Billy's Fashion Daze
Billy's Fashion Daze
by Bill Knell
My First Cousin Ingrid became my Sister after her parents died and my folks adopted her in the mid-1960s. We lived on Long Island just outside of New York City. I was a kid; she was a young teen. There was a two to three years difference in our ages depending on what month it was. She was older.
We were already close because she often stayed at my house. Ingrid had a poor relationship with her parents and was nothing like them. They were annoying, rude and often mean to her and to me. She was friendly, out going and well mannered.
They say that 'misery loves company' and we were already close. Ingrid and I were like brother and sister by the time she came to live with us. We were fiercely loyal to one another and always had each other's backs.
Ingrid is smart and beautiful; always was. When she was a young teen we walked a block and a half to the Pizzaria. It was located on a busy street. Whenever we crossed it there were auto accidents.
People could not keep their eyes off of sis. She didn't believe me when I told her that, soI bought Ingrid a floppy hat that partially covered her face. When she wore it; no accidents. When she didn't; vehicular chaos! I proved my point.
Sis became a major Fashion Model at age twelve despite my Aunt's objection. Ingrid started at age five taking occasional child modeling jobs which my aunt encouraged. That all changed.
Tween and Teen modeling was differant and required more time and commitment for both the models and their parents. My aunt worked as a full time NYC Social Worker and was unwilling to take the time to escort Ingrid to all her shoots.
As a result of that situation, my parents stepped in and convinced Aunt Hell, oops, I mean Helen, to give her permission for Ingrid's newly accelerated modelling career. She would stay with us and my mom would esxcort her to assignments. Shortly after that her parents were killed in a traffic accident.
Ingrid at 17. She was the ‘Pepsi Girl' for several years.
I never gave fashion a second thought until my cousin began modeling. After she moved in with us and became my sister, she displayed a new talent. My mom taught sis to use a sewing machine and to hand sew
She began buying and using patterns. Ingrid took to it all like a fish to water. She was a natural and soon moved from cutting out store bought patterns and making clothes based on those, to creating her own.
Sis started wearing her creations outside at restaurants and other places. Women would stop her just to ask where she bought her outfit? I saw this happen many times and told my Sis it was time to have some business cards printed up.
Ingrid began to receive requests for custom dresses, outfits and ensembles from women of all ages. Most were weathly and wanted beautiful custom creations for themselves or others.
Ingrid did not want to charge a lot until she realized how much time and work would be required. I helped her hefty price decision by showing her fashion mags with designer creations costing thousands.
We were both too young to sign all the legal papers to get started. My parents were supportive and signed them for us. Ingrid's modeling agent suggested a lawyer he knew to oversee our business and keep everything legal.
By the time we moved to St Petersburg, Florida, in 1970, she was going full court press. I was just fourteen when we created Ingrid's Closet. The name came from a comment by my mother who said my Sis had a 'closet business' going.
Once in Florida we found some very talented Cuban Seamstresses that had escaped Castro's Cuba. My folks were impressed by all we did. Dad ran several large resorts on St Petersburg Beach as a retirement job. He hated just sitting around.
When he was going to retire in Florida, a friend from his Army days recommended him to a Texas Billionaire who owned several resorts on St Petersburg Beach. These were beautiful properties, but they were being mismanaged.
Dad turned all the properties around in a short time. The Texas guy was grateful and impressed. He gifted dad a nice two floor, six bedroom house on St Petersburg Beach and a custom condo at one of the resorts.
The Texas guy was smart. He knew that dad would likely spend more time at the condo to be closer to the properties he managed. That's just what happened. In fact, my parents moved into the condo so that they could have some peace and quiet. We lived in the house and used part of it for our business.
After dad saw Ingrid's latest creations, he had an amazing idea. Beach resorts were always looking for ways to keep their guests entertained so they would extend their stays or return again. You can only spend so much time at the beach and the pool.
Dad thought it would be amazing to have fashion shows for guests. That would also increase our sales and exposure. We loved the idea and got about the task of finding models. Out model search took an interesting turn.
Disney World had just opened. My sis and I decided to visit the Mouse House. We had a terrific time. While there, we noticed five beautiful teen girls working as some sort of guides
We both agreed that they looked like models. We walked over to them to find out if we were right. They instantly recognized Ingrid from her Pepsi print ads and TV commercials.
Sis asked if they were models? They were and took the guide jobs as a way to make ends meet while waiting for modeling gIgs. We told them that we would be able to help with that. Sis asked if they would like to model for us? They immediately accepted.
Many girls become models to escape bad situations at home. That was what happened with the Disney girls and it was a common reason why young girls got into modeling in those days.
Situations like extreme poverty, addicted parents and molestation drove them out. Most didn't know or care about Emancipation back then. They just left and didn't look back. However, it wasn't all that easy for some to leave their troubled lives and memories behind.
Some committed suicide. Others became alcoholics or got hooked on drugs. We stayed away from them knowing they would eventually implode.
Ingrid and I didn't smoke, drink or do drugs. Beyond the obvious reason of addiction and health threats, smoking and drinking causes damage to skin. These things produce dryness which makes a young person look older.
After getting to know the Disney girls and finding out they had no substance abuse problems, we offered them rooms in our house. They happily moved in and it felt like one big family.
Ingrid's modeling agent took the girls on. After that there was plenty of work for them besides the gigs we supplied. Our resort fashion shows were a huge hit. Before we knew it, we began having fashion shows in and around the St Petersburg and Tampa areas at resorts and special events.
We turned our ex-Disney guides into fashion phenomenons. Reggie was particularly talented. She was seventeen when she joined our newly created Fashion House. I was 14, but we started dating.
Reggie was a really nice girl with a good heart, a great personality and an awesome sense of humor. We always made each other laugh. One time, on my birthday, she has my bedroom completely filled with balloons.
Later, as we all gathered in the dining room for cake, she served a cake made of fish. The others pretended not to notice and ssid it was a regular birthday cake. They finally admitted that it was yet another Reggie joke.
I was dating Reggie when I started high school. I was 15 and a Sophomore. By the time Christmas Break was looming, an ugly rumor about me had spread throughout the school.
I lifted weights and was in good shape. Girls often showed interest in me. I politely declined requests to attend school events or go out with them. This produced an assumption that I was gay.
Nobody knew about my involvement in the to get set up with models.
Our high school was having a Winter Festival night just before Christmas Break. Some of the school jerks like to ask me which guy I was bringing. Others said they wanted me not to ask them to the event cause they already had dated and those were girls.
I told Reggie about the ‘gay’ rumors. Typical of her humor, she said, “Really? Is there something you're not telling me?” She was funny,but the situation wasn't. Reggie told me that it was time to let the cat out of the bag.
The night of the school festival arrived. It was being held in the gym which was beautifuljy decorated. They hired a DJ and there was lots of treats. However, most everyone (except the DJ) stopped what they were doing and stared when I walked in the door.
Reggie and the other four ex-Disney models accompanied me. Reggie and I were arm in the with the other models right next to us.
All of them wore beautiful outfits custom designed by Ingrid. I took turns dancing with each of them. They danced with each other the rest of the time. Models love to dance and listen to good music. Everytime they requested the DJ to play a certain song, he did it if he had it.
Reggie requested Rudolf The Red Nose Reindeer and he actually had it. He played it and she purposely sang it terribly egging on everyone to join in. Most did and it was a lot of fun. Our models were always the life of any party.
When the second semester began I found myself with lots of guy friends and being hit on by lots of girls. All just like I predicted. The true friends I had were invited to go out with Ingrid and I, and the models. They attended out pool parties and the models liked having them around.
Sometimes our models couldn't sleep because of bad dreams or bad memories. During times like that I often stayed up to talk with them, or we all went for a late night swim in our backyard pool. On other occasions we took a trip to the beach which was right up the street. My life was kind of crazy, but I loved it. It got crazier.
Susan Dey… Model & Actor
Before she was cast for the TV Series THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, Susan Dey was a successful model. We met via mutual friends and she occasionally worked with Ingrid. We nursed her through an eating disorder common to many models.
Susan relaxing in our house.
Some starved, while others purged, in search of the perfect weight. Anorexia, Bulimia and other disorders tended to give their victims a skewed view of themselves.
They saw fat where their was none. Susan recovered and moved on to success as an actress.
I always saw talent that others missed, including in themselves. Louise was taking a Cosmotology Class in high school while we were dating. She was very talented.
Louise Good
I pushed her to enter a nationwide contest sponsored by Vidal Sassoon, which she won. After a week in NYC at the Sassoon salon, Louise returned with a custom hair design (above) and a passion for everything that was a part of Cosmotology.
Ingrid brought back the NO SMILE look by suggesting to Reggie that she hold a straight face during a shoot.
A modern variant example of the NO SMILE look.
Although that look had expired for years, it was back after Reggie's NO SMILE shot. Suddenly, all the hottest and most successful models adopted the same pose.
I received a quick education about the Fashion Industry regarding what goes on in front of and behind the camera by hanging with Ingrid during shots even before we started our own Fashion House. The most important thing I learned was to have respect for Professional Models and what it takes to be one.
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