Smize, it's your birthday!
Nailing the smize in 1993 :: NBC Universal/Getty Images
Oh, Tyra Banks. What can I say about the woman whose 1997 Swimsuit cover hung in the locker of my middle school crush, and whose name probably ended up somewhere in a jealous diary entry? (I didn't mean those things I said, Tyra.) You pretend-dated Will Smith (or was that something other than acting?) and real-dated Chris Webber. You could do the baby tee with the unfortunate mom jeans thing so it actually looked reasonable, sexy even. And whenever you took a photograph, it was like you were smiling, even if you weren't. Like a smile, but in your eyes. Like . . . a smize. Or is it a SMIZE™?
In the evolution of Tyra, first it was those eyes, that skin, the ever-expanding repertoire of hairstyles that had the whole world watching. When the new millienium rolled in, you, Tyra Banks the model from Inglewood, California became simply Tyra, the global brand that has produced some of the mostentertainingtelevision in my generation's lifetime. But let's focus on the pre-syndicated, 1990s supermodel version of you. No one did the 90s better, and isn't it just a nice coincidence that the decade of butterfly clips and Afrocentric fashion is in again? Herewith is a look at some of your best 90s moments, beyond the realm of Swimsuit:
