Icon: Cheryl Rae Tiegs

Driving into work today I was listening to my favorite Cleveland morning show – Q104’s Wilde and Fee – and was happily surprised to hear them talking with the iconic Cheryl Tiegs.

She came across as surprisingly down to earth during the interview. I could imagine talking to her as if she was just “one of the girls.” Granted, she spoke about jet-setting to Europe for her son’s upcoming graduation, which I am sure none of “my girls” have done recently. But you could hear the pride in her voice as she spoke about the man her son is becoming. You could hear the passion as she spoke about her dedication to being green, and her involvement with that movement. You could hear the laughter in her voice and sense the obvious camaraderie while Alan Fee flirted with her during the interview. She wasn’t at all pretentious and she did not act “entitled” as some people do.

Cheryl Tiegs is an icon.

Her work as a model, and specifically some of her work for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, is among the best and most memorable we’ve seen in the last 30 years. She has graced countless magazine covers and remains a stunning beauty to this day.

Do you remember this 1978 poster of her in a pink bikini? It became a pop cultural image that, I am sure, once graced countless bedroom walls.

Right alongside posters of these women:

Some people might disagree with me, but today’s models don’t have the same impact on our culture that Cheryl did. Sure, there are some beautiful women out there – Giselle for instance – but I don’t recall seeing any iconic images coming out of photo spreads from recent years. Have you?

(all photos courtesy of google images)