Call Me!

Today I want to talk about the absolute best way to get your foot in the door with a modeling agency. When their door is OPEN! There are Open Calls for many agencies. An open call is a designated time slot for models to come in and meet with a booker at an agency. You do not have to make an appointment, you can just show up!

Before You Go In:

Make sure you have been able to maintain healthy skin, have excellent posture, are in excellent shape physically and mentally, and dress the part. Go easy on the makeup!!! Really. Moisturizer, concealer, foundation, mascara and lip gloss. Make sure the foundation you use is the best match for your skin and that you blend it well. If you are not good at doing makeup, don't wear any! I'm serious! 

What NOT to do:

Do not change your hair. You will want to be a clean slate for the agent to transform into whatever type of model they see you as. No drastic hair cuts or hair color.

Do not get your eyebrows waxed. Perhaps just clean them up a little in between the brows to make sure you don't have a unibrow, but over-tweezing can change your face in a bad way.

No fake nails. Again, a clean slate is best! Perhaps get a manicure but in a nude or clear polish. You want to show off who you naturally are.

No crazy high heels. A 3 inch heel is probably best. No sky-high Louboutins for this!! Practice walking in the shoes you will wear to an open call because you will be asked to do a runway walk in them.

Do not buy an expensive outfit to wear! You are not going to impress an agent with your wardrobe. You should wear a simple, fitted black tank top and skinny jeans or leggings. Maybe a skirt instead of jeans but keep it all very simple. No logos on your shirt... you are selling YOU -- your beautiful face and sexy body and elegant posture!

Do NOT pay a photographer to take pictures of you. All you need are some snap shots that your MOM can take for free!! An agent will have connections with the photographers that will help shape your portfolio and create the right look for the clients they will present you to. You might have to eventually pay a photographer for a test shoot, but that is only when the agency sets it up for you. Not beforehand!!

You might be wondering... What Snapshots Do I Need?

Do all of these smiling and not smiling. Hair up and hair down.

Wear a bikini in a solid color against a solid background. (i.e. a black bikini in front of a white wall.) No posing. Stand straight and look into the camera. Then take a photo from each side profile and from the back. Do these again from the waist up and also just head shots.

But, Amanda, Where Do I Go?

Here are a few Open Calls:

APM New York
Open Call Tuesdays and Thursdays 12pm - 1pm
6 West 37TH ST. 6TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10018

New York Model Management
Open Call Thursdays 10:30am - 11:30am
596 Broadway
7th Floor
New York, NY 10012

Major Model Management
Open Call FIRST Wednesday of every month 3pm - 4pm
419 Park Avenue South
Suite 1201
New York, NY 10016

L.A. Models
Open Call Monday & Tuesday 3 - 4:30pm
7700 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Bring in snap shots. They do not need to be professional.
Women: ages 13-24 years old, 5'8 - 6'0. Men: ages 15-30 years old, 5'11 to 6'3.

FORD Models has open calls Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami:

CHICAGO
Open Call for Men & Women

• Monday - Friday 2pm - 4pm
  
  311 W. Superior St, Suite 444
  
  Chicago, Illinois 60654
  
  
• Age 13 and Up
• Women 5'8 - 5'11"
• Men 6' - 6'2"
  If you are unable to attend our Open Call, you can submit online at fordmodels.com or you may submit by mail.
• 
  
  
  
  LOS ANGELES
  
  
  Open Call for Women
  
  
  Thursdays 4-5pm
  
  9200 Sunset Blvd. Suite 805
  
  West Hollywood, California 90069
  
  
  Age 13 and Up
  
  
  Height 5'8 - 5'11
  
  
  
  
  Open Call for Men:
  
  
  Wednesdays 4-5pm
  
  
  Age 13 and Up
  
  
  Height 6'0 - 6'3
  
  
  Bring snapshots with you. Professional pictures not necessary. If you are unable to attend our Open Call, you can submit online at fordmodels.com or you may submit by mail.

• 
  
  MIAMI
  
  
  Open Call for Men & Women:
  
  
  Monday - Thursday 3-4pm
  
  1665 Washington Ave. 3rd Floor
  
  Miami Beach, Florida 33139
  
  
  Age 13 and Up
  
  
  Women 5'9 - 5'11"
  
  
  Men 6' - 6'2"
  
  
  Bring snapshots with you. Professional pictures not necessary. If you are unable to attend our Open Call, you can submit online at fordmodels.com or you may submit by mail.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  BREAK A LEG!!
  
