Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
This issue documents Cheryl Tiegs during what may be the single most consequential year of her career, arriving just weeks after one career-defining magazine moment and months ahead of another. In March 1978, Tiegs was the cover story for Time magazine in a feature titled "The All-American Model," a moment she has described as her career exploding, after which she became a consistent favorite on the covers of Vogue, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Seventeen, and People. Later that same year, Tiegs posed in a fishnet swimsuit for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, an image often cited as one of the most famous magazine photographs of all time and a moment that reached a new level of fame for her. A May 1978 Harper's Bazaar cover featuring Tiegs therefore sits squarely between those two landmark moments, capturing her at the precise midpoint of the single year most responsible for cementing her status as America's first supermodel.
Tiegs's relationship with Harper's Bazaar specifically was an established and recurring one by this point, situating this issue within a documented pattern of work for the title rather than an isolated appearance. A confirmed Harper's Bazaar cover from July 1977, photographed by Rico Puhlmann and featuring Tiegs in sportswear, demonstrates that her work for the magazine extended across multiple issues in the years immediately surrounding this one. Tiegs herself has described moving into what she called the high fashion sector after a period away from modeling, specifically naming Vogue and Harper's Bazaar as the titles that defined that particular chapter of her career, distinct from the earlier trajectory that had built her name through Glamour and Seventeen. A May 1978 cover therefore documents Tiegs within that specific, self-identified high-fashion phase of her career, working consistently with one of the most prestigious titles in American fashion publishing.
The broader year 1978 carried personal significance for Tiegs as well, adding another dimension to understanding this specific period of her life and career. Tiegs met photographer Peter Beard in New York in 1978, beginning a relationship that would lead to a 1979 photographic expedition to Kenya investigating wildlife conservation, an experience later documented in an Emmy-winning episode of ABC's The American Sportsman, and the couple would marry in 1981. A May 1978 Harper's Bazaar cover therefore arrives at a moment when Tiegs's professional and personal life were both undergoing significant change simultaneously, making this issue a meaningful documentary marker for collectors exploring Cheryl Tiegs's career or our 1978 magazines collection.
About the Publication
Harper's Bazaar is an American fashion magazine with one of the longest continuous publishing histories of any title in this category. The magazine was founded in 1867 by Harper & Brothers under the original title Harper's Bazar. Its archive, encompassing both the American and British editions, comprises almost five hundred thousand pages of content spanning from 1867 to the present, representing one of the most extensive and indispensable historical resources available for the study of fashion and related fields. By the late 1970s, Harper's Bazaar had long established itself as one of the most prestigious American fashion titles, known for high-fashion editorial photography and a readership oriented toward sophisticated style coverage. The magazine's late-1970s issues regularly featured the era's most significant working models, with Tiegs's recurring presence across multiple issues during this period reflecting the kind of sustained, repeated relationship Harper's Bazaar often built with its most prominent cover talent.
Key Highlights Inside
- A fashion cover featuring Cheryl Tiegs, captured in the same year as her landmark March 1978 Time magazine "All-American Model" cover story and her iconic fishnet swimsuit Sports Illustrated photograph.
- A feature titled "Wild About Braids," covering a trending hairstyle of the period, reflecting Harper's Bazaar's seasonal beauty and styling coverage.
- "Playing the Game," a feature highlighting Tiegs in sports-oriented fashion, consistent with her established association with Harper's Bazaar's sportswear-focused editorial content, as seen in her earlier confirmed July 1977 cover for the same title.
- Summer fashion and beauty content, including beach cover-ups and evening dresses, along with a dedicated Beauty and Health section addressing short hairstyles and contemporary beauty trends of the period.
- Specific named contributors beyond the general feature topics described above are unconfirmed for this issue; readers should consult the listing's photographs for the exact table of contents.
Condition & Rarity
This issue is described as being in excellent shape, with only light wear typical for its age, a grade reflecting a well-preserved copy nearly five decades after its original publication. Light wear consistent with careful handling and storage is a favorable condition outcome for a periodical of this age, particularly for a glossy fashion magazine printed on coated stock that generally retains color and surface quality well under good storage conditions. Harper's Bazaar issues from the late 1970s featuring prominent, well-documented cover models like Tiegs are generally evaluated by overall cover presentation and completeness of interior content, with structural integrity and a vibrant, legible cover typically weighted more heavily than minor age-related softening of the paper itself. Collectors should still consult the listing's accompanying photographs directly to assess the specific condition of this individual copy.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
Cheryl Tiegs covers from this exact period are of particular interest to collectors given how closely this issue's publication aligns with the single most significant year of her career, sitting between her landmark Time magazine cover story and her iconic Sports Illustrated fishnet swimsuit photograph. Our Cheryl Tiegs collection is the best place to browse other available issues and appearances spanning her long career, our Harper's Bazaar collection offers a broader look at the publication's history, and our 1978 magazines collection rounds out the picture with other titles from this specific year.