Getty Christie Brinkley.
Christie Brinkley returned to her old stomping grounds for a special photoshoot.
In May 2024, the short-term “Dancing With the Stars” celebrity shared photos from her return to Sports Illustrated for its 60th Anniversary Swimsuit edition. Brinkley also posed in a high-slit red dress on the red carpet to mark the modeling milestone.
Brinkley once told People magazine that when she turned 30, she said to herself, “’This is the last time I’m posing in a bathing suit!” But four decades later, she’s still posing.
Here’s what you need to know:
Christie Brinkley Posed Alongside Other SI Legends
In honor of the 60th anniversary of the famous swimsuit edition, Brinkley posed in a metallic gown for one of several collectible covers. The 70-year-old modeling legend appeared on the cover with fellow famous women and modeling legends including Tyra Banks, Lily Aldridge, Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen, and more.
Brinkley captioned an Instagram post to admit she never dreamed she’d still pose for the magazine 50 years after her first photoshoot.
“If someone came up to young permed sunburned me during my first photo shoot with the iconic magazine and whispered, ‘they will still be inviting you to be in the picture at 70,’ I would have laughed at them and called them crazy,” she wrote. “But now I know that no one wants to become invisible because of our age, (or ethnicity, size, gender, or anything for that matter!) So, thank you S.I. … you may just be 60, but you’re very smart for your age.”
Brinkley’s first SI Swimsuit Issue photoshoot took place in 1975, per Women’s Wear Daily. She also made history as the magazine’s cover model three years in a row, from 1979-1981.
Christie Brinkley Said Her Daughter Sailor Gave Her Confidence to Pose
Brinkley made a sizzling entrance to the 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue launch party at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York City. She wore a red dress that showed off her long legs as she posed for photos on the red carpet.
She also admitted her daughter Sailor, who is also a DWTS alum, helps boost her confidence decades after her supermodel heyday. In a May 2024 interview, she told People that her daughter helped give her feel confident to wear a swimsuit at age 70. “Sailor is very strong,” Brinkley told the outlet, before adding that her daughter has “very strong opinions about feeling good about yourself.”
“She’s really into empowering herself to feel confident and good,” Brinkley added. “And she’ll say to me if ever I’m doubtful and I go, ‘I don’t know, you know, is this like…?’ She’s like, ‘Mom, you’re beautiful, embrace it, you know, go with it, lean into it.’ And I’m like, ‘Ok, I shall try.'”
Brinkley’s daughters, Sailor Brinkley Cook and Alexa Ray Joel, joined her for her last SI Swimsuit shoot before the anniversary issue. In 2017, the mom-daughter trio posed for the swimsuit magazine together. At the time, Brinkley told SI.com, “This is a real full circle moment for me.”
“I can get very emotional about this,” she added. “How many years ago, I was that insecure girl hoping that I would be good enough for the magazine. So, to see my daughters now having the same thoughts I had, and to be able to see them actually be there on the job, was definitely a big moment.