An Australian model is speaking out after an editor at an international Vogue publication made fun of her nose.
Tiah Eckhardt, 31, was at a casting and standing behind a glass door when she heard the editor speaking about her appearance.
‘Ugh, I’ve seen her before,’ Tiah recalled the editor saying. ‘I can’t stand that pointy nose.’
Tiah, of Perth, has graced the pages of Harper’s Bazaar and Elle, walked the runway for Armani and Bill Blass, and appeared in campaigns for Valentino and MAC.
But those six words caused Tiah to feel insecure about her face for years, so much so that she worried every time a photographer asked to take a picture of her profile.
Australian model Tiah Eckhardt, 31, has revealed that she once overheard an international Vogue editor making fun of her nose
Tiah, of Perth, has graced the pages of Harper’s Bazaar and Elle, walked the runway for Armani and Bill Blass, and appeared in campaigns for Valentino and MAC
But the mother-of-one has finally decided to stop letting the comment get her down, and to embrace what makes her stand out from the fashion crowd.
Tiah posted a defiant picture of her profile from a recent shoot, with her hair done up in an Old Hollywood bob and her nose perfectly on display.
Accompanying the picture was a lengthy caption, in which Tiah spoke out against the ‘systemic homogenization of the female appearance’ in contemporary society.
‘The things fashion people always hated the most about me (nose, boobs, hips, eyes) have always been the things me, my friends, and boyfriends have said they like the most!’ she wrote. ‘These “quirks” make you unique!’
But those six words caused the successful lingerie model to feel insecure about her profile for years, so much so that she worried every time her face was photographed up close
But the mother-of-one has finally decided to stop letting the comment get her down, and to embrace what makes her stand out from the fashion crowd
Tiah said she was sad that the beauty ‘standard’ has now become defined by the looks of reality stars and ‘instamodels’.
‘Don’t misinterpret – I am all for autonomy of one’s self and doing what makes you feel good,’ she noted.
‘But when every girl is going to the same plastic surgeon and asking for the EXACT same nose job, and the EXACT same fillers, and EXACT same boob job, narrowing a standard that was already stringent even further…something is VERY wrong.’
Tiah questioned why it had become a goal for women to ‘eradicate any perceived flaw’ on their face and bodies.
‘Do what makes you feel good, but I seriously beg you to ask yourself in depth why you feel the need to change the wonderful things that make you unique before you do, and really analyze the motives behind the desire to do so,’ she wrote.
Tiah said she was sad that the beauty ‘standard’ has now become defined by the looks of reality stars and ‘instamodels’ and called on her followers to embrace their unique features
‘It can sometimes be so much more liberating to learn to embrace your individuality instead.’
This isn’t the first time Tiah has spoken about beauty, recently praising Allure for featuring Dame Helen Mirren on the cover and calling for the end of ‘anti-aging’.
‘As life extends, the window of being 18-25 and “in our peak” becomes shorter and short and more irrelevant,’ Tiah wrote.
‘We need to start approaching beauty from an angle of self-care, individuality, and celebrating what we DO have, rather than chasing an ideal we will never obtain.’
‘I believe everyone is and has the potential to be beautiful – the most beautiful women I have met in my life are NOT the same age, race, size, or necessarily have conventional features.’
‘They are the ones that embrace their uniqueness, have a healthy attitude towards themselves, and celebrate where and who they are at any particular point in time.’
