Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Tiah Eckhardt: Up the duff - and blogging


pedestrian.tv

Joyous news for Tiah Eckhardt, who is four months pregnant with her first child - to fellow model Patrick Delaney (^), according to Pedestrian.tv (via Sassybella). Sadly, due to Pedestrian.tv's liberal comments moderation policy, one party has marred the happy occasion by suggesting someone else (a tad more high profile) may be the daddy. Now you could be forgiven for thinking Eckhardt’s pregnancy comes at an awkward time for this Australian sex bomb, who seems to have difficultly keeping her clothes on in magazines. Although a near fullterm Demi Moore once appeared naked on the cover of Vanity Fair, there would appear to be a limited market for pregnant nudie spreads and toilet cubicle/pole dancing videos.

Pedestrian.tv also drew our attention to the facts that a/Eckhardt recently joined the model blogging ranks and b/her writing has attracted the attention of an Australian media outlet, which is said to have engaged Eckhardt as a blogger during next week’s RAFW. Frockwriter is sure that the blog’s plethora of nude self-portraits had absolutely nothing to do with things.

But while Eckhardt’s blog does show evidence of the self-absorbed angst exhibited, although to a less articulate degree, in the since-deleted first blog of her model mate, Stephanie Carta, some of it is quite entertaining.

And there is more than a hint of bitterness about the modelling industry.

In a post dated April 7, entitled “When the N-Y-C ain’t what it used to be (and why the ‘fashion’ industry will kill U)", Eckhardt notes:

“Don’t do heroin....Anyone over 20 that actually wants to be a model is fucking stupid. If it hasn't happened by now it's not gonna happen and no matter how many photographers you fuck or parties you go to or amount of blow you do at 7am is going to change that.

"Speaking of afters, that scene is over anyhow-now, don't you know, everyone iN New York is either cleaning up, cleaning out or killing themselves slowly? Were in a recession and your great depression is your own repression so don't think you can get someone else to buy you self-esteem in a fifty bag, when we've got bills to pay and people to actually care about.

“The cool thing to do now is stay at home, order in, bake cookies, watch cult-classics on-demand, get a dog, get a job, get a life, hang out, go to the park, go to the beach, stop breathing dirty air and just. start. breathing. So were gonna play scrabble and make mexican, make a coffee table, make babies, make money and roll around in the backyard grass with more abandon than that time me and L rolled around on the couches at Beatrice punching each other in the face and making out because it was giggleicous, summer 07 and the ride was still fine and fun”.

Congratulations to Eckhardt and Delaney. Frockwriter wishes them all the best.

32 comments:

Tricia said...

very, very entertaining blog post, and some useful, albeit harsh, info in there for models.

Caroline said...

That blog post is a cracker!

Vesper said...

Hahahah indeed funny yet sadly, probably true, piece there! Though it sounds more directed at the kind of girls that try desperately to be models without much success. ANTM anyone?? *chuckle*

I assume the Damon comment is directed at the Damon from Sneaky Sound System who's voice-over is taking the piss out of her presenting? Which means I'm sure whoever wrote it was joking...

Bryanboy said...

that blog entry made me scared of the fact that she's gonna be a mother in a few months.

Anonymous said...

so women have to shut up giving their opinion when they become mothers? she could be the one DOING all the drugs and f***ing around (coughkatemosscough) rather than having the obviously strong opposition to it and choosing to instead be domestic and only express herself on a blog!

Anonymous said...

she is a nutbag

Anonymous said...

I love your blog Patty, but the eye-rolling at any model who dares show zest, spark or opinion? The fashion bully attitude that models should be seen and not heard is below you Patty. Models aren't made of plastic, I prefer a little personality beyond "I'm 15 and I go to school where everyone calls me names so I am really humble!"

Patty Huntington said...

seriously, who is making these comments? tiah eckhardt? given that eckhardt updated facebook a couple of days ago claiming she had sent me a "personal reply", after deleting a vitriolic one - all of which was brought to my attention by her various facebook 'friends' - it sounds like. i would love to share the vitriolic example, because i think readers would probably have comment to make on some of its contents. however i have a personal policy on facebook material: it's semi-private, therefore not fair game.

in fact i described the blog as 'entertaining'. and then quoted a chunk of it as an example of said entertainment quotient. two commenters were critical. that's their opinion.

other parts of her blog seem like - in my humble opinion - self-absorbed angst. including at least one personal attack on an anonymous friend of eckhardt's which seemed particularly childish for a woman in her mid 20s. people are at liberty to blog whatever they want. but once it's out there, they're going to get called on it. that's free speech.

as for your suggestion that i believe models should be seen and not heard, click the "bloggers" tag at the end of this post to see just how much coverage i have dedicated to model bloggers.

