Many of you dislike the nepotism-heavy “Insta-models” equally. Everyone from Cara Delevingne to the Hadid sisters to Kendall Jenner is in that category. But I’ve always had a strange affection for Gigi Hadid in particular, even though I’d never claim that she’s the best model. I think she’s really pretty and she’s got a great look, although she still has a lot to learn about modeling, right? Well, the Insta-models are swarming this fall’s magazine covers, and here’s Gigi on the cover of the October issue of Harper’s Bazaar. The cover shot (by Karl Lagerfeld) just proves to me that Gigi isn’t really good at modeling, although the rest of the shoot (not done by Lagerfeld) is a bit better. You can read Gigi’s profile here (it reads as a day-in-the-life piece) and here are some highlights:
Morning routine: “I live near the Smile, and I love their scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. I drink orange juice and coffee always. At home I love scrambled eggs and toast; it’s just an easy go-to. My boyfriend, being British, got me into breakfast beans, so that’s what I’ve been eating lately. Then I’ll go to Twitter for news. It’s so easy—you just enter a keyword and it’s done.”
On how she stays fit: “I rode horses and played volleyball back home, so when I came to New York, it was really hard for me to just go to the gym. I need to have a sport and wake up and want to get better at something and boxing does that for me… My personal motto is “Eat clean to stay fit, have a burger to stay sane,” so if I’m in the mood, I’ll go to JG Melon in the West Village.”
She’s artsy: “I had my birthday parties at a Color Me Mine [pottery studio] in L.A. when I was a kid, so now on my days off in New York I’ll get coffee with some friends and go to Color Me Mine and sit there for, like, five hours and paint really detailed mugs or whatever. They’re good birthday presents or presents for yourself, and it’s really relaxing. I do a lot of art at home, like painting, drawing, sometimes working with clay. I build a lot of Lego sets. That’s art, I guess!
Dreams of acting: “If I were ever to play a character, I would want to be some sort of action hero. Not necessarily a superhero but something along those lines, like action-driven. Maybe the first female president!… Before I go to bed I like to watch Girls. I also loved Prison Break. I studied criminal psychology in school, so one day I hope I can use my studies to be on Law & Order: SVU.
On how she unwinds at the end of the day: “I love to sing Broadway show tunes at home, which makes me the worst neighbor but is a good stress reliever. I love “Popular” from Wicked. That’s the only one I’ll tell you because I know at some point, someone’s going to ask me to do this and that’s the only one I’m willing to do publicly. My boyfriend gets into it too.”
I understand what she means about looking at Twitter for news, but… that still makes me weep for journalism. I like to see what’s trending throughout the day too, but it’s not the same as having certain news sites that you visit every day. As for the rest of it… Gigi and Zayn sing show tunes together? Gigi wants to be an actress? Gigi is an artist? Okay. We’ll see.
“My boyfriend, being British, got me into breakfast beans.” I know that beans are part of “the English breakfast,” but how can people do that every morning? No joke, I would be farting all day.
Photos courtesy of Karl Lagerfeld & Bjorn Iooss.
What the actual f-ck are ‘breakfast beans’? We call them BAKED BEANS.
(I know this is an irrational level of rage over a tinned beans…)
And no, baked beans are not part of the usual every day British breakfast. they are generally eaten as part of a ‘cooked’ breakfast (with eggs, toast, bacon/sausage, hash browns, mushrooms, and tomatoes or some variation of that depending on geography). Baked beans are as much part of our every day diet as a stack of pancakes is part of the every day American diet. I’m sure some people partake – but it’s not the norm.
(Or eaten for dinner when you are a student/don’t have anything else in the house because they are quick and cheap as chips)
Here in Quebec a lot of breakfast places offer a small serving of baked beans with whatever else you’re having, be it pancakes, eggs, etc. Especially during maple syrup season in the spring, it can be baked beans everywhere, lol. I don’t mind them now and then, but I can’t imagine eating them with breakfast / as breakfast all the time.
Agreed
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
I was going to say similar.
Get your Britisher boyfriend to give you the right words, dear!
I have been known to put Marmite in my beans on toast (note, you don’t need to keep the baked when you’re referring to them being on toast). That is peak British, right?!
