Just a Kid from Croydon

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Kate Moss at 19, photographed by Corinne Day. (Click to enlarge.)

[left: muslin shirt with high-cut briefs by Gossard;
right: lace bra by Janet Reger with vest dress by Liza Bruce,
worn as skirt]

Stacy's blog photo yesterday kindly reminded me that I've been meaning to post these images of Kate Moss, from the book Unseen Vogue: The Secret History of Fashion Photography, which I picked up in a used bookstore in Bozeman, MT on our way across the country last October. I was never a huge Kate fan until more recently – Christy was always my girl and I never loved the super young look. But there is no denying that she is the embodiment of chic (and a sharp retort to every celeb who relies on a stylist to get dressed), and with some years on her I think she is much more beautiful now than she ever was. Still, when I saw these photos of her from way back when I have to admit that I was mesmerized. These are black-and-white out-takes from a series of daylight photos taken in 1993 by Kate's friend Corinne Day, in the London flat Kate shared with her then-boyfriend Mario Sorrenti. Speaking of the photo shoot, Day recalls, "American tan tights falling down Kate's legs – we were poking fun at fashion. Halfway through the shoot, I realized that it wasn't fun for her any more and that she had become a 'model.' She hadn't realized before how beautiful she was."