Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Pattie Boyd's "Letter from London"

HI, EVERYONE!

What with all this search for a new home and Mary Bee's flat being so small and all, I've had to part with my dear kitten "Wee-Wee." But don't grieve for him, Cathie Crone of Wilmette, Ill., (I love the names of all your cats), Gisele Gauthier of Scarborough, Can., (I'm thrilled you've called your gold-beige kitten "Pattie") and Melissa Smith of Binghampton, N.Y.--for "Wee-Wee" has struck it rich. Who do you think he lives with now? In the country with John and Cyn Lennon!

When I told you in the May issue that I didn't know whether to cut my hair, or not be in the new fashion of short locks, I never dreamed you would all be so horrified. Although about half of the models are now wearing their styles fairly short, I've decided to keep my hair long. It covers my rather round cheeks so well! So all you girls, like Melinda Anne Wisner of Gary, Ind., Marianne Heckel of Louisville, Ky., (and dozens of others) will, I'm sure, be glad to know that my hair stays long, and if I have to wear it short for special jobs, then I shall get one of those beautiful wigs that are in fashion.

Hair seems to be the main topic of my mail this month. I can't answer all your queries, but at least I can tell Joy Murabito of Lewes, Del., that I think you need to try a special shampoo. Don't worry about the split ends of your hair, Nancy Domagalski of Chicago, Ill., but have it trimmed regularly and professionally. Brown hair like yours, Rosemary Kildon of Rockford, Ill., can look as beautiful as any other color if it is well groomed. Some of the top models here have just that color. Nothing but hair care and patience will make your hair grow long. Debby Williams of Dayton, Ohio. Mine took a year to get just right. Keep your lovely waves, Jill Richard of Berkeley, Calif. They will soon be the envy of your friends, for waves and curls are very much "in" at the moment. I shall very soon write a special letter to you all on how I do my hair and perhaps show some pix in 16 Magazine that will help some of you.

I am most interested in the letters I have had from would-be dress designers. It is one of the most fab careers for girls. The sketches you sent to me, Barbara Fuller of Elmhurst, N.Y. are really great and you show talen in design and choice of color. To study fashion designing, Denyse Nadeau of Millbury, Mass., I think you should go to Art School for at least two years. But I don't recommend that you come to England to start your career. You would find it takes a barrel of money to live here, and the competition is fierce even for the British girls.

Patricia Harris of Fitchburg, Mass., wants to know if I ever buy any of the clothes I model. Yes, but only very rarely, because they are usually too expensive or not in my favorite color (which at the moment is white). Modeling seems to be the career most of you want to take up when you leave school. I think I have already written a lot about this in 16 Magazine, but you are still asking for more. Thank you, Mary Alice Delahousse of Norfolk, Va., for your interesting letter. We all know that French girls have a precious "dress sense," so I am sure you will be a success as a model. When you come to England with your family in 1967, you will be able to make a choice among the many schools for yourself.

There is doubtless a great attraction about modeling because so many of you, from 12 to 16, are already asking what the qualifications are. My advice to Jackie Click of Vidor, Tex., and Debbie Delven of Quincy, Ill., is that you wait until you are 17 and then, if you still want to model, go to a modeling school.

I'd just love to model for American magazines, Eileen English of Center Moriches, N.Y., but so far I've worked only for the British or French. My great thrill just now is that I shall be on the cover of British Vogue very shortly. Answering your other question, I always do my hair and make-up myself.

When to start using make-up is always a tricky question. I must say I agree with your mom, Debbie Carolla, of Belleville, N.J., that 14 is a bit too young. I didn't use make-up until I was 17, chiefly because it didn't suit me (and I think one's skin, like the rest of the body, isn't fully developed). And don't worry about your weight. You will be fatter and thinner again by the time you are 18!

Yours is the first letter I have ever had from a Chinese girl, Sandra Lee of San Francisco, Calif. I certainly wish you luck and assure you that nationality has nothing to do with modeling. In fact, one of Dior's top models in Paris is Chinese.

It would take the whole of this letter to answer all your questions, Jan Crichton of Portland, Ore. Yes, I'm small-boned. Yes, we go surfing in Cornwall, but our sea is not as warm as yours. I never discuss George Harrison or the Beatles with anyone. This wonderful group likes to keep their private lives to themselves, and one would not be their friend for long if confidences were not respected. I'm sure you will understand this.

It is very flattering to be asked if you may start a fan club for me, Jo Anne Sowinski of Scranton, Pa., but I am afraid I must refuse. Scores of you have written me with the same idea from all over the States, and I just couldn't accept them all and wouldn't have time to correspond properly with you, nor could I begin to afford all the photographs you would need. So please let me bow out with my most grateful thanks and good wishes to you all.

Every mail beings me the sweetest invitations to visit the U.S. I have also had invitations to stay in your homes with you from almost every state. In fact, to accept them all would mean living in America for months! I'd just love to see your French Quarter, Cathy Brown of New Orleans, La., and thank you and your mom for inviting me to beautiful Maryland, Maureen Dougherty of Baldwin. Beverly Addis of Bellsville, Ohio, your instructions on how to find your home are so clear I could almost walk in at your door! Once again, thank you all and I shall keep on hoping to cross the Atlantic one of these days.

No comments: