How Old Is Daphne Selfe? Daphne Selfe Birthday
Daphne Selfe was born on July 1, 1928 and is 98 years old now.
Birthday: July 1, 1928
How Old - Age: 98
Daphne Selfe Death Fact Check
Daphne is alive and kicking and is currently 98 years old.
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Daphne Selfe - Biography
Daphne Selfe is the oldest professional model in the world, modeling since 1949.Daphne grew up in Berkshire, the daughter of a teacher, and was packed off to boarding school at eight. At the age of 20, working as a ‘shop girl in coats’ in a Reading department store, she entered a local newspaper’s modelling competition and won.‘I started off modelling fur, which in those days wasn’t controversial. I did mainly work as a house model, and a few advertisements. We were often photographed holding a cigarette, and I didn’t even smoke!She married Jim Smith, a TV floor manager, in 1954, and worked as a model, dancer and television and film extra throughout their marriage. ‘When I got married in 1954, I assumed I would never work again. My family came first. We weren’t well off, but that didn’t really matter. It’s dreadful women today have to work and can’t look after their families.’‘I fell out of fashion in the Sixties,’ she says. ‘I was what you called rather strapping, at 10½ stone! So I continued with a bit of acting work, and was an extra in films.’Did she fear getting older, having worked as a model? ‘It’s going to happen, so why worry? My generation got on with it. I do find people are always complaining these days. I try to remain cheerful, not grumpy. I’ve developed glaucoma, but the drops I have to put in my eyes have made my lashes grow! So there is always a plus side.‘I think it’s important to remain passionate about things.I garden, I walk a lot and I do yoga — my version of yoga, I don’t have time for classes.Daphne’s husband, Jim, who worked in television, suffered a series of strokes. ‘He was cantankerous. He got frustrated. He was all right with others, but at home he was not good!’ says Daphne.She cared for him full-time until he died in 1997, aged 72. But Daphne doesn’t dwell on the negatives. ‘I couldn’t have done [modelling], could I? Looking after him, it would never have happened. I’ve been lucky.’In 1998, Daphne was asked to appear on the catwalk for Red or Dead. ‘I said: “Ooh, goodie.” I love wearing clothes and mucking about.’ The stylist suggested Daphne go to Vogue, who were creating a special issue about age. ‘I think they needed someone to represent “ancient”,’ she says modestly.That photograph, taken by Nick Knight, led to her being signed up by Models 1. In 1999, Marie Claire magazine photographed Daphne in yoga poses, modelling sportswear. But using an older woman was the exception, not the norm.'I’ve worked with Mario Testino, he was so kind, and Rankin — I knew his parents, both dead now — and Dolce & Gabbana.‘I’m always working in Paris, quite often with designer Fanny Karst, who does wonderful clothes for the elderly. I find you have to be fit to brave Primark, but I do shop there.‘I tend to wear all the clothes I have in my wardrobe from decades ago: every style seems to come round again. The only thing I can no longer wear is high heels, my feet have vasculitis, a weakness and numbness. But from my ankles up I’m OK.’How do the younger models treat her? ‘They are so lovely to me. They tell me they want to look like me when they get older. But they are babies.’Was the fashion world nicer in her day? ‘I imagine there were drugs, and alcohol. But I was so innocent, I never noticed that.’‘I’m not that brave. I used to pose nude, you know, for artists including Barbara Hepworth.’Daphne has modelled for Dolce & Gabbana, Tata-Naka and Michiko Koshino, and has been in ads for Nivea and Olay, plus a Will Young video. She lives in Baldock, Hertfordshire.