That actually sounds pretty flippin’ good!
That is super-peak British!!
I have not seen my husband to put marmite under the beans on toast!! I might suggest it to him!!
And by the way, I also started eating beans on toast in UK lol (marmite… NOT an option!! lol)
Marmite makes me wince so hard. I hate that thing, along with VEGEMITE, the actual devil’s spawn.
I also shake a teaspoon of melted Marmite onto my roast potatoes before basting them, if I don’t have proper dripping to roast them in.
Oh. I really am peak British.
*runs off to find those internationalist values I keep on about*
@Sixer
My hubby said he will never get to that LOL You get awarded first prize for Britishness LOL
Awwww a couple who farts together, yada yada yada
That’s a lot of food for breakfast. I could see myselft eating that for lunch, though.
I’m usually content if I manage to eat some toast and sip on some tea.
My young and fit daughter walks a minimum of 5 miles a day on her job as a warehouse manager. In addition, she’s training for a 1/2 marathon.
Her favorite meal is breakfast but I know she eats nowhere near that amount.
I’m not very active so it makes sense for me not to eat that much. Also, I only get hungry 3 hours after waking up so I usually have to eat something very small and easy to digest.
A Full English is da bomb on holiday though.
Sup Premier Inn unlimited breakfast!!
Ha my thoughts exactly!!! I was like wtf are breakfast beans?! You mean baked beans?!?! And yeah it’s hardly a staple of every English breakfast time… An occasional treat sure…
We tried having “breakfast beans” with our breakfast last week, just to see what the hell the appeal was. WOW! I can’t believe how well it goes with breakfast! I feel like a fool for ever doubting. Breakfast beans for everyone!
In America, baked beans are very syrupy and sweet, with bacon and brown sugar and molasses and onion mixed in. I’m used to Southern-style baked beans, though they’re never vegan so I make my own recipe.
So, is that how you’d describe baked beans in the UK? I thought British baked beans were less sweet, with a tomato-based sauce. If they’re different, I guess I can see using a different word for the British beans.
They are as you say. Canned, in a tomato sauce.
Yours are, like, proper food. Ours are just one of those crappy foods that everyone in a country likes even though everyone also knows that really they are crappy foods.
In fact, I think we originally got them from you and then took them to heart, while you guys said hold up! These aren’t anything like proper baked beans!
i feel like the American equivalent of baked beans is peanut butter and jelly or macaroni and cheese. These things that you can never really make high brow, though people may try.
Need someone fluent in American and British to step in and confirm please!
Yes, it’s something like that. Perhaps not quite crappy food – national comfort foods? And definitely not highbrow.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=baked+beans&client=tablet-android-samsung&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJ9_rA7I_PAhVEqxoKHXw6ACAQ_AUIBygB&biw=768&bih=1024#imgrc=yps-ZycOkEZCtM%3A
Also, Zayn’s from Yorkshire, so he would most likely describe himself as English, not British. Are they actually dating at all?
Zayn is also half Pakistani and openly describes himself as Asian.
I’ve yet to meet any Asian in the UK who describes themselves as ‘English’ – it’s always ‘British’. So yes, if Gigi is referring to her boyfriend as ‘British’, it’s equally possible she’s just following his lead.
Most people in England identify themselves as British, including British Asians.
In fact, people who make a big point of identifying as English rather than British are almost always white and often um… how to put it? Not the nice types.
I think she said breakfast beans to differentiate from beans you have for dinner that’s why. And also for a lot of people who have never had beans for breakfast before maybe it becomes an almost daily thing cause it’s something new
I think it’s interesting she called them breakfast beans. She and zayn are both part arabic. Egyptian “breakfast beans” are foule medemis and they are my favorite breakfast food ever! Made from Fava beans.
Pakistani is not the same as Arab
Pakistani is not the same as Arab
I’m loving all this Brit breakfast talk!
I love a good English breakfast. I miss toast and beans and potato waffles !
potato waffles ARNT English Breakfast…
To me they are ! It was my fav breakfast in England. Toast and beans, egg, and potato waffles !
You mean hash browns…….
