Martha Stewart Is Unrecognizable In Throwback Photos From Her Modeling Days

Before she was Martha Stewart, she was Martha Kostyra, the second oldest of six siblings born to Edward and Martha Kostyra and raised in Nutley, New Jersey. She would eventually become the first female self-made billionaire in the United States, but it took her time. During an interview on "Shop the Stars with Jill Martin," in February 2020, Stewart delved into the lessons she was taught in childhood: "We were taught to work, we were encouraged to pay our own way, and we all did." So, Stewart got to work as a babysitter, and eventually, a model.

Her neighbor, also a model, convinced Stewart to enter the industry, and she signed with Ford models at the age of 15. The celebrity chef eventually posed for brands like Chanel, Tareyton Cigarettes, Glamour, and others for a whopping $50 per hour, which would eventually come in handy, but more on that later. Stewart's aesthetic at the time, shaped by the 1950s and '60s, was precisely what they wanted in their campaigns. She stood at 5'9", with a dirty-blond, voluminous bob (don't think it has gone out of style, though; we have some tips for rocking the ultimate '60s-inspired bombshell blowout). Her look was drastically different from her appearance today, thanks to some additional help. However, as we know, she didn't stay on the modeling career path for too long.

Martha Stewart's father instilled in her and her siblings the concept of hard work, and she did just that, despite not loving the position she was in. "I was so skinny and so perfect for modeling, but I didn't know that I was beautiful. That was my only problem. I knew that I could model, I knew I could pose for pictures, but I was not sexy, and I was not provocative. That feeling never came. It still hasn't come," she remarked during a November 2020 interview with People. Despite her insecurities, old Instagram posts show she clearly was beautiful.

Luckily, she wouldn't be in that position for long. Stewart largely modeled to fund her college career at Barnard College. After graduating, the lifestyle expert spent quite a few years career-hopping, eventually finding herself running a catering business out of her home. The rest, as they say, is history.

As Stewart's career and likeness have continued to expand over the years, she's had several opportunities to brush up on her modeling skills. Posing for book covers, television programs, interviews, and frequent callbacks to her modeling days, the most scandalous photoshoot came in May 2023 when she became the oldest cover model for Sports Illustrated at 81 years old. For the magazine, Stewart posed in a white one-piece bikini with a plunging neckline and draped with a dramatic orange coat. She posted the cover to Instagram, writing, "I hope this cover inspires you to challenge yourself to try new things, no matter what stage of life you are in. Changing, evolving, and being fearless — those are all very good things, indeed."

Martha Stewart has admitted that certain aspects of her changing appearance were not-so-natural. More specifically, the household name has been vehemently denying plastic surgery since her modeling days, but the discourse began again upon the publication of her Sports Illustrated issue, leading to the revelation of other less-invasive procedures.

The comments under her Instagram post announcing the cover were rather accusatory, with one writing, "Face lift." Let's face it (no pun intended), even younger models have come under fire for their Sports Illustrated Swimsuit covers; those certainly made up most of Olivia Dunne's outfits that caused a stir.

During an interview with Variety from May 2023, Stewart compared her Sports Illustrated experience to her modeling sets of days past. "When I was a model and posing all the time in bathing suits and sporty sexy things, that's the time I should have been on the cover, but I wasn't [a] $75-an-hour model then," she said. "I was only a $50- and $60-an-hour model." Later, she clapped back at the accusatory comments, saying, "Well, it's not true. I've had absolutely no plastic surgery whatsoever." While that may technically be true, Stewart has certainly had aesthetic enhancements. In fact, during the same interview, when she was asked if she'd ever had filler, she said she had experimented with it, as well as Botox (and yes, there is a total difference between Botox and fillers).