One positive result of the rise of social media and beauty influencers is that it has given a platform to those who wish to celebrate their unique beauty. Even a decade ago, people with conditions like vitiligo or alopecia had almost no representation in the beauty and fashion industries. But now, models like Christie Valdiserri are inspiring others with their confidence and their journeys.
Christie lost her hair in her early 20s.
“About four years ago, right after I graduated college, I found a tiny bald patch on the top of my head and I thought it was nothing,” she told Australia’s The Morning Show .
Alopecia is an auto-immune disease that can cause full-body hair loss.
Including eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair on the top of your head. Christie’s began as spots on her head, then eventually led to all of her hair falling out as her immune system attacked her hair follicles.
That didn’t stop her from following her dreams, however.
Even though her hair had fallen out, Christie continued on her modelling journey. She helped found the Baldtourage , an organization dedicated to supporting people suffering from alopecia.
These days, she documents her thoughts about her condition on Instagram.
“Day in and day out I get up in the morning & FORCE myself to look in the mirror & tell myself that I am beautiful w no wig, no makeup, no nothing.”
Sometimes, she rocks a wig.
She explained on her Instagram that some days, she puts the wig on to do something different for herself.
“Other mornings I wake up and put a wig on before I can even look in a mirror & let myself doubt my look.”
Wig or no wig, the thing that’s most important to her is celebrating how beautiful being bald is.
Her Instagram is full of positivity that serves to hype her fellow baldtourage up, giving them the hype they need to go out in the world with confidence.
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Going bald wasn’t easy, thanks to how we perceive beauty.
“For my entire life I’ve been taught (from the media) that hair is what makes a woman beautiful. So as I secretly fight this battle behind closed doors, no one truly understands what it feels like to be bald.”
But she perseveres.
“I refuse to live my entire life not feeling good enough based on the media’s description of beauty.”
Her hard work eventually led her to landing one of the biggest shoots of her career.
Enter: Sports Illustrated!
She’s the first ever model with alopecia to be featured in the iconic magazine. She, along with models of every size, shape, and race, celebrated diversity and inclusivity with their features.
She was so happy to see different models with different backgrounds around her.
“After knowing myself as a blonde for 23 years and then losing my hair and thinking I couldn’t continue my career, it means so much for me and other models as well who have different looks and are accepted exactly the way they are,” she told The Morning Show .
Her hair doesn’t define her.
“I hope it continues, and that there is more bald representation – because there’s no difference between me and someone who has hair. It’s just the hair – that’s the only difference.”