Anonymous said...

your so right patty.. i personally dont find her writing particularly engaging or interesting but im glad i was made of aware of it. Working in the aus fashion scene its always interesting to put a personality behind the girl.. even if its not what wed like/expect!

Anonymous said...

"What wed (sic) like/expect!" And what exactly would you like/expect? Once again, it seems everyone is more interested in models when they are not actually all that interesting... Modelfeed anyone?
Yes Patty, you do show model bloggers a great deal of attention, though you only seem to get your hackles up when said blogger is actually being honest about their experiences in the modelling industry.
Moreover, if I were Tiah (and no, I am not, we aren't even friends), I would be quite upset with your swipe that she got a job blogging for fashion week because of nude protraits, not to mention the disgraceful spreading of salacious rumours about the identity of her baby's father. It isn't the first swipe you have made at her either. Did she personally upset you? Or Tallulah? Carta? No? Then maybe you should be a little more gracious because in being rude about these highly successful, spirited women makes you look bitter and jealous.

Patty Huntington said...

wrong again "anonymous". given how remarkably similar the sentiments expressed in this comment are to eckhardt's deleted facebook rant, perhaps you're not as anonymous as you think.

if you do a tag search on "the tatiana mystery" in this blog, you will five posts documenting the story of jezebel's anonymous model blogger tatiana - the model blogger to whom i've devoted most coverage. there are also at least two posts about korean model daul kim, who i find utterly hilarious - and quite bolshie.

i applaud strong women, particularly those who have the courage of their convictions and who put their money where their mouths are. instead of hiding behind veiled attacks and anonymous swipes. yes the repercussions of expressing an unpopular opinion, "calling it as you see it" or - as i have discovered on numerous occasions - even simply holding up a mirror and confronting someone with something that they have in fact said, or done, can be fairly hostile. just try being a journalist.

i understand, in theory, why tatiana chose to remain anonymous. her column seems to have evolved in a different way now however. and surprisingly, for someone with such great insight into the industry and, presumably, access, of late the industry's most controversial news stories (eg model rate cuts, male sexual predators) have been broken by other outlets. with tatiana merely picking up the stories (often regurgitating entire stories) and passively commenting on them.

tiah eckhardt makes no secret of her nude work, in fact her self-portrait in her own blog is a nude shot. that's a fairly powerful brand statement. and i have absolutely no doubt that she gets a lot of male attention because of this. this is an area of modelling that she has chosen to pursue and good luck to her. dita von teese specialises in burlesque and has made a fortune out of it. i note that von teese has also done porn. eckhardt is putting herself out there - these shots are right across cyberspace. that's fine, but once again, you will excuse a reporter for noting this career segue from the traditional high fashion arena (in which nevertheless there is quite a lot of nudity of late). i'm assuming that's the "swipe" to which you refer.

i look forward to learning precisely which media outlet has commissioned eckhardt to blog about RAFW. i could be wrong of course, but something tells me it is less likely to be the ABC - and more likely to be a tabloid outlet, or one that publishes a lot of nudity. perhaps pedestrian.tv.

as for the "disgraceful spreading of salacious rumours" about the paternity of her baby, it's eckhardt's great mates at pedestrian.tv with whom she should be pissed. they failed to moderate their comments - that's where the story started. they are responsible for publishing that comment in the public domain. if they are eckhardt's friends, i question why they did so.

just like the drunk/trashed shots of morton and carta were firstly taken - and possibly even choreographed - by their great mate mark hunter. the shots were then edited by mark hunter. and then they were published by mark hunter.

but of course, you're not angry with hunter. you're angry with the person who points out the shots that he has published. and then throws the subject up for public discussion. you appear to support "honest" opinion in a select few - ie those who agree with you - but deny everyone else the opportunity to speak their mind. how very democratic of you.

i actually feel sorry for morton and carta. there was yet another not particularly nice shot of morton online this week - on the notorious purple diary. her face looks strained and yes, what would you expect with purple, but her breasts are quite accentuated in the shot. it's a cobrasnake shot. and it's like morton is being passed around from one fashion perv to another. but presumably, you see nothing wrong with that.

