Cara Delevingne has written an essay about validation, body image and the modeling industry. I think. The thing about it is… I don’t really understand why she wrote this essay or why anyone would care one way or the other? I’m not saying that to be mean, it’s just that Cara hasn’t been on anyone’s radar in months, and now she’s piping up with an essay that no one asked for. It’s strange, because it feels like it’s a reaction to something else that was not publicized. Anyway, the essay is short, so here you go:
I started modeling when I was 16. The odds were against me. At 5’8″, I was shorter than most girls in the business. Still, I gave it a shot, and like with most things in my life, I never gave up. It took a while before I had stability in the business. I worked hard to be accepted by the fashion community in ways beyond my physical appearance. In no time, though, I found myself surrendering to the industry’s approval process. I felt like I needed validation from everyone. As a result, I lost sight of myself and what it meant to be happy, what it meant to be successful. I think it all stemmed from a deep-down feeling of wanting people to like me and love me.
When you do everything you can to make people happy with your work but there are still people who aren’t happy, you start to think, “Well, I’ve worked my a** off. I’ve done everything. I’ve pushed myself into the ground.” You just feel like you’re constantly disappointing others, and there’s this moment when you’re like, “Wait, what am I trying to do? Who am I doing this for?”
Over time, I came to realize that work and getting others’ approval isn’t the most important thing. Yes, your career is very important—but it’s not the most important. Of course I was proud of my accomplishments, but I wasn’t genuinely happy. I was nearly 20 and had been modeling for several years. My vantage point had changed…and I had changed. I knew I had to reevaluate my life and my goals for my future. I didn’t want to resent fashion or my success. The process didn’t happen overnight, but it was imperative for me to preserve my integrity.
It’s taken time, but now I realize that work isn’t everything and success comes in many forms. I’ve opened my mind, and now I embrace new things with a childlike curiosity. I’m spending more time doing the stuff I love. And I’ve been able to do better work because of it.
When you’re coming from a place of living just to work, it’s never as good as you want it to be. It’s never as authentic. When you have balance in your life, work becomes an entirely different experience. There is a passion that moves you to a whole new level of fulfillment and gratitude and that’s when you can do your best…for yourself and for others. I still have so much to learn, but I have realized that beating myself up, feeling guilty and regretting past mistakes will only hold me back. After all, no matter how many people like you and your work, it doesn’t matter if you don’t like yourself.
This sounds like an essay written by way of apologizing for some screw-up, right? But she hasn’t screwed up in a while, at least not that I’m aware of. As for all of her struggles… not so much. She started working when she was a teenager because her family is extremely well-connected, and she was able to parlay those connections into a full-time career faster than you can say “Mummy, I want to be a model!” And yes, it did seem like she got “burned out” really quickly – one second she was the hot new It Girl, the next second she was “taking a break” and “retiring from the runway” to focus on her acting career. For whatever reason – her privilege, maybe – I don’t really care about her thoughts on integrity and success. God bless and godspeed, but I think she’s going to be in for a rude awakening when her acting career goes nowhere after The Suicide Squad. Then suddenly it will be bye-bye integrity and hello “return to modeling.”
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
I understand that plenty of women are tall and obviously they should have access to stylish clothing that fits properly.
But it’s insane to me that 5’8″ is too SHORT in the fashion industry. I understand that’s the way it is and this isn’t new, but take a step back and think about that fact. It’s nuts.
it’s too short for the catwalk, but you can do editorials and be a fashion model. i don’t think it’s insane, it’s the job.
It’s not impossible to be a high fashion model at that height (Kate freaking Moss is 5’7″ at most), but yeah, most casting directors/agents consider it “too short” for runway.
Kate Moss is very much the exception to the rule. Every professional comment about her says she’s stunning, BUT……..then calls her short or small. Her runway career is always described as a freaky thing precisely because she’s considered too short for it, and the caveat is that an exception was made for her because of her exceptional beauty.
I have a hard time accepting Kate Moss as an exceptional beauty. She’s odd looking.
It’s gotten worse as far as height. The closer to 6 feet the better where 5’9 used to be enough. A model who is shorter is very rare and nowadays she would be considered short.
This reads like a journal entry…that’s not a compliment.
“Cara Delevingne discusses the difficulties of being a 5’8″ model, or something” =>lolll
Oh wow, I’m so sorry that you have had to deal with such a debilitating struggle. How ever do you cope? *eye roll so hard my brain hurts*
Well normally girls who are 5’8″ aren’t accepted as high fashion models. She should count herself lucky.
Maybe she should discuss how hard it was to get to the top when ur godfather runs Conde Nast UK and gave u ur career. I can’t with her, esp after the comments about why she’s retiring from modelling. She’s only dumping modelling as she thinks she a Hollywood actress now.
THIS! She has the options to either be a model or actress, which I don’t understand why since she’s just plain awful. She’s well-connected & you said so yourself Betti, her godfather runs Conde Nast UK! I want her to explain to me how did that not help, because I’m sure it hell pushed her to the front of the list.
Deep Thoughts from a rich, privileged model. Give me a break….
Rught? It’s so much better yo have balance and do things you love rather than work all the time…. Crickets… Sounds nice to me, guess I’m not enlightened enough to forgo paying my bills and achieve more balance and free time.
