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The 10 Most Important Things America's Next Top Model Taught Us

The 10 Most Important Things America's Next Top Model Taught Us

top model

The unthinkable has happened: after 822 cycles on the air, America's Next Top Model is coming to an end. In honor of the greatest ironically titled reality show of all time, here are 10 important lessons from Mother Tyra, et al. 

10. Janice Dickinson is THE WORLD'S FIRST SUPERMODEL, GOD DAMMIT

janice dickinson tyra banks kiss top model gif

Whoever dug up Janice Dickinson in the early '00s didn't know what they were getting themselves into, but the demented diva was one of the best parts of the show--too good to last, really.

9. Find your light.

danielle top model

It doesn't matter if you're cinched into a slutty Snow White costume while falling repeatedly--and lest we forget, gracefully--from15 feet in the air, as long as on your way down you find your light and take it with you.

8. Adding male models to anything is rarely a bad idea.

america's next top models dudes

Even when they all look like rejects from a George Michael tribute band.

7. You can't spell "fashion" without ALT.

andre leon talley too much fashion gif

When Top Model first premiered 200 years ago, I never thought I'd see noted heterosexual Andre Leon Talley swoop in on a greatcape, yet there he was for four full cycles, steering the children away from the dreckitude.

6. The subtle difference between commercial and high fashion.

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There's a thin line between Teen Vogue and Paris Vogue, and that line is usually cocaine.

5. Trans models are just as fierce--and sometimes more so--than cisgender models.

isis king top model

Before Andreja Pejic, before Carmen Carrera, before Lea T, Isis King timidly made her way onto ANTM as the show's first trans model. While living at the Ali Forney Center, King was chosen for a cycle 10 photoshoot featuring homeless youth, where she outshined the contestants and eventually earned a place on cycle 11 as well as ANTM: All-Stars, before embarking on a modeling career of her own.

4. Tyra Banks will always outshine you in a photo. Always.

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ALWAYS.

3. How to walk like a goddamn lady.

miss j top model walk gif

When Miss J Alexander strutted onto the runway during the first season in nothing but a T-shirt and a pair of heels, America wasn't ready for it, but Miss J was serving it to the nation regardless. For nearly every cycle since, Miss J has turned the awkward ducklings Tyra drops off at his stilettos into slighty less awkward swans, floating down the runway towards moderate fame.

2. WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!

Hands down one of the greatest moments in television history. I really don't know what else to say, except--learn something from this!

1. How to smize.

smize gif

Of all of Tyra Banks's contributions to society, smizing is her most brilliant and most enduring. People will be smizing for generations to come thanks to La Banks. And so, though we're all smarting from the end of a television institution, you'll find that life is still worthwhile--if you just smize.

smize gif

Les Fabian Brathwaite--still wants to be on top.

30 Years of Out100Out / Advocate Magazine - Jonathan Groff and Wayne Brady

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