closeups of Shelley
from a spread for Vogue, 1974
When Shelley graduated from Smith College in 1970, she decided to become a model full-time. Represented by the top model management company, Ford Models Inc., she began her transition from teen model to top model... and eventually to Supermodel. Her then boyfriend, photographer Steen Svensson, and make-up artist extraordinaire Rick Gillette came up with test shots of Shelley in the early '70s with the hope that the images could get her on the pages of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar - which eventually happened. She appeared on both the US and international editions of the magazines. According to Rick, "In the early 70’s before "Charlie", before "Charlie’s Angels", Shelley Hack was an ex-teen model looking for a more sophisticated look to get her into Vogue. I was creating a portfolio with the same goal in mind." By the late 1970s, Shelley was a certified Supermodel.
Shelley in a spread for Vogue, 1974
Shelley appeared on the pages of Vogue's September 1974 issue. In the spread called "The New York Collections: The Undercoat Life All Around Town," she wore the latest fashions from the collections of the top American designers of the era. She wore the most sought-after dress of that year - The Two-Piece Dress, the dress any woman that year would have wanted to wear under her coat and the first thing she would have wanted to be seen in without her coat. She wore the two-piece dress in soft jersey by Rodrigues. She also wore the three-piece two-piece dress by Chester Weinberg for N.O.W. Studio. And she wore the perfect two-piece dress by Adolfo. And finally, she wore the fur-collared wrap coat by Nat Kaplan. And Shelley looked every inch the Supermodel she had finally become.
Shelley (and Shelley Smith)
in a spread for Vogue, 1974