Tiah said...

Hmmm....I did post a personal comment in response to a friend who mentioned your post, something i believe about my ability to spit saliva as well your ability to spit vitriol at girls half your age whom you don't know.
But I did take it down, I felt guilty insulting someone I've never met. I understand how important is to get hits on your blog when it's a career. I'm not too fussed personally, I'm not modelling and I have no intention of trying to be a journalist, my blog is more of an open journal, hence why I don't censor it or even modify comments.
I instead chose to write you a polite comment after someone linked this to me merely clarifying the mistakes you made and answering some of the questions you posed. Alas, it was not approved? I wonder why? Let's see if this one is.

Patty Huntington said...

tiah - the only comments that don't go through on my blog are those that are legally risky. there is only one pending right now, and it is risky so it's in limbo.

this is the first comment that i have seen from you.

Patty Huntington said...

in fact your facebook comment - which i have BTW as a jpeg - commences:

"i am going to spit vitriol (and potentially actual saliva)..."

alice said...

ok patty ! humble?? you?? i enjoyed your blog i like reading about different areas of fashion and getting updates on whats going on in the fashion world. but come on? to make a post about a successful model who has decided to make a life changing decision and have a child (congratulations to her) you feel the need just to make your mark and have people talk bout your 'fashion' blog to totally insult her .. stick to vogue forums there better suited to people like you who actually have no idea about whats going on in the 'fashion' world and therefore love to make ridiculous comments about people they dont even know to make themselves feel important . its nothing personal but as i say i enjoyed you blog but now the name patty huntington comes up in conversation its only bad things i hear.

Tiah said...

Perhaps a technical difficulty? This is what I commented last week:

"Thank you so much for your well wishes! We are so excited to be having our first baby and have received nothing but congratulations. I'm flattered you found the time to respond to Pedestrian's announcement.

I can safely say, thoroughly amused, that my (platonic) friend and fellow ex-Ped presenter Damon is most definitely not the father. Though I'm sure he will make some lucky girl very happy one day!

As for the limited pregnant-nudie market, in these worrying economic times one can see how a model would be concerned. However those of us that haven't floundered away our modelling money on drugs can sit safe and secure the time being and concentrate on new and ever-expanding ventures. I have no plans to do a Demi-for-Vanity-Fair anytime in future.

Also, I'd like to clarify I'm not 'blogging' for anyone for RAFW. My blog is merely an open medium for the mouth that is normally kept shut 9-5. My work regarding RAFW has been commissioned by a news print publication, not a blog and I'm extremely grateful for their faith in my- as you so kindly put- "articulate" ability.

Thanks for the support- professionally and personally- see you in the press pit!"

Also as of today, I'm allowed to mention that it is west australian newspaper The Sunday Times I'm writing for and their 'STM' supplement. Hope that clears a few things up as I'm sure you can understand how frustrating incorrect information can be. Thanks.

Tiah said...

Re: Facebook comment

Ahhh yes, it was something along those lines! (before my conscience-driven deleting) I guess nothing IS personal and my immature rantings about untrustworthy people are justified.

But I'm sure you understand, you've obviously enjoyed a long and successful career in the media and have probably encountered many people who have desired to cut you down along the way. Hopefully one day, after a lot more experience, my rebuttals will be tempered with more self-control. Until then....!

Patty Huntington said...

technical glitches are always possible. ditto the "unknown hacker defence", which is what the alabama design professor (busted last weekend on this blog for blatant plagiarism) is currently claiming. i spoke to a leading cyber security expert, who told me that of the 120 cyber fraud cases over which he has presided, half of the claims were baloney.

i don't know when you left the comment. i have only on one previous occasion had a problem with Blogger comments - they were accidentally disabled for 24 hours. that said, over the past 48 hours i have upgraded blackberries and was without email for one night. i believed that every pending email came through once i had swapped the accounts over, but who knows, perhaps some things slipped through.

in the event that anyone else reading this is wondering what happened to any recent comments which did not go live (apart from one regarding cat mcneil, which is pending), this may explain it. pls shoot through again if that's the case.

congratulations once again tiah on the baby - and on your writing gigs. i won't be at all surprised to hear that one day, you have also decided to pursue fiction. best of luck with it all.

