While she never achieved a waif look, Quinn remembers when it came into style in the early 1990s.

"I saw it all," Quinn says, referring to the "heroin chic" scene. "I just didn’t want to [be a part of it]."

Calvin Klein revamps his advertising campaign in early 1998.

Nicknamed heroin chic because of the ultra-thin, strung-out appearance of models like Kate Moss and Shalom Harlow, the look dominated fashion centers such as New York, London and Paris until trends began changing in early 1998.

But with the popularity of heroin chic, came controversy over the dangers of becoming too thin.

"People have had enough, and they're scared," wrote John Leo in "At a Cultural Crossroads," a 1993 U.S. News & World Report article, in reference to Klein’s campaign. "They don't want any more earnest palpitations about artistic freedom. They want responsible action."

Though Leo and other skeptics criticized the trend, many young girls tried to achieve the waif look anyway, Brumberg says.