Two-Pièce de Résistance: Julie Henderson, 2012

This is a very Julie Henderson pic.

Photo: James Macari

I think 2012 was a year of too much retouching, so unfortunately her skin looks a little supernatural in its smoothness. But happily, her freckles remain. I think those, along with the tousled hair and the lazy, matter-of-fact look she’s giving us, emphasize Julie’s girl-next-doorness that holds such appeal for me. This pic exudes the casual and joyful warmth she shows in her behind-the-scenes interviews.

And the body, in that classic lying-on-her-side bathing beauty pose, transcends a bit of retouching. That hip-curve. That pretty crease down the center of her midriff. That sparse smattering of grains of sand. That low-slung, electric lime bikini bottom. It looks like a grey day on the beach, but that just serves to enhance her warm, massageable skin and neon swimsuit.

It’s a good old-fashioned bikini pose, and Julie strikes it beautifully.

Surfboard Addendum

By the way, once upon a time Quiksilver created surfboards with SI models printed directly on them. No idea if they were ever available for the everyday beach bum.

I’m sure there’s a “perfect 10”/“hang 10” pun to be made here. I leave it to you to complete it.

Butt Appreciation Day 2020: The Grable

There’s something specially sexy about the Grable pose.

Her back is to you. But she’s looking over her shoulder at you and smiling.

The only logical interpretation of this illogical pose is that she is happily inviting you to stare at her butt. She just like, “Have at it.” There’s no faux candidness, like you’ve stumbled upon her while she’s luxuriating in nature. There’s no sultry glares, like she’s engaged in the deadly serious business of titillation. Just a fun “Oh you like cute butts? Enjoy!”

Three components of the Grable:

Stand.

Glance over the shoulder.

Smile.

Free-Hip Friday: Julie Henderson, 2008

Grand Swimsuitification Theory

A few years ago, I extolled the virtues of Ashley Richardson’s extroversion, linking her with 40 other swimsuit models through SI’s multiple-girl shoots.

There’s another rich vein of connected models, but unfortunately it is mutually exclusive from Ashley’s.

You may remember Julie Henderson’s rookie year, in which she posed with Jessica White on the football field.

Julie also appears in this 3D video with Irina Shayk and Alyssa Miller.

And she pops up in this lovely black and white photo with Brooklyn Decker. The shot doesn’t appear in SI (and in fact there’s no swimsuit to be seen in the photo). But I found it on Walter Iooss’s website, and I can’t think of any other campaign those three people have all been part of, so I’m going to count it as an SI-adjacent photo.

Brooklyn, of course, is good friends with Chrissy Teigen, and this behind-the-scenes photo of the two of them is from an SI shoot.

And Chrissy’s cover provided a nice threesome with Lily Aldridge and Nina Agdal.

Nina disguised herself as Valeria Mazza alongside a Tyra Banks-ified Ariel Meredith.

Ariel took her Route 66 road trip with Ashley Smith, Hannah Ferguson, and Sara Sampaio.

And of course Sara’s rookie year paired her up with fellow rookie Gigi Hadid.

So we have a string of 13 girls. I wish there was a way to connect this group with Ashley Richardson’s group, but for now they remain mutually exclusive.

I could EASILY link them — and add lots more models — if I counted this “Legends” group photo. However, despite the bared midriffs and heaved cleavage, I consider these models to be fully clothed, so in my heart I must leave them apart.

(I also strongly suspect that not all the Legends are actually in the same shot. Kathy in particular looks Photoshopped in.)

Happy Irina-versary

Yesterday, I slipped in a pic of Irina Shayk’s posterior, so that post and this post tip the all-time Swimsuitologist scale in her favor: Irina Shayk 64, Kate Upton 62. In a way, it makes sense. This was Irina’s tenth consecutive appearance in the swimsuit issue, tying her with her fellow Russian beauty Anne V.

How did the rest of her 2007 rookie class fare?

Ana Paula Araujo (1 year)

Raica Oliveira (1 year)

Selita Ebanks (2 years)

Tori Praver (3 years)

Bar Refaeli (5 years)

Julie Henderson (7 years)

Like I did with Anne V, I counted up the number of models Irina has shared the magazine with. I have Irina at 81, leaving her a little short of Anne’s 88. (Anne was helped by the All-Star Reunion issue, which came out in 2006, just before Irina’s time.)