Anonymous said...

Patty, I do not know you and know little about your work as a journalist as I am based in the US not in Australia. However, I must comment that your intense attention at Tiah Eckhardt's career choices, seems a bit odd for a "professional" journalist. Seeing as you do write for well known publications, I find it incredibly ironic that you would care to take digs at young models and repeat salacious gossip and pin it out someone else as saying first - isn't that just as bad, if not worse? Being a professional journalist, one would think that you would be above spreading gossip about women half your age and continue critiquing shows from fashion week, which is what MOST fashion journalist do. This blog entry seems to be that of a gossip bloggist and in a word -sad. Furthermore, since when has nudity been new to the fashion industry? Have you never heard of Helmut Newton or Guy Bourdin? All I can say is you strike me as the kind of woman who more than likely always wanted to be a model, but couldn't and therefore has taken to picking on them out of jealously. You seem to have a tendency towards this sort of behavior - gossip- which clearly you have not learned a lesson from- after the Kelly Cutrone incident.

bethany said...

hmmm mindless dribble. constant misinformation. i might be wrong but i thought the term journalist meant you have to research information and then relay.

most the posts i have read on this blog is just gossip , made up rumour's stemming from a photo you found of a young teenager on someone else's blog and silly bitching about successful girls 10 times younger then you. not fair. why the jealousy? is it hard to see beautiful young rich girls having fun? i know id want to have some fun if i worked that hard.

Patty Huntington said...

last anon -

i'm going to bow out, because i have just too much work to get through before RAFW. knock yourselves out. or, perhaps, yourself - my experience debating online tells me that i'm probably dealing with a limited number of participants here, who are just wafting in and out under different usernames. i'm not going to bother doing an IP check.

gossip is a fact of journalism. no its not hard news - it can be far more explosive than hard news, because you are dealing with the personal lives of public figures. however even august publications have gossip columns. a case in pt, the sydney morning herald - a broadsheet, which devotes its entire back page each saturday to gossip. i have limited personal experience as a professional gossip columnist (12 months babysitting the sun herald diary while annette sharp was on maternity leave - a very intense 12 months in which i did some very controversial stories). but let's clarify one thing here. the subjects are public figures. they are people who, under normal circumstances, actively seek publicity and usually for commercial gain. many of them have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that they just can't crank up the publicity machine when it suits them - and switch it off when it's inconvenient.

feel free to read, or not read, this blog and speculate about my news judgment and the calls i make on stories. you will note however that this story has made it into the gossip page of the sunday telegraph today - the lead item, no less.


PS. it's most curious, tiah, that you describe daimon downey as a platonic friend and former colleague. while in speaking to today's sunday telegraph about you, downey is quoted as saying, "i don't even know who she is".

Anonymous said...

well, as the "last anon" blogger I seriously disagree with the concept that fashion journalism is intertwined with gossip, as this the first blog I have ever come across that takes stabs at the lifestyles of model, celebs, public figures and promotes the "downfalls" of their careers which are based on your clearly archaic versions of morality and yet markets itself as a fashion journalism blog. And if they (celebrites) are putting themselves out there for publicity, so what? Are you so up your own ass and jaded that you must judge someone's lifestyle choices and mar their happy moments by twisting them around and creating a tabloid worthy stories to glorify your self and your blog? Yeah and no wonder this is in a Sunday paper - I'm sure your attention to it has def. helped the tabloid wheels to turn. Lastly, I would like to add that I only posted the one last anon post and in no we are all the same people. It a shame that you are unable to realize that the vast majority of people on this blog are NOT TIAH signing in under different names, but rather others who see the pettiness in this entire blog entry, full stop - although I have little interest in reading more of your blog to find out if it merely consists of slanderous smut (as from what is sounds like it does). Lastly, I would like to add that I do in fact know Tiah Eckhardt and she is one of the loveliest, kind, fun, charismatic women you would even meet. Seeing as you have even said you don't know her I think it is a shame that you feel comfortable slating her in what is one of the most exciting moments of her like and spread gossip that the father of her child is not the person is is said to be? It not journalism, it's just disgusting, below the belt digs at a woman who has done nothing more that be a successful model and at most maybe make some lifestyle choice that you wouldnt, by posing nude. SO WHAT!

Kat George said...

