Elaine Irwin

Elaine Irwin

I never knew what to think about Elaine Irwin.  At about the same time as models like Tatjana Patitz and Estelle Lefebure were getting almost all the work, along came this beautiful American girl who looked like a hybrid version of the two of them.  She walked a couple of runways, and although I don’t remember seeing her on one, she was getting the prized covers without putting in a fraction of the effort.  Next thing I know she was getting married to John Mellencamp, and soon afterward she would disappear from the modeling world altogether, leaving me wondering what happened to her.  Of course, I recognized her right away when she reappeared as a model for Almay several years later, just as gorgeous as ever.

Irwin is in the news again, but not because of her modeling.  Yesterday she announced that her marriage with Mellencamp is over.  According to the media, she’s planning on staying in Indiana to raise her two boys.  I get the idea that Elaine Irwin was never really a supermodel because she didn’t want to be a supermodel.  If her heart wasn’t in it, who could blame her?  Nevertheless, the body of work that she amassed in a very short time is amazing.  But when you have a face like Elaine Irwin, what else could you expect?