Meet the 2005 Model Search Winners

Manhattan’s glamorous Cipriani was the setting for the 2005 MORE 40+ Model Search Finals on July 27, one of the hottest days of the year. The architectural gem, with soaring ceilings and shining brass fixtures, was aglow with candlelight and filled with lush tropical flowers. Waiters bearing trays of frothy pink Cosmopolitans greeted the guests as they entered the cool oasis, while television crews and reporters interviewed the celebrity attendees.

Nearly 20,000 women applied through e-mail, mail, and four open-call events across the county. Ten finalists were chosen and flown to New York for a whirlwind few days of photo shoots and interviews. The winners were announced as the grand finale to the elegant evening, which included a fashion show featuring the designs of Alberta Ferretti.

By Heather Perram

Additional reporting by Sasha Emmons and Neha Gandhi

Photos by Tom Kletecka

MORE magazine Editor-in-Chief Peggy Northrop welcomed actresses Kelly Preston and Bebe Neuwirth. Preston appeared later that evening on the Late Show with David Letterman to promote her new film, Sky High.

Neuwirth, who looked fresh and pretty in her cheongsam, had a chance to catch up with old friend and colleague, Ted Danson; his wife Mary Steenburgen was the fashion’s show’s emcee. Danson told MORE.com, “What I love about this event — I have three daughters — is that it gives younger women the confidence and the realization that they can be beautiful and sexy and alive for many years. Things don’t end.”

Superstar makeup artist Bobbi Brown and her team were responsible for the finalists’ gorgeous runway looks. Once the models were ready for their close-ups, Bobbi enjoyed the party with the rest of guests.

MORE‘s Peggy Northrop noted, "Beauty is not an age, it’s an attitude. Today’s 40+ woman is more stylish, more fit, and more confident than ever before, and we are proud to showcase such accomplished women in our pages."

Guests received a goody bag filled with special gifts from sponsors including Garnier Nutrisse, Restylane, and Ford, which provided Lilly Pulitzer’s colorful breast cancer-awareness raising scarf. Other sponsors for the 2005 MORE/Wilhelmina 40+ Model Search included Nordstrom, Cinema by Yves Saint Laurent, and Alitalia/Italiatour.

“The MORE/Wilhelmina 40+ Model Search, now in its sixth year, has established itself as a success in the industry,” says Sean Patterson of Wilhelmina, MORE‘s partner in the contest. "With 40 being the new 30, these women portray the largest demographic out there. They’re fun, fabulous, sexy, and confident."

Mary Steenburgen, in Alberta Ferretti, spoke with the media before assuming her emcee duties. Like many MORE women, the Oscar-winning actress is constantly evolving and her new project is Porch, a shop in Santa Monica, California. She’s personally selecting inventory for the store, which will include botanically based beauty products.

Steenburgen told MORE.com, “I think this event is fantastic because it reminds us that there isn’t a term limit on beauty. There’s not a point at which it’s ever, ever, over and a face that has life in it, that has character in it, ups and downs and joy and sorrow and intelligence, is really far more beautiful than what we are traditionally calling beautiful.”

Bebe Neuwirth told MORE.com, “I think this event is a celebration of just how great women over 40 are, that this is the best time of our lives, this is when we’re our most attractive, our most beautiful, our most sure of ourselves, confident. We’re starting to get glimmers of wisdom — you know, we’re not going to get wise for another 10 or 20 years — but right now we’re starting, I think, to feel the seeds of what that is like and that’s what makes us a group to be celebrated. I appreciate MORE magazine honoring that.”

“Someone was asking me about aging and the aging process and I find it very sad that people are just torturing themselves and their bodies to look young and I think that’s just so wrong.”

Brittny Gastineau told us, “I’m here to support my mom. I’m going to be 40 some day and I’ll be reading MORE! This contest proves that 20 is not the end of things.” Brittny is working on a new reality series for E! called Cattle Drive and season two of the mother/daughter reality series, Gastineau Girls.

Lisa Gastineau said, “I love MORE magazine — it’s fabulous and so needed in the industry. It gives women who look fabulous and feel fabulous a chance to show it off.” In addition to working on her reality TV show, Lisa is developing a clothing line, which she said will be “geared toward anyone from 20 to 50.”

As “I’m Every Woman” thumped triumphantly in the background, Steenburgen introduced the 10 finalists, who strutted down the runway in their stunning Alberta Ferretti gowns.

