Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Her?

Yes, her. Patricia Velasquez is 41 today.True fans know her as an SI model in 1994 and 1995, but also as Marta (the second one) in Arrested Development.What a fun, sexy time for her!

Monday, January 30, 2012

A One-Hit Wonder No More

The announcement rang out today: After a two-issue hiatus, Ariel Meredith is returning to the swimsuit issue in 2012.Welcome back, Ariel!

Friday, January 27, 2012

A Bikini Addict is Jonesing

A new bikini-obsessed blog called The Bikini Addict has listed its predictions for the 2012 cover.

The author's picks are Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen, or Hilary Rhoda.

I think the smart money is on Kate, myself.But it would be churlish of me not to post photos of the other girls.
Meanwhile, it might be fun to visit The Lowdown Blog's predictions from way back on February 22, 2011. The ink was still wet on last year's issue, but they made some long-term guesses on this year's, leading with Cintia Dicker. (Personally, I would love that.)They follow up, in descending order of likelihood, with Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen, Julie Henderson, Genevieve Morton, Anne V, and Irina Shayk.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Once-Piece Wednesday: The 1977 Swimsuit Issue

Way back on the first One-Piece Wednesday, I mentioned the all-bikini 1997 issue and asserted that it was “an honor that will never be bestowed on one-piecers.”

I was wrong. It happened twenty years earlier.

I was virtually flipping through some old swimsuit issues online when I noticed something about 1977. Every suit in the magazine, including the cover, was a one-piecer.At first, I figured that it was a coincidence, made possible by the more modest attitude and shorter pictorials of earlier swimsuit issues.

But then I read Jule Campbell’s introduction, under the headline “Tank Heaven for Not So Little Girls.”Annette Kellerman would love it. Tank suits—or racing suits, one-piece suits, maillots—are back. Not that they ever were away; it's just that this year they're what everyone, not only the Enders and Babashoffs, will be wearing. But Annette wouldn't recognize them. Even the new Speedo (above, $27) is super snug and snazzy.

This was only the 14th swimsuit issue, back when the magazine had a lot more “fashion” commentary.

(Annette Kellerman, by the way, was arrested in 1907 for wearing a one-piecer in public—scandalous at the time. A year later, she was named the Perfect Woman by Harvard because of her Venus de Milo body. Thanks, Wikipedia!)Cheryl Tiegs, in her sixth swimsuit issue, and despite appearing on the cover two years earlier, only appears in one photo:…which is slipped in under a couple photos of cover girl Lena Kansbod.There are four shots each of Lena and the refreshingly named Barbara Minty:Barbara (in that last pic, anyway) bears a striking resemblance to 2011 SI model contestant Tamiris Freitas.An entire issue dedicated to one-piecers. Who knew?

I feel confident we’ll never see the likes of it again. One-piecers are the giant pandas of the swimsuit issue. You’re just as likely to see models not wearing suits at all.But something warms my heart to know that three beautiful, sheathed models graced SI’s pages 35 years ago.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Seal Without a Kiss

Carol Alt tweeted today:That's a shame. I don't follow their personal lives at all, but I got the feeling they'd be one of the celebrity couples that would last.Well, best wishes to both of them. And I'd be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to post a photo of a paint-bikini-clad Heidi Klum.Oh, and thanks to her fellow cover model for breaking the news.

Happy Birthday, Raica Oliveira

28 today.

Friday, January 20, 2012

48 Years Ago Today

1/20/64: the cover date of the first swimsuit issue.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Which Rookies Will Return?

SI has been taunting us with the fact that there are barely 30 days until the swimsuit issue comes out. Soon, we will know which of the five 2011 rookies will return, and which of them will become one-hit wonders. My predictions, from most likely to least likely:

#1: Kate UptonThis is a no-brainer. I think riots would break out if she's gone in 2012. (I foresee a not-minor uproar if she isn't the cover girl.)

#2: Alyssa MillerNot only is she drop-dead gorgeous, but she's the only rookie who got three separate shoots in 2011: bodypainting, Hawaii, Fiji.

#3: Kenza FouratiShe's my personal obsession. I hope I'm not being too optimistic; I'd love to see more from her.

#4: Izabel GoulartShe's filling the void left by Daniella Sarahyba, but does she have the staying power to repeat?

#5: Shannan ClickShe had the fewest photos online of any of the rookies, and I just got a nagging feeling that she didn't, well, click.

We'll find out soon enough. And then we'll have a new batch of rookies to speculate about.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Happy Birthday, Vendela

I like this shot better than her cover shot.Still a weird, weird suit.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Happy Birthday, Mallory Snyder

Let's not let Mallory get too overshadowed by Irina! The pillow-lipped 2005/06 model is 28 today.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Calendar Girls

Happy 2012.

I recently picked up this year’s swimsuit desk calendar, like I have every year since 1990.This means I have 23 of them. That’s almost a quarter of a century.

It dawned on me that the first one I ever bought (1990, with Stephanie Seymour on the cover):…is older than a lot of the models who have appeared in the swimsuit issue.

And since these are calendars, that means you can point to the exact dates that those girls were born.

It’s kind of a flash realization of how old I am. But why not have fun with it?

There are four models I can find who were born in 1990 or later. Here are their birthdays, highlighted.

3/6/90: Elle Macpherson presides over the birth of Esti Ginzburg.
7/4/90: Rachel Hunter and Maria von Hartz welcome Alyssa Miller.
10/10/90: Maria is present for her second model: Damaris Lewis.
6/10/92: Angie Everhart peeks from the bamboo as Kate Upton arrives.
As the years go by, that number will only go up.