Of 5 Top: Dolly Supermodel Part 1

Author’s Note: This article is part of a 5-part series celebrating Australian fashion history. All images referenced are property of Pacific Magazines (now Are Media) and the respective models.

If you were a teenage girl growing up in Australia during the 1990s or early 2000s, three words were more powerful than any spell from a Harry Potter book: .

It wasn’t just a competition. It was a cultural phenomenon. It was a sleepover conversation, a glossy-page obsession, and for thousands of young women across the country, it was the first real taste of a dream that felt terrifyingly audacious: What if I could be a model? dolly supermodel part 1 of 5 top

But for now, raise a glass (or a bottle of Impulse body spray) to the girls who dared to dream. The Dolly Supermodel competition might be defunct (it ended its run in the late 2000s), but its legacy is written in the glossy pages of history.

By: The Nostalgia Runway Team

The premise was simple yet electric. Readers would send in a few snapshots (often taken by a mum in the backyard or a friend at the local mall). A panel of judges, including the editors of Dolly and real modeling agents from Chadwick Models, would whittle down thousands of entries to a handful of finalists. Those finalists would be flown to a glamorous city (usually Sydney) for a "finals week" involving photo shoots, runway walks, and media training.

Do you have a vintage Dolly Supermodel snap from the 90s? Share it in the comments below. Who was your favorite winner? Let us know if you remember the 1995 finalist who broke her ankle the day before the runway! Author’s Note: This article is part of a

The "Top" of the Dolly Supermodel list wasn't just about height (though they were all tall). It was about confidence. To send your photo into a magazine that millions of people would see took guts. To walk into a room of judges at 15 wearing a borrowed dress took nerve.