Wow, sometimes I think that I'm more part of the problem than anything else when I sit around reading comment trains of back and forth bickering...

I watched Tiah on set in London once, and she was magical. Probably the most natural, models I've ever encountered in the flesh.

Baby congratulations!

x

Wade Crescent said...

Hi Patty seems like you are up to the same old tricks... i actually kept my mouth shut during your vilification of the lovely Stephanie Carta... but i think this is rather rich... how many more lives do u want to ruin...

the implications of your smear campaigns are far greater than you might realize...

to you other readers... Ms Huntington actually had a part to play in my divorce... but thats another story

Tiah, by the way is a truly great character and has an amazing energy and will make a great (and super sexy) mum... congratulations to her and Patrick

W

Anonymous said...

*cough* lovely stephanie carta, i dont think so, not one bit

Kate. said...

JEALOUS MUCH?


TIAH FOR PRESIDENT!

Patty Huntington said...

guys, sorry but i'm closing the comments on this post. at least for the moment. this blog is an open forum for debate, but there are those do abuse open forums. anyone with any online web forum experience - and half a brain - can tell when people are deliberately trying to engineer opinion and rig debates.

if it wasn't already obvious that that is what is happening here, sources close to eckhardt report that she has been asking mates to leave comments. that's fine, but they have had more than ample opportunity to express their views. and i am flat chat this week trying to cover RAFW.

i normally don't clear comments left by real people, using their names, unless i have checked with them. but i did clear the wade crescent comment. if that was not wade crescent, then pls feel free to drop me a line (address linked under my user profile).

some context here - crescent is a london-based DJ, former model and party promoter, who appears to enjoy, and play up to, his well-deserved reputation as a hellraiser. he is part of a male model/DJ collective called Stunners International. we met in september 2006 at a john richmond party in milan, at which SI was DJ'ing. it was a pretty funny night, which involved performances by dita von teese and coolio. i spent the evening in the DJ booth with a separate DJ friend from london, who had also been booked to play. i recounted the events in this blog post at smh.com.au:

http://bit.ly/rY22j

during the course of the evening, crescent propositioned me. perhaps he was joking - and i did canvas this possibility in the post. i blogged all of this. unbeknown to me at the time, crescent was married and his - apparently long-suffering - wife failed to get the joke. which is perfectly understandable and i gather the incident may have been the last straw. but perhaps crescent should have considered that before hitting on random women. especially journalists who blog. all of which was disclosed to him upon introduction.

crescent is what you would call a very colourful character. indeed, here is one of several UK newspaper reports, this one from the london times, which refer to the “rent a cad” service in which he was involved in early 2007:

http://bit.ly/81QVD

i have only met crescent on one other occasion - in london, in feb 2007. he propositioned me again. he was possibly joking once again. but i don't know for sure because i did not take him up on the offer.

carta said...

Wade always nice to hear your truthful words.
Thank you for putting it out there and attempting amongst all this to set the record straight :)

Tiah is a great person and she also knows good business.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Bryanboy is right? I hope not. But why is Tiah having a baby now?
It seems to make no sense, given her age and career. Is it a natural desire? to keep her boyfriend from leaving? or some sort of cop-out perhaps? What? I'm curious to know...

P.S. Frockwriter, I'd like to think the consistently indignant, bourgeois, and humorless posts on this blog are written to wind people up, but can't help thinking its more likely you're just an indignant, bourgeois, and humorless person.

Anonymous said...

its really unprofessional as a model to speak up and back the way they do. i've never seen so much drama come from a model clan like these aussie girls. you're starting to give yourselves a bad name...its getting old. hence why none of your careers are barely taking off and carta cant seem to catch a second modeling wind after last season.

A said...

I don't want to upset you by leaving my comment as "Anonomyous", so i'll let you know my name is Aimee Vincent and I know Tiah incredibly well. Aswell as being one of the most beautiful, sexy women ive ever known, Tiah is also kind and loving, maternal, down to earth, creative, strong and real.
I find your thoughts upsetting because it seems as though you must be a very sad, nasty woman. And as Tiah embarks on her new life, with her beautiful baby and wonderful friends, I feel sorry for you, I feel sorry that you will just be left speculating about Tiah and other people who couldn't care less about you.

kimberley said...

This is the first post i've read on frockwriter, and the very last. Patty Huntington - what a bitch.

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