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hash+browns&client=tablet-android-samsung&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjp6aT17I_PAhVHrRoKHV5KCccQ_AUIBygB&biw=768&bih=1024#imgrc=CaJZiBYVKzpsBM%3A
To be fair, they are made from potatoes.
No no – potato waffles are their own thing. Found in the frozen aisle in the grocery store. I haven’t yet actually ever bought them, but I can confirm they are a thing -separate from hash browns. Not sure if they are a breakfast food, though?
I had irrational rage over that too. They are baked beans and they have to Heinz!
You’re so right Kilo Tango! Beanz always meanz Heinz! I believe this stick eats the full English with her boyfriend (another untalented hack), like I believe she can sing and act…. and model.
Another one who was born on home base. I too weep for the future of journalism when the go to news source is…Twitter?
Say what you will, but Zayn was hardly born on home base. He was a bi-racial kid from Bradford – that hardly equals being dealt a good hand. Gigi on the other…I totally agree.
Maybe she’s differentiating because when you say “baked beans” to an American they think of sweet, brown sugar beans (like Bush’s) which I would NEVER want for breakfast, and not the tomato-based, more acidic Heinz beans. There is a very specific type of bean that makes to breakfast cut!
My boyfriend is British and in 10 years he was never able to convince me that beans for breakfast are ok or that beans on toast or cheese on toast are in fact full on meals!
I chuckle a bit because I am italian and my parents are both italian chefs and when I am introduced to the ‘british national dish’ aka fish and chips, it just cracks me up.
😀 😀 😀
I love cheese on toast by the way but I do not consider it a meal. Maybe a snack.
Actually, England’s national dish is now curry.
I thought it’s chicken tikka.
Chicken tikka was invented in England, but not sure if it’s the national dish though…you could be right. All I know is it’s not Fish and Chips or Yorkshire pudding.
No chicken tikka MASALA (with the sauce) was invented in Britain. Chicken tikka itself is a Mughal/Indian dish!
@ Clare
You are correct, my bad !
Don’t worry, i am british and i never liked baked beans either!
I swap recipes when I go to visit my Tuscan friends and they are always more interested in the British version of curry dishes than they are in Yorkshire puddings or roast potatoes or all the rest of it!
Italian here as well and I can eat beans on toast in the morning.
The only think I cannot stomach for breakfast is the black pudding.
Then sausages, bacon, beans, smoked salmon, eggs, nom nom!! 🙂
My mum and grannie were sublime chefs too but maybe the difference is that I have lived abroad for longer than actually in Italy.
Cheese on toast is the best thing that can happen to me in the mornings. Cream cheese, brie, you name it, it goes on toast and decreases my levels of “i have to go to work” rage.
Cheese and Marmite toastie and a mug of builder’s, please.
There’s a cafe in Hammersmith that does cheese and avocado toasties that are proper lush.
My Welsh in-laws introduced me to the chip sandwich a few weeks back, and I was so confused and amused by it! Oven fries on a French roll with red wine vinegar, salt, and butter. I was equally mystified by the idea of beans on toast as breakfast, since I pictured the sweet bbq baked beans I know.
Aaahhh, Marieeeee, the good old chip buttie! I can taste it already. My idea of haute cuisine, with lashings of HP sauce. Delish!
I would do cheese on toast or beans on toast for lunch.
Very rarely have a fry-up for breakfast. It’s mostly porridge for me.
And porridge is what Americans call oatmeal?
Yes. I think!
Is your oatmeal lumpy? Or is it smooth like Ready Brek? Do you even have Ready Brek? Porridge is quite lumpy.
Me too – with condensed milk on it, the way my mum made it. That’s stuff is like crack.
I’ve never tried beans on toast but I’ve had a bean burrito and it’s kind of the same idea right? Texturally, I don’t know about beans on toast. Baked beans here are served with BBQ or as a Southern side dish. Beans are really reserved for dinner and served alone typically if they’re American style. We don’t have that Brek stuff? Our oatmeal is just what it sounds like oats that are ground up and heated with milk until they are the consistency of a thick pudding. We mix in things like nuts, fruit, honey, or a small amount of butter. Is that what porridge is in the way you’re referring to it? A bowl of oatmeal is considered a full breakfast for lots of people.
