Teen with disability succeeds in modeling

By Debra D. Bass
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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ST. LOUIS -- Ruthie Burst has all the qualities that aspiring supermodels yearn for: classical beauty, a lean figure, height, poise, long blond hair, beguiling blue eyes and a distinctive runway strut.

She's heard a chorus of "you should be a model," comments since she was a toddler, but she didn't pursue modeling in earnest until about six months ago.

Burst was born with only one arm and wears a prosthesis. She said she never considered that an obstacle to a successful modeling career.

"I always wanted to be a model," Burst said. "I kinda didn't think about (my arm). It really depends on whether they like you or they don't."

Although she has a disability that might make others self-conscious in the megawatt glare of a fashion shoot, the 16-year-old seems blissfully unfettered by self-doubt. In addition to modeling, the 5-foot-10-inch teen also plays field hockey and tennis and rode horses for years.

"My first impression of Ruthie was that she was spectacular and beautiful ... a slam-dunk as a model," said Atillio D'Agostino, a founder of Alive Magazine and Saint Louis Fashion Week. He selected Burst from a pool of more than 600 models who answered a casting call last year. It wasn't until after she'd left the room that someone mentioned Burst's prosthetic arm. D'Agostino had not noticed.

The team selecting the models quickly concluded that it simply wasn't an issue. Her stats and images were sent to all the designers, and she was selected to walk in a number of shows at Saint Louis Fashion Week.

This year, Burst was selected to walk the runways on three of the five nights of events. She helped present colorful, flirty dresses by Los Angeles-based designer Meghan Noland. (Her label is Meghan Fabulous).

"I didn't know there was going to be a model in my show with a prosthetic arm until a few minutes ago," Noland said. But even if someone had told her beforehand, it wouldn't have been an issue, she said. "Models are supposed to make clothes look beautiful, and if she can do that job, she's fine."

Noland said she wants her clothes to make women feel beautiful and sexy in their own skin, so she strives to use models that aren't cookie-cutter versions of the gamines in glossy magazines.

It's a refreshing concept in an industry that -- for all its protestations to the contrary -- remains brutally critical of women who have a few extra pounds of body fat or a hip-to-waist ratio that's less than ideal. In fact, most professional models can't achieve the ideal without airbrushing.

"We didn't hire her as a statement or 'in spite of,' or anything like that," D'Agosti-no said. "We cast her because she was a great model and she deserved to be featured."

Having said that, D'Agosti-no added that it's probably a good thing for those on the fashion scene to see and take note of Burst.

What makes her so watchable isn't that she conforms to an idealized notion of beauty, but rather her incredible poise and grace. Perhaps people will look at her and be less quick to criticize themselves for not being blond enough, tall enough or thin enough to be beautiful, he said.

Burst's mother, also named Ruth, said she wasn't worried that her daughter wouldn't be accepted into the fashion industry with a prosthesis.

For her, it's normal. In fact, mother and daughter seem bored with the topic. Ruthie was an award-winning equestrienne who competed nationally as a child, so her mother is accustomed to seeing her daughter in the spotlight -- and the curiosity that follows.

"I'm just proud of her and support her in every journey; that's my job," said Ruth, who has three older children, Ross, 17; Kenneth, 20 and Jonathan Jr., 22.

Ruthie takes the double-takes in stride. Most people don't notice, at first, she said. When they do, "they are surprised and think it's really cool that I model with a prosthesis. I just want to model."