Every friend group contains someone who partakes in strange hobbies that has everyone else raising their eyebrows. But that doesn’t mean we don’t love them- it's the opposite.
Sydney Smith has been dubbed “Giraffe Woman” after spending years using metal rings to stretch her neck. She Wanted to take after her favorite animal: the giraffe. But this is what she looks like now after she has stopped.
A Long Time
Sydney Smith lived in Los Angeles and had been interested in the idea since middle school.
Her fascination followed her into her adult years, and she earned her nickname long before she embarked on her journey for her desired beauty standard. She had been called “Giraffe Neck” for a long time.
Fascinated
Her classmates often teased her when she was longer because her neck was longer than anyone else’s. Sydney had watched National Geographic and saw Burma and Thailand tribal women.
She was fascinated by their use of rings to elongate their necks. What added to her fascination was how much she loved giraffes. She thought it was perfect but needed to get past her parents first.
Just A PhaseJust A Phase
Her parents thought that she was a teenager going through a phase and that it would soon pass. But Sydney continuously stared at the photos for years.
No one could keep her from making her own choices once she was old enough, but she wasn’t ready to do anything about it. But that all changed when she saw the dress a singer was wearing.
Inspiration
We all know of the crazy meat dress Lady Gaga once wore. Sydney was inspired by how unapologetic the celebrity was for her fashion choices or how she looked.
That was all she needed to get the process started. She sought out help from her friend, who specialized in body modification. That was the start of adding rings to her neck.
Starting The Process
It was a painful process and left burn marks on her skin, but she didn’t care. She still didn’t care that the entire process would add five more pounds to her body weight.
Typically, younger individuals started the process, and Sydney had a long way to go before she caught up. She had started this for herself and never thought about the attention she would gain.
Talk Of The Town
People in her hometown started spreading news of her new look, and it wasn’t long before social media shared the documentation of her process. Part of her process even made its way onto Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
Modeling offers soon started streaming in, considering how uncommon it was to see something so tribal in an everyday setting.
The After Effects
Sydney loved all the attention she was receiving but had no idea how the rings would soon affect her.
She spent five years trying to complete the process as fast as possible. She started struggling in her regular marketing job because the rings slowed her down and hindered her movement. She knew she had to do something to rectify the situation, but the choice wasn’t easy.
Dreading The Attention
She was bombarded on the streets with people asking for selfies, and she could no longer hike or swim. Her love of attention soon started to fade away.
As much as she loved the rings, she decided to remove them a few months later. She eventually found herself in her friend's salon so that she could take them off. She wondered what she would look like afterward.
Saying Goodbye
Her rings were beautiful, so it wasn’t easy for her to say goodbye to them. But she couldn’t believe what she looked like at the end.
Of course, her neck was long, but despite how much she loved it, she was shocked by the bruising. She also needed help because the muscles in her neck were weak.
There Was A Difference
Sydney’s transformation differed from the young girls of Southeast Asia with elongated necks. It was because she had started when she was an adult.
Her neck hadn’t grown longer, but her collarbone had been pushed down. That meant her ribcage was pushed down too, but Sydney would be surprised by the doctor's good news.
Changing Back
Through a chiropractor and other specialists, she would slowly regain the strength in her neck. Also, the rest of her body would go back to normal.
Sadly, her title of Giraffe Woman would slowly fade. But did she regret her 5-year journey?
She Learned From It
Sydney Smith didn’t shy away from her decision. She had learned from what she wanted to do, experienced it, and took from it the positives despite the pain it had caused.
She told everyone that she had enjoyed the feeling of the rings around her neck, but no one was expecting what her next step would be.
What Next?
Everyone wanted to know what Sydney would do next and assumed it would have something to do with another beauty trend.
But Sydney had something else planned. Her daughter, Skylar Rose, was born in 2017, and she decided to spend her time loving her and her husband.
Something To Remember
Sydney regretted nothing of what she’d done and held onto the memories by keeping the rings locked away. She learned it was good to embrace her passions and forge her own way without worrying about what everyone else thought of her.
Sydney, a.k.a “Giraffe Girl,” led a life that stirred controversy, and it didn’t matter what direction she took next.