On a side note, I like Gigi too for some reason. She was so cute on Rupaul’s Drag Race.
I sort of like her eating motto. Lol at the “bf” thing.
She mentioned his boyfriend a lot. I like this couple. I hope we will see them together for a few more years.
How many times can she mention her boyfriend in an article? I say this because I read another quote of hers from this piece that she said something along the lines of that this is the first time her and her boyfriend were dating someone with similar interests. I’m a fan of little mix, so I may be biased, but I find it annoying that she speaks about Zayn’s past like she was a part of it. I mean, Zayn and Perrie must have had something in common, they were engaged.
Anyway, you know you’re privileged when your past times are to ride horses and watch Girls. Although I do think she’s very pretty, and definitely a better model than Kendull.
Maybe zayn told her their relationship works because they have more in common?
That could be true, I’m not doubting that. But she shouldn’t be speaking about it because it wasn’t her relationship?
Girls is an awful show, ugh!
But yeah I had the same reaction regarding Perrie… I love her and it makes me kind of achy to watch these two show off.
Also, I used to ride horses, you can do it even if you aren’t rich!
Thank you, Gigi for explaining how to use Twitter. I was truly at a loss.
And how do these women get through life without Englisher boyfriends teaching them how to eat?
After you type in the keyword you hit enter correct? That part always confuses me.
If you’re going on Twitter for news, what keyword are you entering? “News”?
I check trending topics and a few “key” people, but unless I know what I’m searching for, say ‘Pipeline’, I don’t search random keywords….
A lot of Hispanic cultures eat black or pinto beans for breaks. I grew up on egg and beans breakfast tacos.
Black beans on rice for breakfast IS the happiness!
This, I’m Mexican and it’s pretty common to eat beans for breakfast. I don’t get the fuzz lol
lol @ “I studied criminal psychology in school, so one day I hope I can use my studies to be on Law & Order: SVU.”
that’s cute. dim, but cute.
Yes, that was hilarious.
What about “If I were ever to play a character, I would want to be some sort of action hero. Not necessarily a superhero but something along those lines, like action-driven. Maybe the first female president!”? What does she think the presidents do?!
Isn’t Hailey “look I randomly have a book on medical terminology in my bag because I’m trying to learn things!” Baldwin one of her friends? Makes sense.
All the models these days have SUCH a teenager look to them. I think that is what’s unappealing to me. They’re pretty, but YOUNG.
She lost me at “Then I’ll go to Twitter for news.” Lord help us.
Cara is by far the best out of nepotism models, but I think Gigi is a fine VS type model. Kendall and Cindy’s Kaia are the worst.
And her name is Jelena, I just found out. That’s a very very common name here, but I wonder, how do you pronounce it in English? And how on Earth do you get Gigi from that?
I hope she doesn’t go into acting. Cara is enough. Are there any models who were really successfull as models who were actually good actors?
I know Angelina Jolie did a lot of modeling work and was signed to an agency. I’m not sure if this came before or after her breakthrough as an actress. Milla Jovovich, too. But neither of them were Naomi-levels of succesful.
Not entirely succesful either, but Analeigh Tipton and Yaya DaCosta are also solid models-turned-actresses. Both were contestants in America’s Next Top Model.
I really like Analeigh! She has some great comedic chops.
Rene Russo was a very successful 70s model.
Not as famous perhaps, but there was also Tricia Helfer (90s high fashion model who absolutely killed it as #6 on Battlestar Galactica)
Not counting the child actors who were briefly child models, we have:
Geena Davis
Rene Russo
Sharon Stone
Jessica Lange
Cameron Diaz
Channing Tatum
Eddie Redmayne
Jennifer Connolly
Ashton Kutcher
Mark Walberg
Jamie Dornan
Rebecca Romijn (Stamos)
Brooklyn Decker
Brooke Shields
Milla Jovovich
Jamie King
Tyrese Gibson
James Marsden
Ian Solmerder (sp?) The pretty one in Vampire Diaries.
Molly Sims
Only Elizabeth Hurley has transitioned in the opposite direction from actress and producer to modelling.
But most of these people weren’t super known as models or supermodels. Eddie Redmayne was hardly Adriana-Lima-model famous. I wondered if there is someone who was super famous as a model who became a good actor. I remember Cindy and Gisele trying to act but they were awful.
