Posted on 02/19/2012 1:55:54 PM PST by Mark
Simi model shedding the skin
Faith leads Bisutti on more conservative path
By Carissa Marsh
COVERING UPSimi Valley model Kylie Bisutti has made the decision to no longer pose in lingerie, citing her faith as the driving force behind her decision. Kylie Bisutti has shed her Victorias Secret angel wings in favor of more coverage, vowing to God and the world that she will not model lingerie again.
This is about me just reading the Bible more, me growing in my relationship with God and him opening my eyes up to the ways I was living and I wasnt really honoring him with my life, the 21-year-old Simi Valley resident said. But making this decision, Im honoring him as well as my husband.
The last person one might imagine evangelizing the Gospel would be a Victorias Secret model. But after posing scantily clad for the popular catalogue, other lingerie brands and even mens magazines, Bisutti had a change of heart about the industry she once so desperately wanted to be part of. Besting more than 10,000 other aspirants, Bisutti won the Victorias Secret Model Search in December 2009. She took her victory walk down the runway of the worldbroadcast Victorias Secret Fashion Show in New York wearing little more than a black bejeweled bra-and-panty set.
Shortly after her win, Bisutti jetted off to St. Barts in the Caribbean to do a shoot for the annual swimsuit catalogue and then attended a signing at a new VS store in Chicago.
Winning the contest was her first big break in modeling and the realization of a childhood dreambut something began to feel not quite right.
I pretty quickly decided within that year that I wasnt going to model lingerie, said Bisutti, who was able to end the relationship with Victorias Secret easily since she didnt have a contractual obligation with the company.
Despite some news reports, Bisutti clarified that she didnt quit VS.
Its more of a decision to stop modeling lingerie and stop being a sex symbol in general. Because Ive also modeled for Fredericks of Hollywood and been on the cover of mens magazines, she said. Im not trying to bash Victorias Secret in any way.
The Idaho-born Bisutti didnt grow up in a religious family and never went to church until she was in high school in Las Vegas. At 16, she became a believer and got baptized.
Because of her Christian faith, Bisutti said, she had an inner battle over modeling skimpy outfits in seductive posesparticularly for publications like Maxim and FHM. I definitely was (uncomfortable), especially with the mens magazines because its directed for men . . . and I really should only be seen that way for my husband, not every other man in this world, she said.
Just a few months before winning the model search, she married Simi native Mike Bisutti. When asked if he was uncomfortable seeing his new wife in lingerie ads and wanted her to quit, she said no.
He was really supportive with everything that I did from the beginning and he knew that modeling for Victorias Secret was my biggest dream, Bisutti said. He let me grow and mature and he basically prayed for me through it all but he let me make this decision on my own.
While some might question why Bisutti auditioned for the model search in the first place, she said shes learned a lot in the past two years.
Going into the competition I was praying through the whole thing that I didnt want to win if it wasnt what God wanted for me. Looking back on it now, this is what he wanted, she said.
He gave me this platform and helped me realize modeling lingerie and being a famous supermodel for Victorias Secret wasnt exactly what I thought it would be once I got it, and living a life for him is much more fulfilling.
Moving forward, Bisutti said she will no longer take part in the sex sells media culture.
I definitely only want to model and pose in things that arent going to be portrayed as selling sex, she said. I dont want to be put in that category anymore. She would, however, model in a swimsuitdepending on the context.
Ill pose in bikinis as long as its not selling sex. If its more about athleticism and not the sexuality of it, she said.
Bisutti is surprised by the national attention her decision has receivedshe was interviewed on Good Morning America and her story was featured on Nightlinesaying shes gotten more press now than when she won the contest.
I thought by making this statement my career would be over and I was fine with that . . . and now Hes blessing me so much more than I ever could have imagined.
Her hope is to serve as a positive role model for girls. Bisutti already has several speaking engagements lined up, and her new website features a Prayer Request tab. Ive had a lot of emails come in, mainly from young teenage girls that are . . . struggling with their self-image, said Bisutti, who was teased in school for being tall.
I can definitely relate . . . not only with (teasing) but just wanting attention from other people, the wrong kind of attention. . . . . So its really cool to talk to them about it and give them advice on how they can overcome it.
Her main message is that inner beauty is most important. Youll definitely be happier if thats what you focus on, the qualities of your heart.
Øbama doesn’t have a Christian faith.
But Steffi made sure he meant his Christian faith when asked about it and Gibbs sure was on offens today telling that Santorum was over the top attacking Obama’s faith.
He has to have, America would never elect anyone without it.....oh wait!
Amen to that. I drive by a neighborhood high school every day & pray for those kids - we’re pretty spare on healthy role models in the pop-culture realm.
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