I recently had the pleasure of attending the book signing event of Czech-born supermodel Paulina Porizkova on March 26th. Growing up in the ’80s, I always admire her beauty. According to Wikipedia, in 1984, she became the first Central European woman to be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar named Paulina as one of its ten most beautiful women in 1992 including Naomi Campbell, Iman.
I was always into fashion. I admired the supermodels of the ’80s. And yes, I’m a Gen Xer. Pop culture + fashion are my cup of tea. At 13 growing up in the Philippines, I would collect Teen magazines, the defunct Young Miss, Mademoiselle and Bazaar.
During summer in the lates ’70s and mid ’80s, my mom and I would go to America to spend my summer break with my relatives. And I tell you, how stoked I was to always visit Thrifty because of the magazine stand. Thrifty was the closest store from where I live. Every time I’d go to Thrifty, I would browse magazines like Vogue, Mademoiselle, Bazaar magazines I would always see Paulina on many ad pages and cover. One I cannot forget was the cover of Bazaar magazine where she was wearing a bathing suit and goggles on her neck. There was also the cover of Vogue where she was wearing oversized blue dangle earrings with striped-colored arm socks. And why I remember it vividly? Because I put plastic covers on some of them so it would not get worn out every time I flip the pages.
The venue, the brunch and the Gen X fans
So when I saw on my email that Happy Women Dinners will have another book signing/launching of the supermodel’s memoir, “No Filter,” I was uber excited and immediately signed up. Porizkova was the face of Estee Lauder and she was one of the highest paid models in the world. I was like “I will not miss this event especially seeing her in person.” So upon arriving at this Beverly Hills estate, I was greeted by the host and asked me to write my name on the sticky note. I’ve been to so many book signings in my life and haven’t gone to a fancy one with luxurious brunch and posh venue. That alone was already making me all psyched up. I exchanged conversations and Instagram accounts with some ladies and made new friends.
After 40 years, I got to meet Paulina Porizkova
The first part was devouring the tasty brunch and chatting with other attendees. The second part was meeting the iconic model and having signed the books. I just can’t believe that the woman I admired in the ’80s, I got to meet after 40 years and I was having a true conversation with her. Donning a pink dress, with her hair down and not much make-up she looked fresh and absolutely stunning. The first thing I told her that I’ve been following her on Instagram and already a fan since I was living in the Philippines. And speaking of IG, I’ve been following her since the early beginning. From her being dubbed as “the crying lady of Instagram” to her being a little refugee to sadness, aging, grieving, moving to a new place, vacations and just being a normal human being which makes her more beautiful. Not only she is blessed with natural beauty but she is also a gifted storyteller. Her post on IG it’s like reading a different chapter everyday.
Instagram
At the start of the book reading and conversation in one of the rooms, she thanked her IG (Instagram) friends for being there and mentioned that because we’re following her, we already know her. Also, some of the followers shared some stories with her on Instagram. “I read all the comments and I heart them. For you Instagrammers that follow me, if it’s hearted, it’s because I read it. That’s my little response. But yes, thank you. I see you,” she commented. And speaking of IG comments, she added, “The comments that disagree with me, respectfully I appreciate. The ones that are not particularly nice, I may not appreciate it that much but feel I feel like a lizard that someone just trying to get you and nail you down.” On negative comments she expressed, “I found them provocative. Sometimes, it’s kinda a good thing to be presented with opposing side to get you thinking about. Maybe you’ll discover that you can learn something new. Maybe you’ll discover that you were right all along.”
Fan from OC
Nena from Orange County, one of the many attendees who went to Paulina’s book event enthused, “I’ve been a fan of Paulina since I was in high school and meeting her in person today was an amazing experience for me. She’s so beautiful in and out and love how she’s inspiring women that it’s OK to age and you can still be beautiful. Love her even more.
How the book came about
She also talked about after her then husband Rick Ocasek of The Cars died, there were many headlines such as her husband disinheriting her on his will, how horrible she is, what did she do and so on. Then she started to get calls from agents and wanted her to do a “tell-all” book. And she said that is not going to happen.
Out of the blue she received a call from Maria Shriver. “Maria Shriver?!! Of course I know Maria Shriver. I was like I voted.” she laughed. Paulina remarked that Shriver wanted her to write
a book because she’s starting her own imprint in Penguin Random House and wants to publish maybe three to four books a year that will somehow contribute to the good in the world…to make a positive difference. So Shriver told her, “I would love you to write a book for me. Write the way you write on Instagram.” Shriver also added that she didn’t want a tell-all, or dirt. She just wants Porizkova to write positive messages. Porizkova said, “At that moment I got inspired. I was like “Oh I could do that.’ I write for Instagram everyday anyway and I don’t get paid for it, you know. So wow so this is an opportunity.”
The day Shriver asked her was November 29 and wanted her book by March 1st. According to Porizkova she replied, “You mean next year?” Porizkova continued, “And so I thought, here’s another challenge. I can’t turn down a challenge. I think I’ve been like that my whole life. I jumped on the plane with a parachute because somebody challenged me. So I took it on. I woke up December 1st and I started writing. I was writing and writing and writing everyday every weekend thru Christmas thru travel thru everything. I handed the book on March 1st. I was writing alone but I did have a woman that was credited on the back of my book. If you’re writing a book you need somebody to say something like ‘this one is boring’. I hire this woman who was exceptional, who is an essay writer. BTW. I didn’t know I had to write essay because Maria Shriver said “Write me a book of devotionals.” I had no idea what devotional was. I was under such time pressure. I literally did what old Hemingway said, “Writing is easy, you just open your veins.” So that’s what I did. I opened my veins, this is the result (raising the book) of what came out. So it’s everything I’ve been thinking about and struggling with and that’s how the book came about,” and the crowd applauded.
Follow Paulina on Instagram
Purchase No Filter The good, The Bad, and The Beautiful on Amazon.
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