly was raised by her mom and second husband, Leigh Lawson, whom Twiggy married in 1988.

โ€œMy number one is family. It always has been, even when Carly was little. If it didnโ€™t work for Carly, I didnโ€™t do it,โ€ said Twiggy, whoโ€™s also a grandmother. โ€œWe went everywhere together but thatโ€™s why weโ€™re so close now. The other day, she was saying, โ€˜I canโ€™t remember a time when you werenโ€™t there, Mumโ€™ and itโ€™s because I was always there. Even when I travelled, she came with me.โ€

Twiggy is the envy of many women for being able to pull off that pixie cut from the 1960s! She looked, and still looks, gorgeous!

What are your memories of the Swinging Sixties? What is the most daring hairstyle youโ€™ve tried?

Please share this story and letโ€™s show Twiggy some love on her birthday!


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