How many women have posed nude for a major magazine in their sixties?

Not many. But that's exactly what Lauren Hutton did - proving to the world that older women need not be ashamed of their bodies and that anti aging is a reality. 

The motivation for agreeing to the photos was, she said, a rejection of society's view that the older female body was something to be ashamed of .  She wanted to show mature women that they can simply be proud of their bodies as they are.  For that reason too - the photos were completely unretouched. 

Compared to that act of bravery, wrestling aligators - as Hutton has famously done in the past - seems relatively risk free.

Lauren Hutton admits she was shocked when first approached and asked to appear nude. Not so much because she felt she wasn't attractive enough, but because she'd never expected a magazine to be interested in showing nude pictures of a women of her advanced years.  The fact that they were interested - and that the 10-page spread in Big Magazine was so successful - proves how far women today have pushed the boundaries of age

Giving the lie to "here today gone tomorrow" celebrity, Hutton's has been an enduring fame - and occasional notoriety.  Although she appeared topless in 1974, the photo shoot for Big Magazine was the first time she'd agreed to be photographed nude, despite having once been offered a million dollars for one photo by the porn publisher Larry Flynt.

Looking good naturally..

She's certain that her generation of women are never going to stop wanting to be attractive, and even though she herself was fired as the face of Revlon once she hit 40, she knows that beauty doesn't stop with youth. 

 "Our wrinkles are our medals of the passage of life. They are what we have been through and who we want to be." 

Not a believer in cosmetic surgery Hutton does believe in making the most of what you have, and it was this philosophy that led her to create her own cosmetic range - 'Good Stuff'.  After returning to modeling at 46, she noticed a distinct lack of products suitable for women 'of a certain age'.

She also wanted products that would help women look beautiful, naturally.  As a model - with considerable experience of photo shoots, make up and beauty products - Hutton felt she could bring a lot to the development of a new range.  And she was right - the range is classy, well presented and keenly priced.

That gap - a symbol of an approach to life..

One of Lauren Hutton's trademarks is the gap between her teeth - in many ways it symbolizes her whole attitude to beauty. Sometimes she covers it, sometimes not, depending on what's required of her. She certainly never felt it necessary to have it permanently fixed, believing that 'flaws' are a natural part of a woman's beauty - a thought we should all hang on to as the years roll by. 

Enjoy who you are..

When asked for her own beauty tips, Lauren Hutton insists that competing against other women is self-defeating and will only serve to make you look ugly. In other words, every woman should be themselves, using make up with subtlety to enhance what they already have instead of trying to be something they're not. She also believes in a careful skin care routine and swears by estrogen as an anti aging supplement.

Although this isn't without its risks, she insists that it's good for your moods and good for your complexion. "It's an old fiddle that plays the sweetest music," says Hutton. And there's much truth in that!

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