a closeup of Shelley from a Charlie perfume ad, 1977
Shelley was THE ultimate Charlie Girl - gorgeous, sexy and young, as well as glamorous, liberated and independent. She was the perfect embodiment of the brand's ideals. She represented the brand from 1976 to 1982 and catapulted it, as well as herself, to worldwide popularity and recognition. She told Viva magazine in 1978, "It's amazing how many people recognize me and thank me for my image. They say, 'You beat out Lauren (Hutton) and Karen (Graham - of Estée Lauder) any day for me.'" By then, Shelley ranked among a handful of Übermodels who had signed groundbreaking and lucrative contracts with the giant cosmetics companies of the time. Aside from Shelley, Lauren and Karen, there were Iman, Cheryl Tiegs, Cristina Ferare and Margaux Hemingway. They were the million-dollar faces in the beauty industry, commanding million-dollar fees. They were the highest-paid models of the era. Shelley added, "But I'm not interested in being competitive... only with myself. I don't go around thinking, 'I'm gonna get you, sister...'" The more the merrier as they say.
Shelley in a Charlie perfume ad, 1977