Speaking as someone who lost all their family but their brother to terminal illness, dropped out of school at an age younger than when Cara started modeling to become a caregiver, and just came off a weekend that went like this: eighteen hours cleaning grease pits, flipping hamburgers, and washing dishes, twenty minute walk home in pitch black hill country, three hours of sleep, fifteen hours flipping hamburgers, washing dishes, ect., twenty minute walk home – chased by growling dogs along the way, six ours of sleep, and eight hours making breakfast tacos, cleaning grease pits, and washing dishes, so I can buy minimal groceries, garbage pickup, a tube of lip balm, and MAYBE a microwave…
When all I want to do is make music with my brother. Work on our album.
Guess I’m not enlightened, either.
I’m 5’2″, and poor, though. So I don’t have a dog in dis fight.
Also…
My feet and hands look like blisters ready to pop. No reason to mention that, just… bitching. Carry on.
Hang in there, Nike, it’ll get better.
Lots of love to you, Nike
Xxx
Thanks, guys. <3
I like Cara but come on…the struggle is real for being an “inch” shorter than the norm for models? She’s a wealthy, thin, well-connected, white woman who was born on third base.
I do kind of think she was silly for dumping modeling so quickly since her acting career basically consists of Suicide Squad, and if anyone Margot and Jai have the most juicy roles, and Valérian and Laureline. While I love the latter, I have my doubts about it being a huge hit with an American, English, etc. audience and it already has a huge budget. Plus, Rihanna and Clive Owen (as much as I love them) Cara, and Dane DeHaan aren’t going to get people going to the theaters like Will Smith or Jennifer Lawrence.
At least she photographs well and had a highly distinctive look, so her career met with more success than her older/more basic looking sisters. But seriously, her grandpa is a viscount/super well connected and her godfather freaking ran Conde Nast UK – not hard to see why magazines etc would ignore her missing inches and hire her.
I mean, it’s not like she’s Kate Moss ( who was 5’7″ and had to work her way up on her own steam without any godfathers or posh relatives pushing her up).
The dog is adorable. That’s all I’ve got.
Doge
Her dog is really cute
She was a great model — she definitely kicked off the Instamodel thing, but in a legit way. Her popularity grew organically.
yeah, her social media helped her fashion career in a big way but she more or less let it die down after she got sick of modelling I guess.
I almost miss the days when she was everywhere making silly faces, compared to the Jenner girls I’m starting to appreciate that she wasn’t going around injecting herself with stupid shit or looking dead in the eyes while insisting that her family being on a reality show had nothing at all to do with the social media followers that were the reason she got hired at all in the first place.
I know what you mean. She didn’t seem to take herself overly seriously and I could buy her as a model as opposed to other nepotism models.
I don’t like her as she’s VERY arrogant in interviews (for no good reason and hasn’t her movie career bombed already), but it’s true she’s got a unique look as a model unlike blandy, good-for-only-chain-stores Kendall. She’s a good model for Chanel which does those elfin, waif shots very well (Vanessa Paradis, Kate Moss). But don’t get the arrogance. And I’m willing to believe she got lots of jobs because of her connections and social media savvy, though I don’t know much about that.
“I started modeling when I was 16. The odds were against me.”
I know. It must have been tough starting out from your council estate in Newcastle…… oh wait no, your godfather runs Conde Nast UK! Not such a struggle eh?
And so what if you were a smidgeon shorther than most models? You do know that models are judged entirely on their looks, and if your looks aren’t exactly what the agencies and advertisers want then…. too bad. It annoys me when people who make a ton of money purely from their looks complain about others judging them on their looks.
I don’t know why, but my first thought was someone who could afford the best education picks options that require none..irony, I guess..
Because it fits in with their things-come-easy, I’m-entitled philosophy. Then they go, “Oh, I work sooooooo hard…” at posing and plucking my brows.
MWAHAHAHA she’s complaining about being short in the fashion world?
Try being black. Or Asian. Or weighing over 110 lbs.
I hate to break it to you, but she is not even close to 5 ft 8.
Being able to only take work that feels “authentic” is pretty much the definition of privilege. She needs to go to college and volunteer for the Peace Corps or something. All these rich people struggling with how to be personally happy and “authentic” — they’ll never find what they seek so long as they keep thinking only of themselves.
The odds were never against her, she “pushed herself to the ground”? She has had a very privalleged upbringing she should acknowledge that. She has a distinctive look and instantly recognisable. And she is successful because of that but please don’t kid yourself girl it was not all you!
Essay is way over dramatic and not authentic when coming from a white, privalleged, skinny, connected, pretty girl. Who gets to pick her work?
She’s setting herself for more meaningful work like acting which will be her real passion and not modelling because she wasn’t tall enough.
I have never understood her appeal. Even if she plucked those brows a smidge I just don’t see it. There are so many beautiful gorgeous models, actors, everyday people….WHY HER?
High fashion modeling isn’t about beauty as much as looking distinct, photogenic and being somewhat of a canvas. Throw in some connections it makes it easier.
Like magnoliarose said, it’s not about conventional beauty or being pretty. Many of the most conventionally beautiful people look dull in photographs. Catalogue models and the like are usually much ‘prettier’ than catwalk and editorial models, but they aren’t striking and they aren’t necessarily that photogenic.
She was the IT model for years, way longer than than most models of the moment. It’s not like she was a big thing for a few months, she’s probably the closest this current crop came to being a supermodel.
I’m going to cry myself to sleep over how hard she’s had it.