Long before she was a household name and face, Christie Brinkley was a young unknown American living in Paris, working toward her dream career as an illustrator and photographer. But as it often does, life had other plans for her.
One day in 1973 while walking down the Parisian streets, she caught the eye of famed photographer Errol Sawyer. A few days later, he tracked her down and told her she was just the “sunny California girl” he needed for his next photo shoot. Curious and open to adventure, Brinkley decided to give the opportunity a chance. And the rest is history.
In the decades since that fateful encounter, Brinkley’s life has continued to unfold in remarkable and unexpected ways. Her star in the modeling world rose quickly and shines brightly still today. She’s graced the cover of over 500 magazines, holding the record for the most SportsIllustrated swimsuit issue covers to date. And off the glossy pages, she’s a spokesperson, activist, mother, entrepreneur, actor, designer, author, and more.
But like with most notable life stories, there have also been dark chapters. Two of the most momentous include surviving a near-fatal helicopter crash on the side of a mountain in Colorado in 1994, and in 2012, experiencing the deaths of both her beloved parents. The day after her father’s death, her mother had a stroke—her eighth in 10 years—and soon after, a heart attack. She died two months later.
“My mom was such a vibrant force,” Brinkley says. “Watching her go through that suffering was hard for me to take. I was scared. But just like after the helicopter crash, I came away with a profound appreciation for each and every day that we get here.”
A Life in Perspective
In her new memoir Uptown Girl, Brinkley weaves together the stories of her life’s loves—romantic partners (the title is a reference to the song written and performed by Brinkley’s second husband, musician Billy Joel), an exhilarating and fulfilling career, horses, art, Paris, family, and children. Underlying it all is a deep love for life itself and the possibilities it offers.
“My dad always said to me, ‘If you do one thing, just one thing, please, please turn your journals from Paris into a book,’” she says. “So, I dug them out, along with my letters and postcards home, and I was struck by my enthusiasm. It made me happy to realize that in all the years between when I was there and the age I am now, I have a continuing thread of the same person who appreciates all the moments and sparkles and beauty still inside me. The things that mattered to me then still matter to me now.”
Finding Strength
Thirteen years after her mom’s death, Brinkley still finds guidance through her words.
“My mom used to say, ‘Getting older ain't for sissies,’” Brinkley says. “She was a believer in living each day as though it’s your last. But in truth, you can only do so much of that before it’s dangerous. You have to find a balance.”
For Brinkley, that balance means taking care of her body, mind, and soul while also saying yes to adventure when it presents itself so she can “grab hold of that comet tail and go along for the ride.”
To be able to do both, Brinkley keeps her body strong through healthy habits such as yoga, cycling, and full-body conditioning with her Total Gym, a personal fitness machine she both inspired and represented as spokesperson for 20 years.
“At 71, things start to stiffen up real fast when you sit there and don't exercise, and then your problems just multiply,” says Brinkley, who says she’s “broken basically everything,” including both feet, both arms, and her back. Her right arm has a metal plate, she’s had rotator cuff surgery and her right hip replaced—a result of the helicopter crash.
“My body hurt so much at one point that I could barely do a downward dog or lift a weight,” she says. But she dedicated her time to gentle stretching and building muscle around her injuries to support healing. Through it all, she also focused on her mental health with the practices that have buoyed her for most of her life.
“I go to nature,” Brinkley says. “I'll let my dog take me to the beach and run, or we'll go down a trail in the woods. Just going outside and feeling the nature around you—even the little dandelions that push up through the cracks in the city sidewalks—it’s just always there for us, and we’re lucky to be in it. Even in my darkest times, I could go out and look at a sunset and feel enveloped by the beauty of the world around me.”
Another mood-booster Brinkley swears by? Smiling.
“Science has proven that smiling releases endorphins and other hormones that make you feel good,” she says. “When you smile in a crowd and other people smile back, you can make the whole room feel good by bringing that happy energy. It's a renewable source of energy.”
Beauty in Aging
Even though Brinkley started her life in the limelight at 19, she’s undaunted by the fact that she’s still in the camera’s sharp focus at 71. In an industry that’s traditionally phased out talent once they’re “of a certain age,” Brinkley’s not interested in being corralled by a number. Media has started addressing representation in many areas, she says, but ageism is one of its very last frontiers.
“I totally bought into [ageism] thinking when I was younger,” she says. “I'd say, ‘Well, this is probably my last bathing suit cover I'm going to do,’ as if my body had an expiration date. But everyone wants to be represented, and we shouldn't just banish people from the pages once they reach a certain age. We all read magazines to see what looks good. But if we only see it on young girls, then it makes us say, ‘Would I look silly in that, like I'm trying to look too young?’”
This philosophy is part of what inspired the “ageless beauty” of her HSN fashion line TWRHLL. The goal, she says, is to offer pieces that are timeless and classic, that women of any age will want to wear. To Brinkley, classics are an inspiration.
“I love to look at old movies and go, ‘Why does she still look so fabulous? What is it about that look?’” Brinkley says. “It’s a great white shirt, a fabulous trouser, or the way the blazer is cut. They stand the test of time.”
The ultimate compliment is when her two daughters, Alexa and Sailor, borrow her clothes. Although they may style them slightly differently than she would, she says, they still work. Because—like Brinkley herself—the pieces are timeless.