Yes they were. In the 70s, 80s and 90s. Their acting careers have been mixed and or indifferent, but they were all big models day.
Not many women and men made it to a Cindy or Giselle level of modelling except Brooke Shields, but the list i’ve supplied were the next rang down. Which means they were successful enough as models to be known as such to the wider public before their acting careers proved more successful that the modelling was forgotten.
Wow I had no idea that was her real name, damn!
I guess people pronounced in “Gelena” and hence the Gigi?
Maybe that’s why. Here the “J” is pronounced like the “Y” in Yeezus.
Kim Basinger, Cameron Diaz, Brooke Shields, Andie McDowell and Djimon Hounsou were all fairly successful models.
Beans with eggs are divine.
She has more of an actress look than a model.
I can’t with the lego thing….
I totally agree with her about getting news from Twitter. You can follow whatever news outlets you want, and you get the articles in real time. It certainly beats cable news punditry
Ditto. Not sure why people are knocking it, if you follow journalists you can get news from 50 sources in the one place, and you can get the news you actually care about, no digging through ads and puff pieces to get to the proper journalists work.
I could never eat beans for breakfast because I really don’t feel like pooping my pants on my morning run.
Honestly for me, no matter what I eat, I find running to be nature’s laxative.
LOL…I’ve been so lucky that I’ve only experienced that sensation ONCE in 12 years of running. But holy sh*t (pun intended) that was an unpleasant experience.
Do you run every morning? That’s impressive!
I do a running commute to work every single morning–wind, rain, snow, sleet or shine.
Mr Sixer kinda does that! Bikes to and from work three times a week, runs twice.
I used to be a huge model junkie. Not so much into fashion itself, but I loved following models and their editorial-advertising work. Then, like 3 years ago, I just stopped caring. Models just got boring. I think these new models – not just the famous insta-girls, but the lesser known but very succesful models too – are just so BORING to look at. Uninteresting. Pedestrian, as Janice Dickinson would say. I think that’s the new trend? That they are common and relatable?
That’s what happened to me too – I used to love following models all the way up to the Jourdan/Cara generation, and then the social media bitches really took over everything and killed all the edge fashion editorials used to have.
She doesn’t eat. She’s a liar like all of these models. I remember when Carre Otis came clean about it. They smoke, starve, and do coke. Then their managers and agents tell them to claim to eat so that other women can relate to them. It’s absurd. If she really ate all of that food, Yolanda Hadid (hilarious she went back to her married name after her divorce not her maiden name) would swoop in and smack it out of her mouth and lock her in a luxury hotel for the Master Cleanse for a few weeks.
Do people not understand how Twitter works? What’s with the weird reactions to what she said about getting news from Twitter? All the newsoutlets have Twitter accounts. Its actually a quick way to check the news.
The reactions are to her explaining how to look up the news on Twitter as if SHE thinks nobody knows how to use it.
Also, what she means about getting “the news” is she types in her own name and sees what is being said about her. That’s the only news the hyper-rich, super-privileged need.
Anyone see Bella wipe out on the floor at Michael Kors?! Practice, practice, practice. Maybe not so many yachts?
Does she have any connection to her Arab heritage?
Her dad is Palestinian and she’s very close to him. Zayn tweeted something pro Palestine a few years ago. It caused a shitstorm he got all kinds of threats. Cowell was shitting his pants because someone in 1d had an opinion on something.
Zayn also has a song in Urdu, he definitely doesn’t hide his heritage (good for him!!).
I think the US’ melting pot sort of erases your heritage in a way…
No beans. Grits with butter and black pepper topped with grilled jalapenos and cheese.
One of my Saturday morning favorites is an English dish called Toad in the Hole. I looked up the recipe because the name and picture were so cute but was totally surprised that it is delicious and easy. Yum, now I may have to have it for dinner tonight.
Just pointing out that Zayn is half Pakistani. That’s not Arabic!
I, too have a soft spot for Gigi, which is surprising given how annoying I find her mother Yolanda.
I like her look, but when she talks it seems to me she wants to be the next ‘Jennifer Lawrence’ – relatable level.