“I want to be a fashion model”, I hear that all the time so this blog is for all the aspiring models out there.

If you choose to be a model as a career then you need to make an investment in your career. If you choose to be a doctor, your primary investment is to go to med school.  If  you choose to be a model, your investment is in your looks and your attitude.

Things to consider to be a model.. 

Your height.  There are agencies that are willing to take you if you are 5′9″ but most want taller for runway

Your weight. Your weight is important and you need to ensure that your body fat percentage is low, stay healthy

Your skin. Take REALLY good care of your skin, that is the first thing that people see

Your movements.  Some people move naturally and some people don’t.  You need to practice walking, you need to practice posing. Research fashion shows, practice and emulate the walk and then put your own spin on it.  Sounds silly but all that practice is also an investment in your future career choice

Your body. You have to be comfortable in your own body and you need to be comfortable with people seeing it.  During a runway show you will have to get dressed and undressed in front of other people. Models sometimes are asked to pose semi nude or nude (I am not referring to glamour-style nude) but there are times you may and frankly this is very common if you are going to be in high fashion and in Europe.  You need to be able to handle that or understand that you may not get chosen over someone else who is okay with it

Your ability to take rejection. Modeling is a harsh world. You will likely have lots of rejection whether it is agencies that turn you down or potential employers that chose someone else. 

Your portfolio.  Be careful who you photograph with and what types of photographs you are in.  You will need full body shots, you will need head shots, you will need shots with very little makeup if none (often referred to as polaroids) and a gambit of other things. Your photographs are what a potential employer will see and those will be what separate you from the other models that they plan on bringing in to meet as well.

I am not saying that if you have all those things under control, you will automatically get signed somewhere but they should  improve your odds.

By the way, congratulations to Izzy for getting signed with  RED, NY and to Lindsey for getting signed with RACE, NY and with Michele Pommier, Miami over the last couple of months, I am really proud of them-It was a pleasure photographing them both and doing what I could to help them in their modeling careers.