A Glamtastic Flashback Captured By Irving Penn for VOGUE Italia 1980

I can honestly say that these women were an inspiration to me because I was a teen when they were at the height of their modeling careers and everything wasn't hyped up by Popular Culture  like the way it is now and I haven't just discovered them. In retrospect, I was influenced by a diverse group of women of African descent and not by one example of what Black Beauty is and was.

My Inspirations: Peggy Dillard-Toone, Jennifer Brice and Romney Williams captured by Irving Penn.

I can count several of these women who inspired me to look my absolute best from my own stylish Mama, her glamorous friends and the women who I saw in the earlier issues of ESSENCE magazine and then after the Black Is Beautiful movement of the late '60s and '70s when they first started appearing in the mainstream publications.

Jennifer, Tracey, Romney and unknown.

Tracey, Peggy, Jennifer and Romney

Marcia Turnier, Marcia McBroom, Barbara Smith, Romney Williams, Billie Blair, Amina Warsuma, Charlene Dash, Jennifer Brice, Bethann Hardison, Tamara Dobson, Tracey "Africa" Norman, Jany Tomba, Naomi Sims....the list is endless. I thank them and my Mom for instilling in me such a strong sense of self.

I've  known that Black Is Beautiful all of my life! I'm not blinded by self-hatred which doesn't allow me to see my own beauty and that of our people and that's the only validation that I need!

Photos: Irving Pennmoney