So you wana be a model?

R.I.P Alexander McQueen

2010-02-15T04:14:00.000-08:00

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN.

16 March 1969 – 11 February 2010.

It is fair to say the fashion industry has lost one of it's most inspirational and iconic designers of all time.
Lee McQueen, who had built up a multi million pound designer business was found dead on February 11th in his Mayfair flat, London, just days before the start of LFW '10.

It is thought the British designer hung himself after the death of his mother, Joyce, was announced just days ago.

The devastating news comes just three years after McQueen's close friend, style guru and fashion director of Tatler, Isabella Blow killed herself with weed killer after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Isabella was known for pulling McQueen out of obscurity and making him a star in the fashion world.

The CBE and four time winner of the British Designer of the Year award had started as an apprentice at in Savile Row at the age of 16, where he made suits for Prince Charles. He went on to work for Gieves & Hawkes, theatre’s famous Angels & Bermans costumiers, and then worked in Japan and Italy.
He returned to London in 1994, hoping to work as a pattern cutter tutor at London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins fashion school.
Because of the strength his portfolio had, he was persuaded to enrol on the course himself.

In 1996 he was made head designer for Givenchy, succeeding John Galliano. He then went on to join forces with Gucci who brought over half of his company.

Dolce & Gabbana said: 'We are deeply touched for the sudden death of Alexander McQueen, a designer whom we have always admired for his creative genius and unmatched inspiration. He leaves the fashion world with an unfillable void.'

Vogue editor, Alexandra Shulman said: At one level, he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashion shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern-day genius.'

Christmas TV Package

2009-12-15T04:59:00.000-08:00

TV Package Evaluation.

After completing our TV project, I felt our group managed to produce a good quality piece of footage.
The work was done effectively and efficiently which I believe helped the final product look professional. We based our footage on Christmas shopping around Farnham Town with a main question in mind – ‘Does Farnham town cater for students?’
My job for this project was to edit the piece with the help of another group member and to film one of the outdoor shots. This involved setting up the camera on the tripod at the relevant height and angle, along with shooting the shot in the right location with the right back and foreground in show.
It was important to find the right location that the presenter would stand in front of as the background has to be relevant to the matter being talked about.
Throughout this project, I learnt how to use Adobe Premier Pro to edit the footage together and managed to get my time management skills organised. I felt this definitely helped to get the completion of the work done more efficiently.
When it came to uploading our video, we had a problem with getting it off Adobe Premier Pro and onto our blogs. This was because Premier Pro didn't seem to be able to support the action at the time we were trying to do it. In the end we had to upload the video onto youtube and embed it onto our blogs ourselves. If we had had slightly more time, I think we would of benefited more by producing a script for the presenter which could have been well remembered, so when coming to talk, the presentation of the 'piece to camera' could have run slightly smoother.
If we did this, we would of have to remember the difference between writing for print, and writing for broadcast.
As we were producing a piece to camera, the script would needed to have been short and precise, with information that got straight to the point. As TV news has very tight time slots when on air, the presenter would need something that was manageable, yet effective to read out. This is important as the viewer needs to see a professional presenter on screen, who can present all styles of news from light hearted local news, to hard hitting national or global news. If we were writing for print, the time limit's obviously wouldn't have been a problem. But, saying this, news for print still needs to deliver precise information and should be easily readable to the majority of people.
Newspapers need to have the widest target audience as possible to keep sales of their product at it's highest.

120lb Ralph Lauren model fired for being 'fat'.

2009-12-11T05:05:00.000-08:00

Ralph Lauren have recently had an ear bashing from just about everyone after it emerged they fired 23 year old model Filippa Hamilton for 'being too fat'. The Swedish-french born model had been modelling for Ralph Lauren since she was 16.
She is signed to top agency 'Next' and is a stunning size 4 - hardly fat is it.

An advert for Ralph Lauren, of the model was shown in Japan a few months ago. But the advert looked nothing like the above photo of Hamilton, instead it looked like this:

The photo shows a extremely disfigured body with Filippa's head placed on the shoulders.
The image caused uproar with people and of course Filippa, who hadn't even been shown the image before it was printed and put up around Japan for an advertising campaign.

After multiple complaints, Ralph Lauren said:

"After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body."

So why did they let this image be put up around the world?
Since earlier issues this year in the fashion industry with banning size 0 on the catwalk and not allowing models with a dangerously low BMI to model for top designers, it makes you wonder why Ralph Lauren would do such a demoralising thing to this young, healthy beauty.

Rememberance Day VoxPop

2009-12-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

Vox Pop Rememberance Day jo by jorich17

Radio News Bulletin.

2009-12-10T07:47:00.001-08:00

Jojo news bulletin by jorich17

Celebrities automatically becoming designer models... Is it right?

