Friends come in all shapes and sizes. Some are athletic, others are artistic but some of them are just well... weird! Big or small, we love them all!
Sydney Smith or more commonly known as "Giraffe Woman" spent a long time lengthening her neck so that she could resemble her favorite animal, the giraffe. She stopped the process rather abruptly... This is what she looks like today.
Real Deal
Sydney Smith, a Los Angeles resident wanted a longer neck for as long as she could remember. It was more than just a phase for her.
Her obsession started at a young age and showed no signs of slowing down. As a child, children would call her Giraffe Neck ironically enough!
Epiphany
She always felt insecure about her long neck as her peers used to mock her for it. She wanted nothing more than to be like everyone else.
However, all that changed when Sydney stumbled upon a National Geographic documentary. The documentary was about the tribal women of Thailand and Burma. These women were known to elongate their necks, and Sydney was fascinated. She no longer felt like her long neck was a curse. Sydney also loved the giraffe and it all became clear to her. She knew exactly what she needed to do! Her parents, on the other hand, were not as supportive of her.
Indecisive
Sydney's parents believed that she would quickly grow out of this phase. All teenagers go through strange things and they wrote it off like that. Sydney knew that this meant more to her than some silly phase...
When Sydney turned 18, she was declared an adult. This now meant that she could make her own choices. Despite that, she was hesitant to start her neck lengthening process. She had her doubts, but they all faded away when she saw a particular artist in a strange dress.
Inspiration
The dress that inspired Sydney was the legendary meat dress Lady Gaga wore at the VMA's.
Lady Gaga was so unapologetically herself in that dress, Sydney was in awe. Despite choosing an odd dress to wear, Lady Gaga owned it. That encouraged Sydney to go on her own unique journey. Sydney was finally ready to start her neck lengthening process. She approached a friend who worked in body modifications to help her add her first rings.
The Beginning
Adding the rings was quite a painful experience and the brass rings also weighed around 5 pounds, which is a lot for a neck to carry. Sydney was too excited to care.
This journey was very personal to Sydney, but it gained quite a lot of attention and she became quite popular!
Offers
Sydney received attention on an international scale thanks to her social media documentation of her journey. A famous television program called Ripley's Believe It Or Not even did a segment on her!
Not only did she get featured on television, but modeling agencies also started to approach her. They were fascinated by her unconventional beauty! Sydney was on top of the world.
Difficult Choices
Sydney loved all the attention she was receiving, however, the rings started to cause her some problems.
She had the rings on for nearly 5 years and she had no desire to stop yet. But when the rings started to affect her movement and job she started questioning if the process was worth it. She was in a very difficult position.
Over It
She was unable to do activities such as swimming and hiking. She couldn't even walk outside in peace as she was constantly overwhelmed by people wanting pictures with her. She was no longer interested in being famous.
Sydney enjoyed her neck lengthening process a lot, but she knew it was time to take off her rings. In a blink of an eye, her journey was over. There she was, sitting in her friend's salon, wondering what she would look like without her beloved rings.
The Removal
Sydney felt overwhelmed with emotions. It was difficult to say goodbye to her rings. When she finally saw what she looked like, she was stunned...
She was obsessed with her necks length, however, she had a lot of bruising on her neck. Not only that, she could feel that her neck muscles weakened over the years. She knew she needed help immediately.
Different Changes
While the young girls of Southeast Asia had elongated necks, because Sydney had started as an adult, her transformation was very different.
Instead of growing a longer neck, she had been pulling down her collarbone and compressing her ribcage. Thankfully, the doctor had some 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?
No Regrets
Sydney Smith proudly tells the world that she had no regrets.
She decided to go after what she wanted in her life, experienced it, and dealt with the happiness and pain it brought. “I really enjoyed the feeling of them around my neck,” she even claimed. Her “next step” surprised everyone.
A New Focus
The world wanted to know how Sydney would move forward.
Everyone thought it was going to be some kind of beauty trend or fixation. But no, more than anything, she planned to devote her time loving and cherishing her husband and daughter Skyler Rose, who was born in 2017.
Keeping Her Memories
There was no part of her journey that she regretted.
And, even if the rings weren’t on her neck, she would still keep them locked away as a reminder to forge your own way, embrace your own passions, and never care what the world thinks of you.