Sondra Lipton

She attended Julia Richman High School and the School of American Ballet founded by George Balanchine. While a pupil of ballet she danced in several Broadway shows.^[1] In May 1948 Lipton was in the dance company of the Experimental Theatre which presented Ballet Ballads as one of a series of events performed at the Maxine Elliott Theatre.^[2]

At 19 she was 5'9" and felt herself too tall to be a dancer. Lipton applied at Christian Dior in New York City, and was quickly noticed by the French couturier. He suggested that she never alter her unusual appearance. She has red hair, amber eyes, an aquiline nose and large teeth. In January 1949 she modelled designs by Fira Benenson at the Pierre Hotel for a New York Heart Association Benefit.^[3] In November 1960 she was one of thirteen successful models selected to represent Mannequin, a new modelling agency in New York City.^[4] Lipton worked on fashion runways for twenty years.^[1] In 1964 she modelled a new religious habit designed by Sybil Connolly at a Sisters of Mercy convention. From Dublin, Ireland, Connolly was one of the most prominent names in international high fashion. She worked on the project for two and a half years.^[5]

To relax during her modelling career Lipton began to study sculpture at New York University. Sculptor Joe Eula once loaned her his studio but she began to find sculpting too difficult and lonely.