2009-12-03T08:16:00.001-08:00

'Celebs' such as Lily Allen, Paris Hilton, Peaches Geldoff, Rihanna, Madonna and George Clooney (just to name a few) are celebrities because they sing, act or they've been born into a well known, well off family.
But there has been an on going debate about why these celebs automatically get to become some of the biggest models around... Not because of their modelling 'skills', but entirely because of their fame through singing / acting / being a diva etc...

So how fair is this on models, who are just that? You have to work extremely hard to get to the top of the modelling world, so it's no wonder when a model from a top agency gets ditched from a Chanel campaign because Lily Allen has been asked instead, just because she is more 'well known', that the model is 'guna be pissed!

Lily Allen - Chanel Campaign

Madonna - Louis Vuitton Campaign

Peaches Geldoff - LFW '08

George Clooney - Omega Campaign

Rihanna - Gucci Campaign

It seems that anyone who has been featured in celeb gossip magazines can have their go at modelling. Even the twins from 'Big Brother' Sam and Amanda have walked the runway for Naomi Campbell's charity fundraiser 'Fashion for Relief' even though they are both about 5'4 ft, a dress size 8/10 with features that make them stick out from, well, no one!

What do you think?
Should the designer runways and magazine spreads be left for the modelling pro's, meaning an end to all 'celebs' putting these models out of their own jobs?
Or do you think celebrities modelling for fashion campaigns is okay as they're more recognisable?

2009-12-03T06:57:00.000-08:00

Dara Ford's new A/W collection has been perfectly tailored to fit sizes 8-18 for women who strive on busy lifestyles but but must have demanding wardrobes.
Ford's new A/W collection has been described as 'comfortable and practical without compromising on style or quality and carry their wearer from daytime at the office to night time socialising with friends - trust investment pieces that ca be worn season after season.'

The labels designer Dara Stringham has said about her new collection online: ‘I work very hard to create pieces that I love and which I can see women wearing in their everyday lives. I like playing with subtle details that only reveal themselves at close range and which allow the exquisite fabrics to shine. Comfort and elegance are my natural design instincts, a kind of old-world appreciation for quality and craftsmanship translated into contemporary pieces for the women of today.’

Prices for the new collection range between £60 for accessories to £545 for jackets, dresses, tops and trousers.
The sleek and professional looking online store allows shoppers to browse the collection by style, colour or fabric and gives detailed information along with the designer’s notes for each piece.

The only down side is the pricing. It isn't a high street store for everyone, but it really is a high end designer shop for women with a serious taste for style and comfort, no matter what the price tag.

Kate Moss in anorexia slogan denial!

2009-11-20T07:04:00.001-08:00

Kate Moss has been criticised over her pro-anorexia comments that were recently made public.

Moss apparently stated 'Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.'

This has caused uproar within anti-anorexia organisations such as 'Say No To Size 0' which was launched by former glamour model Katie Green.

Health experts and fellow celebrities such as 'Caprice' have said that Kate's comments about promoting anorexia are wrong and a bad way to go.

The 35 year old supermodel has been looking slightly worse for wear recently after alleged all night boozing sessions and an obvious lack of food.

There are a reported 1.1 million eating disorders in the UK so you'd think that surely, Miss Moss would have the sense to NOT make these damaging comments...

I suppose being a full time skinny minnie, it doesn't seem to bother her.

Kate has always said she is 'naturally' thin and has never suffered from an eating disorder.

But from this...

to this...

you begin to question whether there's any truth in what the Moss says.

To me it's obvious, of course Kate restricts her food intake! She's a 35 year old mother. What mother do you know that 'naturally' looks like that? None. Well, not me anyway.

I can't fault her though. She's an amazingly interesting character who has the success, earnings and fame anyone would dream of.

There's just something about her that even though what she said has been slated by many, she can and will get away with it.

This will 'upset' people for a while, but no one will think twice about it in a few weeks as no doubt another waifer celeb will waltz back into our 'Heat' and 'Reveal' magazines being involved in another skinny vs curvy debate.

Has French Vogue gone too far?

2009-10-14T03:17:00.001-07:00

French Vogue is known for producing daring and quite shocking spreads, but these latest photos of a white model being painted black have caused quite a lot of talk.
American photographer Steven Klein did a series with Dutch model Lara Stone called
'Black face' , but of course, this being Vogue, it wasn't just her face that was painted black, it was her whole body.

Inside the October issue of the magazine is a 14-page editorial featuring the Dutch beauty. Shot by Steven Klein and styled by editor Carine Roitfeld, the piece starts off by praising Stone’s “sensual” body, her “uninhibited gappy teeth” and the “radical break with the wave of anorexic models” that she supposedly represents. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but they seem to have changed absolutely everything that stated they liked about her for these pictures.

