Patty McHugh

BlueAcadia · April 26, 2021

" No more Chanel in the Seychelles. Concrete in Chicago is more to Patricia McHugh`s liking these days.

The daughter of contractor James McHugh has forsaken a full-time high-fashion modeling career to join her father in the family construction business.

Although the real estate industry has drawn its talent from a variety of other professions, modeling seldom has been one of them. But for Patty McHugh the movement comes naturally.

''I did work as a technical engineer, better known as a surveyor, when I was 16,'' she said. ''That was my real introduction to construction. It was a great experience. The men were the best, and nobody was disrespectful. Nobody can say these people don`t respect a person who does a job well.

''I thought it was amazing that these things got built, and I really couldn`t imagine how it happened. But I learned that it is such a human business, that people build these high-rises with their own two hands,'' she said of her site work on the One Magnificent Mile project on Michigan Avenue. But the construction industry was part of Patty`s life long before that.

''Every night at dinner when we were younger I can remember Dad telling us what was going on that day in the business, what decisions he had made. I knew what I was going to do early on.''

The modeling career was a slight detour on that road.

''When I was 18 and 19, even though I knew I wanted to do construction eventually, I just felt I wanted to do something else first. To go out and see the world before I came back to Chicago to stay put.''

On a family vacation in Florida, McHugh was spotted poolside by a New York modeling agent. In show biz terms, she had been ''discovered.'' Since her best friend already lived in New York and she had been accepted at New York University, McHugh decided to give modeling in the big time a shot.

''I was very successful after the first year, working everyday. There was constant travel, to Europe, all over. I was meeting new people all the time, meeting foreign people. When you`re stuck in a European hotel where there are no dividers and one toilet, you get to know people.''

Despite the glamorous nature of the business, the modeling took its toll. The Seychelles islands did not look so hot once the giant centipedes started biting and the voracious ants stood knee deep in the sugar bowls.

''In the beginning it was exciting to be away from home, to be in a new world,'' she said. ''But it is the kind of thing you burn out on. After a year and a half I wanted to be home. Chicago is the best city in the world. and I love it.

''In modeling, you have no control over what goes on. You`re at the mercy of the photographer, the stylists and the company they work for. They tell you when to eat, when not to eat, when to wake up, when to get on the plane and when to get off the plane.

''It`s not like that here. I feel much more in control of what I`m doing. And people in construction are much more grounded; they`re capable of getting things done. In modeling you meet some of the neatest people, but also some of the strangest.''

She still does an occasional modeling job and still is the exclusive model for Chanel No. 19 in Europe. But after repeatedly saying no to new assignments, the offers are beginning to drop off.

One that she is after, however, is the Lancaster tanning products job. It involves work in the Maldive Islands, a spot she has missed on previous travels.

McHugh, 25, lives on the family`s farm in northwest suburban Long Grove. It gives her more opportunity to ride her saddlebred and standardbred horses and to pursue her cross-country skiing. As much as she likes downtown construction, she prefers suburban living.

''After New York and all the traveling, I appreciate the idea of no noise,'' she said."
- Excerpt from Chicago Tribune by Steve Kersch, Jan. 1990: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-01-21-9001060963-story.html

RocketQueen · July 28, 2021

"beaute a l'huile"
MADAME FIGARO FR, 16 May 1987
Photographer: Jean-Noel L'Harmeroult
my scans

BlueAcadia · August 26, 2021

Patty McHugh (+ Nathalie Gabrielli, Andrea Malkiewicz & Jeny Howorth)
Wie Vom Winde Verweht
Burda International
Summer 1984
Photos: Gunter Feuerbacher