American supermodel (1973- )
Yeah, my mom always taught me to love my booty, even when it was very difficult to when it was very, very skinny and there was nothing I could do to gain weight—and then also when I got bigger and was having difficulty losing weight. She was always there for me.
TYRA BANKS
W Magazine, April 8, 2018
Stop that! Stop saying these negative things about yourself. Look in the mirror and find something about yourself that’s positive and celebrate that!
TYRA BANKS
Women's Health, December 30, 2013
I went from being very popular and the head of the clique in the sixth grade to having, like, kid depression in the seventh grade. Not leaving the house. Not looking people in the eye.... My body made me feel bad at everything.... I just was so depressed that I just focused on my studies and had a 4.0. And I really tried to be proud of that because that was the only thing I was excelling in.
TYRA BANKS
Women's Health, December 30, 2013
I'm very human. My body is more like a woman that's not a model than it is like a model. I know how to dress for my body to give off illusions, and I like to teach women about it--it's important for women to have that power and that arsenal ... tricks that make you feel good when you walk outside.
TYRA BANKS
Women's Health, December 30, 2013
When you care a lot about someone or something, you're more likely to do imperfect things. Ya know, like freak out and yell.
TYRA BANKS
Perfect Is Boring
The fashion industry is based on these images that don't exist.
TYRA BANKS
Black Magazine, May 20, 2014
Much of my success as a Supermodel was not because I looked better than other models but that I marketed myself in a way that stood out.
TYRA BANKS
Black Magazine, May 20, 2014
we as women need to stop judging. Fix it or flaunt it -- I think women should be able to do both.
TYRA BANKS
Harper's Bazaar, March 28, 2018
I am who I am today because my mama mama'd me.... Every accolade I get, every accomplishment I've achieved, all my iconic moments and catchy coined phrases (Smize, boo!) are because of her. I am her creation. Her FrankenTy.
TYRA BANKS
Perfect Is Boring
The beginning of my career focused on trying to be a successful model for myself. How many campaigns, magazine covers, fashion shows, and endorsements I could get. The way I see the world now has changed. I am trying to offer as much opportunity to others as I can.
TYRA BANKS
Black Magazine, May 20, 2014
I still think the fashion industry has a long way to go as far as self-awareness in the way it affects the people that it employs and targets. I do feel that there are marketing tactics in fashion that purposely instigate people to feel insecure in order to purchase a product to make themselves "better".
TYRA BANKS
Black Magazine, May 20, 2014
I think one of the biggest things that affects young women is when they hear their mothers using fat talk. It's like, "If my thin mom is calling herself fat, what does she think I am? What am I?"
TYRA BANKS
Women's Health, December 30, 2013
I had to figure out how to make sure I looked good at work, because I almost lost my opportunity at Victoria’s Secret. I was sent home the first day because the hairdresser didn’t know what to do with my African American hair, so it looked crazy. Then a year later, I finally begged my agent to get them to give me another chance, and I had my hairdresser come to my apartment in Union Square and wash, blow-dry, and flat-iron my hair. And then I wrapped it and put a scarf on until the next day, when I was on my way to Victoria’s Secret and stepped out of a cab and whooshed it off my head, walked in, got my makeup done, didn’t let the hair people touch me, went to the bathroom, redid my face, put on extra lip gloss, and walked on that set. Cut to a 10-year contract. I’m the first black woman on the cover of their catalog; I’m the first black woman to have a contract, to be an Angel, to wear a Fantasy Bra—all of these different things, because I stopped silently suffering.
TYRA BANKS
W Magazine, April 8, 2018
It was the impossible physical expectations that pushed me towards a more commercial trajectory. My body was becoming more womanly, it was a natural thing, and my mother wanted me to feel proud of that, not ashamed. Trying to steer my body away from its natural curviness would have been physically unhealthy so instead I steered my career towards an audience who would identify with it and embrace it.
TYRA BANKS
Black Magazine, May 20, 2014
Perfect is boring, human is beautiful.
TYRA BANKS
Black Magazine, May 20, 2014
I hate when models say 'Oh, plastic surgery is just a wrong thing. What are you talking about? You won the genetic lottery. You look like this specimen that's making people feel insecure and you're going to ridicule someone for getting plastic surgery?
TYRA BANKS
"Plastic surgery is absolutely fantastic: Tyra Banks", Yahoo! Celebrity, August 12, 2012
To be honest, I wasn’t attracted to the fashion industry, the fashion industry found me. I was discovered on a school bench the first day of high school by a fellow student. I thought I was far too awkward and gawky to ever be associated with modeling but it was actually those qualities that launched my early career. Once I was in the fashion world and walking the runways of Paris I was attracted to the nuance of the industry; the specific things that certain designers looked for in a model and what aesthetic caught their eye. I tried to be a chameleon and studied up on designers prior to meeting them at "go-sees" (auditioning for modeling jobs) in order to be the fashion muse they were looking to cast.
TYRA BANKS
Black Magazine, May 20, 2014
If you like your natural self, don’t worry about it, but if you feel insecure about something ... I have a magic bag of beauty tricks to make you who you want to be.
TYRA BANKS
Harper's Bazaar, March 28, 2018
I'm very comfortable speaking to millions of people, but not comfortable in a small, intimate social setting. Like cocktail hour. I get very panicky. Even if I know them. I know it's weird -- it's just not my strength.
TYRA BANKS
"20 Questions with Tyra Banks", TV Guide, February 28, 2012
The only way to live a perfect life is to not take risks, to just sit in a little box and never go after what you want or reach for your goals (because, God forbid, ya could try and ya could fail, and that sho' ain't perfect).
TYRA BANKS
Perfect Is Boring