  
  Peace, love and fashion,
  
  
  Amanda

Welcome to My World

If you have ever wanted to be a model, if people won't stop telling you you should go on Tyra's show, if you watch fashion shows endlessly and practice your runway walk in your bedroom while listening to Spice Girls CDs (that was me) you have come to the right place!!

I am here to cover fashion from a professional model's perspective and offer advice to all the young women and young men out there who just don't know what to DO. You have passion and drive to succeed as a model but have zero connections. Well guess what? You have just met your only connection you will need!

There is a lot of CRAP out there. Modeling "schools" that just want to MAKE MONEY off of your dreams. They will tell you that they can turn you from small town homecoming queen into Karlie Kloss.. but HONEY they CAN'T!!!! You will learn a lot of outdated lessons in how to set a table and walk with a book on your head. You will have a photo shoot that an agency will take one look at and immediately throw in the garbage.

If you must go to one of these things, I warn you, they will upsell you every step of the way. And by you I mean your dear Mom and Dad whose money would be put to much better use by just getting on an airplane with you and meeting agents face to face at their open calls. Who would much rather see you go to college than a model apartment. Who could have been paying for dance lessons or classes at the Y.

These people are out to make the most money from your family as humanly possible. This is not in any way, shape or form an AGENCY. These places want you to believe that they are the only way IN. No, no, no, no, no!!!!!

I tell you all of this from experience. I have made all of the mistakes in trying to become a model. Trusted all the wrong people and begged my parents to allow me into this world. All it took was watching episodes of Mtv's House of Style and a dude from one of these "schools" to show up to my Junior High's Career Day with a VCR/TV combo playing a video of a fashion show in NY featuring Naomi Campbell.

When you are considering becoming a model, first thing's first: how tall are you? Seriously. You need to be at least 5'8" to be considered. If you are not going to be 5'8" any time soon (or ever) just do something else in your life instead. I am serious. You will thank me later. ALSO, as a female, if you are over 6 feet tall you are probably too tall. That is the truth of it. 5'8" - 6 feet. Do yourself a huge favor and move forward with your life into another career. The heights are there for a reason: sample sizes. Also, clothes look better presented on tall models. There is more room to show the shape of the garment, the sway of the fabric, the mood of the season. It has been this way forever. There is one exeption of course... Kate Moss. She is probably 5'6 1/2". Her face is the face of a generation. If you've got yourself a look like that then please, by all means, be the next exception to the rule!!

Some of you just read that and thought to yourself... hmm.. what the heck is a sample size? Gold star for you!! The brands that have catalogues to produce to go online or mail out (these days a lot of them are simply called Look Books) will hire a model who fits their samples. Each piece a designer/brand sells is made once and the model must fit them. They are simply not going to make alterations on the clothes to shoot them. They will in fact clamp, pin, and jostle the clothes into submission but that's after they know you can squeeze into a size 25 jean and size 2 shirt. I, in fact am not a size 25 jean but I am just giving you an example.

Next up.. fitness. There are a lot of different modeling divisions out there. I am happy to say there are several agencies who offer Plus Modeling divisions. Plus size modeling actually begins at size 10 and goes up to size 14. There is more work than you might think for these beautiful women. You must be the right size though, even within this division. There are Plus samples too!

As a model, whether you are in the high fashion women's division, the runway division, the lifestyle (commercial print) division, the plus division or the fittings division, you must stay in shape. Keeping up your measurements is a model's most demanding task. People will never know the amount of hard work it takes to maintain the same size. For years and years! It's a balance of nutrition and exercise that will make you happiest. And guess what? You will feel a million times better too! There are many models who had the potential that perhaps started out too big for their career. Who needed to make a healthy decision on what next step to take. There are other models who started out with bad skin and sought dermatological help and furthered their careers.

Agents who are great at what they do will know all of these things and be able to tell right away if you have the potential or not. There is fierce competition for the models who are already established so do not be surprised if an agency is not on fire to take you on. They are not the place for you. You want the best of both worlds. An agency who is a big name in fashion and a booker there who will take you under their wing and promote you to all of the right clients.

I have a lot more to share with you! Stay tuned for tips, secrets and inside info about modeling and the fashion industry!

Peace, Love and Fashion... Amanda