Blair in 1978.

Billie Blair is an American former model.

Early life

Blair was born in Arkansas to parents, Hattie and William Blair, and is of African-American descent. Her name was given to her due to her father's certainty that she was going to be a boy. His plan was to name his child William Junior, however, when Blair was born a girl, she was given the shortened version of that name, "Billie". They eventually moved to Flint, Michigan during the height of the auto industry there.[1]

Career

Blair began her career as a model by working through local modeling agencies in Detroit, which largely booked models for the Cobo Hall auto shows. Blair modeled at The Battle at Versailles Fashion Show in 1973. She credits her claim to fame in the 1970s to Marji Kunz, then fashion editor of the Detroit Free Press. With Kunz's guidance, she flew to New York in 1973, a trip that was planned to last only three days, but instead turned into 20 years after Blair signed with the Ellen Harth agency and Eileen Ford of the Ford Models agency[1] When landing in New York, Blair had shaved her head completely bald for a jewelry modeling job where she had to resemble an Egyptian. During her heyday, Blair earned $400 a day and received offers from magazines like Ebony and Mademoiselle.[2]

Blair is currently a minister residing in Defiance, Ohio.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Givhan, Robin (2016-01-01). The Battle of Versailles: the night American fashion stumbled into the spotlight and made history. ISBN 9781250062321. OCLC 908176012.
  2. ↑ "Billie Blair: Hot Model 'On the Wild' – Vol. 1 No. 3". PEOPLE.com. 1974-03-18. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  3. ↑ Trebay, Guy (2011-01-12). "A Look at African-American Models". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
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