Renee Simonsen

I'm not sure what my current obsession with the 80's is.  Perhaps its because my father recently passed and I'm doing a bit of a life review. 

I did a lot of reading of Vogue magazine growing up  I asked for a subscription for my 12th birthday and couldn't wait for the mailman to deliver the magazine each month, usually around the 13th or 14th day.  I became obsessed with drawing all of the top models.  Maybe I can scan some of those funny drawings some time.  

Models in the 80's seemed to have very exaggerated features- bushy eyebrows (Brooke Shield), giant lips (Kelly LeBrock), personality (Janice Dickinson, Gia Carrangi, Paulina Porizkova), giant eyes (Kim Alexis) super long legs (Carol Alt), square jaw (Christie Brinkley) curvy figure (Cindy Crawford) and the 80's nose (Kelly Emberg).

I remember the first time I saw Renee Simonsen was in an editorial in Vogue that was shot with Talisa Soto (another beautiful exotic featured model).  She had won a Model of the World competition and signed a contract with Ford Models.  Her startlingly beautiful and intense features made her a top model almost immediately.  To top it off, she had a legendary romance with Duran Duran cutie John Taylor (my favorite back then, now I'm more into Simon LeBon, mainly because I love his wife Yasmin LeBon, another stunning 80's top model).

 Renee is currently a successful children's book author and novelist in her native Denmark.  She is still beautiful and still models occasionally.