What Klein and Roitfeld should know is that painting white people black for the entertainment of other white people is offensive. France may not have the United States’ particular history of 'minstrel shows' as a form of popular entertainment going back to the 19th century, but in my opinion, there's just something about the act of portraying a white woman as black that just isn't quite right.

The fact that the issue, dedicated to “Supermodels,” contains no black models, should also have been noticed, and corrected.
Given Klein is American, it would be nearly impossible to even argue that the magazine didn’t know what buttons it was pushing. I assume, as most magazines that do 'daring things', they just thought that it was another edgy high fashion shoot... Which I guess it is really, but I bet when the issue came out, there were black models just knowing they could of nailed those shots better than Stone.
The makeup artist for the shoot then painted back over the black paint in white paint. I fail to see the point in this, but then again it's Vogue, and better yet, French Vogue.

The Do's & Dont's

2009-10-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

To sum it up in a nutshell:
Do: Work out 5 days a week, do eat your greens.. and only your greens. Do keep up with the latest trends without trying too hard, know your 'Chappelle from your 'Klarin' and do be nice to anyone you work with.

Don't: Be picky about who what when where, don't complain about having to sit in a chair whilst it takes 2 hours for your hair and make-up to be done, don't accept food if offered on a shoot, don't moan that a pose hurts, don't take it personally if someone says they're not feeling your 'look'.

Sounds hectic...right? It is. But you need to keep a level head at all times when working with professionals / anyone who can help you out in the modelling world.

But the biggest 'do & don't' advice I can give you though is: DO YOU RESEARCH & DON'T EVER PAY TO JOIN AN AGENCY.
Like I said in the introduction, a legit agency will never ask you for money to join with them. So please don't think that because an 'agency' you've applied to is only asking for £100 rather than £1000, that it is 'real'. It isn't.

If you want to model as a hobby, just to build up some nice photos of yourself rather than make money off it, then you don't need to fret too much about all of the above.

To get your portfolio started, the best idea is to join social networking sites especially for models, photographers, MUA's etc... such as ModelMayhem, Purestorm, Net-model, just to name a few. Some, obviously are better than others.

Most wannabe models assume that they need to cough up £££'s for professional photos, a photo book, make up stylists etc... You don't at all - there's a magical term used in the industry called TF* - Time for.. prints, or a CD (TFP or TFCD.)

This means that models, photographers, MUA's, stylists who are willing to work with a creative team in return for photos rather than money. You can go about this by posting castings on sites such as 'Model Mayhem'. You can state what sort of photos you are looking to produce, time, date and location. This is the best way to build your portfolio up for free. There is absolutely no point in paying money.

Remember: Top photographers will 99% of the time NOT do TF* work as they don't need to build their portfolio's up any more because they are to a professional standard.

An introduction to the industry.

2009-10-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

A career in modelling can offer brilliant opportunities to travel the world, meet diverse & interesting people and generate a good income. But before starting out, it's important to be aware that today modelling is a highly competitive industry where, however good your look, success can only be achieved with these vital ingredients: dedication, a professional approach, a good agent and a bit of luck. All models must work hard to look their best - a healthy diet, regular exercise and general TLC are all essential. What you wear is also important. But looking good and taking care of yourself is only half the job. Being professional is a must. This means turning up on time, having a positive attitude and generally getting along with everyone at the casting or on the shoot. If you can do all this, your chances of a good career will increase enormously. Remember that competition for work is fierce and standards today are higher than ever!

Saying this, there have been quite a few new supermodels entering the industry within the past couple of years. Agyness Deyn, Gemma Ward, Nichola Cyz... the list goes on. But don't assume that you will have such good luck and be walking the next LFW for Chanel, only a small percentage of people who apply to agencies actually get signed and start 'professional' work.

However, this shouldn't be a blog to put you off the industry. It should be a blog that tells you how it is, and what to look out for but also how to have fun and enjoy it, whether it be a full time professional career, or just a fun hobby for you.

There is one major hurdle that far too many people fall at. SCAM AGENCIES. I cannot stress enough how important it is to do you research before you begin sending applications off to the first company that filters out through Google. Thousands of people every year fall into the trap of paying hundreds and even thousands of pounds to scam agencies with the hope that they will get back a book full of professional photographs of themselves. It's not going to happen. No legit agency, ever, for any reason, will ask an applicant to pay them money to come and get some photos taken. That is not how legit A* agencies work.

Agencies such as Storm, Models 1, MOT Models, Premier Model Management, all state that they do not need any sort of professional photos sent to them for them to decide whether or not to sign a person, all they need is a couple of clear and natural snapshots. They will always ask for one snapshot of your face/head, and another of a full body.

If you are ever unsure about an agency, please look at: www.albamodel.info - This is a fantastic website who name and shame the 'fraudsters' of the industry, but give you lists of the A* agencies throughout the UK.