Ruth Alexandra Bell and May Constance Bell are British twin fashion models. Ruth Bell ranked as one of the "Top 50" models in the fashion industry by models.com, and currently ranks on their "Money Girls" list. May Bell won the

Elite Model Look Elite Model Look (formerly known as Look of the Year from 1983 to 1995) is a yearly fashion modeling event held by Elite Model Management, an international model management group. It is used to discover and launch female fashion models in the int ...

contest for England. Together they have appeared in campaigns and runways for

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

and

Burberry Burberry is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry headquartered in London, England. It currently designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats (for which it is most famous), leather accessories, ...

Early lives

The Bells were born in Kent, England to Cheryl and Mervyn Bell, a government worker and accountant, respectively, with Ruth being 2 minutes older. They have an older sister, Grace, and grew up in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. The family later moved to

Walmer Walmer is a town in Dover District, the district of Dover, Kent, in England. Located on the coast, the parish of Walmer is south-east of Sandwich, Kent. Largely residential, its coastline and castle attract many visitors. It has a population of ...

near

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

. Ruth had planned to join the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

to be a pilot. They were educated at

Dover Grammar School for Girls Dover Grammar School for Girls is a community grammar school for girls, aged between 11 and 16, and a joint sixth-form with boys between the age of 16 and 18, in Dover, England. School History The school can trace back its origins to 1904 when ...

Careers

They were discovered in Paris, France, by what turned out to be an

Elite Model Management Elite Model Management (MM) refers to two independent chain modeling agencies that originated as one in Paris, France in 1972 with subsequent locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London and Toronto. In 2004, the agencies in New York, Miami, ...

scout, though their mother was skeptical to let him speak to them. Ruth contacted him a year later and after May won the

London contest (she also placed in the top 15 internationally) they subsequently signed with the agency's New York division,

The Society Management The Society Management is a model management company based in New York City, and is the official U.S. division of the Elite World network. It is also the U.S. branch of the Elite Model Look contest. Models The following models & talent are curr ...

. At the beginning of their careers, May was treated as the more appealing model while Ruth was only called if a brand wanted to use twins. Ruth personally decided to shave her head, which threatened to breach her contract, though in a twist of fate

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashion ...

and photographer

David Sims David Sims is the name of: *David Sims (running back) (born 1955), former American football running back with the Seattle Seahawks * David Sims (safety) (born 1986), American football safety for the Indianapolis Colts *Dave Sims (born 1953), Seattl ...

requested for a girl to shave their head for a campaign, therefore solidifying her career. Masculine presentation is another factor of her decision to keep her hair short as she found long "pretty" hair to be a nuisance. In her first season, Ruth walked the runway for

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrance ...

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as w ...

, Saint Laurent,

Max Mara Max Mara (Italian aks 'ma:ra is an Italian fashion business. It markets up-market ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). In March 2008, the company had 2,2 ...

Etro Etro is a family-managed Italian fashion house founded in 1968. It is mainly known for its paisley patterns, which the company started making in 1981. History Etro was founded in 1968 by Gerolamo "Gimmo" Etro as a textile design company. By the t ...

Lanvin Lanvin () is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Paris. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, it is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group. Bruno Sialel ...

, and

. May Bell has appeared in ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'' UK, ''

Vogue Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964. Name ''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''N ...

'', and ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. Ruth and May Bell played Jedha Servers in the

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

film ''

Rogue One ''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (or simply ''Rogue One'') is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy is from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It was produced by Luc ...

''.

Personal lives

Ruth Bell identifies as a

butch lesbian Butch is most often a term used to describe a lesbian, or sometimes a bisexual woman, who exhibits a masculine identity. Since the lesbian subculture of 1940s America, "butch" has been present as a way for lesbians to circumvent traditional ...

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Ruth and May Living people 1996 births People from Ashford, Kent People from Walmer People from Dover, Kent Twin models British female models Elite Model Management models The Society Management models