The models were Maria Cole, West Palm Beach, FL; Kristina Davis, New York, NY; Cynthia Gouw, Philadelphia, PA; Kathryn Ironside, Western Springs, IL; Thea Kelly, Indianapolis, IN; Angela Paul, West Hills, CA; Marcella Preuss, Eden, NC; Sherid Putman-McGhee, New York, NY; Laurina Richardson Alexander, Kansas City, MO; and Adrianne Sachs, Beverly Hills, CA.

Maria Cole, a reconstructive dentist, was the winner of Restylane Best Smile Award, as voted on by the MORE.com community.

The top three prizewinners received Wilhelmina modeling contracts and Nordstrom gift cards. The grand prize winner also received a Ford Five Hundred luxury sedan and a 5-night trip to Rome, Italy courtesy of Alitalia/Italiatour. Each of the 10 finalists received a one-year supply of Garnier Nutrisse haircolor and haircare accessories, a deluxe beauty package from Bobbi Brown, a Cinema fragrance collection from Yves Saint Laurent, and a fabulous Cabochon Glass Ring from Lalique.

Finalist Kristina Davis flashed a smile at the audience as she executed a crisp pivot turn at the end of the runway. The models, many walking the runway for the first time, were coached by the Wilhelmina team for their star turn.

The winners were selected by a distinguished panel of judges that included MORE Editor-in-Chief Peggy Northrop; MORE Beauty and Fashion Director Lois Joy Johnson; Wilhelmina President Sean Patterson; celebrity makeup artist Bobbi Brown; Wilhelmina agents Daureen Castonguay and Gina Barone, as well as photographer Antoine Verglas, hair stylist Mitch Barry, and stylist Elisa Goodkind.

The models were all a little nervous as the show began, “…especially in those four-inch heels,” noted MORE Beauty and Fashion Director Lois Joy Johnson. But by their last trip down the runway, everyone was relaxed and having fun, as exemplified here by the exuberant Angela Paul.

For the first time, the MORE/Wilhelmina 40+ Model Search expanded the program to include the alternate finalists in several model search event activities. The five alternates were: Peggy Anger, Las Vegas, NV; Nancy Rae Born, Pensacola Beach, FL; Ruzena Goldenberg, Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Angela Himsel, New York, NY; Electra Shelton, Edgewater, NJ. They were honored guests at the finals gala and will be included in a photo shoot to be featured in MORE.

To the excitement and applause of her fellow contestants, Thea Kelly was named the winner of the contest. In announcing the winner and runners-up, Peggy Northrop observed that it had been an extremely difficult decision for the judges to make.

Kelly, a corporate lawyer, was the first in her family to attend college. But the law wasn’t her first choice, she revealed. “I wanted to go to New York to be a model, but my father wouldn’t let me,” she said. “And now, here I am, in my Jimmy Choos,” she exclaimed, wiggling her blue satin stiletto sandals for emphasis. “Winning this contest is certainly the best thing about being over 40 now!”

A disbelieving Thea Kelly was joined on the runway by first-runner-up Angela Paul, left, and second-runner-up, Cynthia Gouw, right.

Paul couldn’t wait to whip out her cell phone to call her husband and daughter in California. “The next thing I would like to do is to have a margarita,” she said, “and if I could, I would like to have a good foot rub, because my feet are absolutely aching!”

Gouw had her mom, dad, and new husband — her “good-luck-charm-team” — on hand to support her. She also told MORE.com, “Being on the runway was a complete rush. We rehearsed, but nothing is a substitute for the experience.”

Teruko Burrell, the 2004 winner, congratulated Kelly on her win. Burrell has been going on modeling auditions and casting calls all year, and did a test shoot with Wilhelmina. She still lives in Santa Monica but loves to visit New York, especially for the museums. “MORE has been a wonderfully generous and tremendous launching pad. This contest makes me feel proud to be part of this movement of 40+ women — move over Paris Hilton, we’re here!”

Previous winners in the MORE/Wilhelmina 40+ Model Search have gone on to model for Ford, Nordstrom, Talbots, Macy’s, Easy Spirit, Eileen Fisher, Tropicana, Novartis, and Healthy Choice, and other well-known companies.

It was a fairy-tale evening for the gorgeous winners, who took a celebratory stroll down the runway. Look for the November issue of MORE for great photos of all the finalists, the whole story of the contest, all the behind-the-scenes excitement and the winners’ beauty secrets. Maybe next year, you’ll be making your New York modeling debut…