• • •

Adaora • Nina Agdal • Lily Aldridge • Ana Paulia Araujo • Melissa Baker • Natasha Barnard • Ana Beatriz Barros • Rose Bertram • Beyonce • Kate Bock • Yasmin Brunet • Jeisa Chiminazzo • Hailey Clauson • Shannan Click • Kim Cloutier • Hannah Davis • Sonia Dara • Brooklyn Decker • Yamila Diaz • Cintia Dicker • Emily DiDonato • Zoe Duchesne • Lucia Dvorska • Selita Ebanks • Hannah Ferguson • Kenza Fourati • Esti Ginzburg • Jessica Gomes • Izabel Goulart • Ashley Graham • Quiana Grant • Kirby Griffin • Gigi Hadid • Melissa Haro • Jessica Hart • Erin Heatherton • Bregje Heinen • Julie Henderson • Samantha Hoopes • Marloes Horst • Chanel Iman • Heidi Klum • Bo Krsmanovic • Robyn Lawley • Damaris Lewis • Jarah Mariano • Lauren Mellor • Ariel Meredith • Alyssa Miller • Marisa Miller • Tanya Mityushina • Genevieve Morton • Fernanda Motta • Aline Nakashima • Raica Oliveira • Oluchi Onweagba • Julie Ordon • Barbara Palvin • Jessica Perez • Dominique Piek • Tori Praver • Emily Ratajkowsi • Bar Refaeli • Crystal Renn • Sofia Resing • Hilary Rhoda • Kelly Rohrbach • Sarah Sampaio • Daniella Sarahyba • Ashley Smith • Solveig • Fernanda Tavares • Chrissy Teigen • Yesica Toscanini • Kate Upton • Cris Urena • Anne V • Valerie van der Graaf • Veronika Varekova • Michelle Vawer • Jessica White

• • •

Now, there’s no need to assume Irina will call it quits after just one decade. Kathy Ireland has the all-time record at 12 years (including 11 in a row). Does Irina have her eyes on that mark?

 

Watch your back, Ireland.

Bock for More

Okay, so I’m popping out of retirement to point out something I find amazing about the 2016 swimsuit issue.

Kate Bock appears in this bikini:

 

…which is the same suit that I pointed out had been worn by both Julie Henderson and Esti Ginzburg back in 2010, six years ago:

 

That means we have a “Same Suit, Different Babe” scenario that spans three models and more than half a decade.

I don’t know if someone just lost track of the suits or what. I would have thought they’d try to focus on fairly new designs, but somehow this bikini stuck around.

So while I’m here, I thought I’d give a “State of the Swimsuit Issue” address: The state of the swimsuit issue is strong. I thought 2014 was a step forward, but 2015 slid backwards a little bit. But 2016 seems to have minimal Photoshopping, plus tons of giant, crisp, super-saturated photos. I love this issue.

• • •

Since we’re on the subject of Kate Bock: Wow. 2013 Rookie of the Year Kate Bock. Porcelain-and-spun-sugar Kate Bock. Pretty, blue-eyed, blonde, straightforward Kate Bock. This year, she found some sultriness that I don’t normally associate with her.

This suit is a little weird, but great:

Unfortunately, it only appears in her online videos.

There’s not a single picture of her wearing it in her 39 online photos, which is a crime.

And—AND—she adds her name to the list of girls who’ve gone bottomless.

So does Chanel Iman:

And, I think, maybe, covergirl Hailey Clauson:

And Rose Bertram is definitely nude below sea level in this video:

• • •

Another thing to address is Ashley Graham. You don’t need a reminder, but she’s the plus-size rookie who got one of the three covers. She goes beyond last year’s rookie Robyn Lawley: Ashley is a full-on curvapalooza.

And this being the internet, plenty of people have raised a fuss about it. Some of them got real cruel and awful in their online comments. They are all assholes.

Ashley may not be your cup of tea. Heck, she may not be mine. But even my least favorite SI model far outranks my most favorite internet asshole, so I’ll say this: Ashley Graham is beautiful. And she’s taking a lot of abuse for her appearance, during this event in her life that should be joyful for her—I’m sure she sees the lousy things that idiots are saying about her. But she’s a pioneer, and I support her 100%.

And frankly, if you can’t see the sex appeal in photos like this:

…then your balls have not yet dropped.

More thoughts later.

Pump(s) Up the Volume

How about a few more pairs of heels? Add some rock and roll to the bikini + high heels combo, and you have a perfect music video outfit.

The 2007 “Music” issue illustrated this well.

And heck, why not a couple more shots of Anne V. She seems to like wearing heels.