Star Struck Style

March 5 is Niki Taylor’s birthday.

I think people forget how big Niki Taylor was. According to her Wikipedia bio, the model appeared on the covers of six major American magazines at once in May 1996: “Allure,” “Vogue,” “ELLE,” “Marie Claire,” “Self” and “Shape.” That’s quite an accomplishment!

Taylor was the money girl of her generation. I remember other models creating more buzz at the time because they were the darlings of the fashion world, but Niki Taylor was the commercial queen. She was everywhere, and she was recognized and revered by men and women alike.

Her only counterpart at the time was Cindy Crawford. Of the big five models of the early nineties (Linda, Christy, Naomi, Tatjana and Cindy), Cindy was the only one doing Pepsi commercials, movie roles and Versace shows. She was a star player on the winning team, and yet she was also in a league of her own.

Interestingly, Cindy Crawford is a Pisces, like Niki Taylor. Thinking about her illustrious career got me thinking about Pisces models in general. Of course, I know that there have been plenty of legendary Pisces models, including Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Natalia Vodianova, Emily DiDonato and David Gandy. But I don’t believe that I’ve ever connected the idea of a Pisces model with the idea of being amorphous.

Taking on whatever shape an advertiser wants you take on is the job of a model. Yet even someone like Linda Evangelista has had to recognize her limitations. Still, the most successful Pisces models have had careers that have been a little less-defined than the careers of their counterparts. Covers, campaigns, commercials, catwalks — they seem to do it all with a little more ease than most of the other creatures of the zodiac.

I sometimes get carried away poking fun at Pisces natives because I have a lot of Pisces friends and they know how to take a joke. But sometimes I don’t give them credit where credit is due. Many of them have the ability to slip into any situation and find a way to not only fit in, but also to thrive in that situation. They are the most mutable of the mutable signs. It’s a characteristic cardinal sign-influenced people like me often lack. I suppose that I should spend a little more time praising their mutability instead making jokes at their expense.

Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I’m going to make jokes at their expense . . .