In earlier days, modeling was looked down upon, as a career option for women. From then, it has seen sea changes and come a long way into the twenty first century where, terms like ‘supermodels’ exist and they sign million dollar contracts in the blink of an eye.

Modeling is definitely a lucrative option if one is inclined towards a glamorous line but after reading this, I’m sure my readers will agree that it’s not about wearing nice outfits and flitting across the ramp. It involves a lot of hard work, planning, organizing, maintaining yourself, being at the right place at the right time…the list is endless.

When female models were first introduced, the requirements were not high. In fact anybody willing to model was promptly taken in. The fees were also miserly and overall, the career option regarded as for downgraded unethical women.

Today, getting into the modeling world is to enter a dynamic, glamorous and challenging competition where one needs to be better than the best to make it. The top models are pampered to keep them happy and paid whatever price they choose to name.

The trend however, is always changing. It started with healthy bodies and over time, models just kept getting thinner and thinner. The reactions of people at the fashion shows in New York and Madrid earlier this year bears testimony to the fact that nobody wants to see bone thin models anymore. A good model must project a healthy image, besides being glamorous.

Through this website I have been trying to take you on a journey through this ever-changing modeling world and I hope you have been enjoying it as much as I did writing it.

Now that most subjects are covered, I’ll concentrate on new stuff, like videos, shows, etc.

Stay Tuned!

People who own modeling agencies and the editors of fashion magazines have a great role to play in discouraging very young girls from appearing on the runway who have not even developed their curves and appear to be stick thin or coming from the hospital. One such Editor-in-chief of the Glamour magazine Cindi Leive says, “ Any responsible model booker will tell you they turn away girls who get too thin.”

Kelly Cutrone, owner of People’s Revolution, a company that produces fashion shows around the world, opines that the runway models are so thin that when they bend , their rib cages can be seen. She feels that these models are naturally thin and other women with normal body structures should not try to be like them and ultimately harm their health. Kelly Cutrone is the owner of People’s Revolution, a company that produces fashion shows around the world.

Cutrone says. “Clothes look better on thin people. The fabric hangs better.” So models are mere hangers to display clothes and not a symbol of beauty. The average age of models is 16 to 17 years and most of them are in the age group of 14 to 19 years and weigh approximately 120 to 124 pounds with size 2 to 4 . If the models are heavier than that then they don’t fit into the clothes and are dropped from the show. This means that it is not the models who are responsible for this image building but the whole fashion fraternity which includes the designers, fashion coordinators who encourage unhealthy practices. Co-operation from everyone is necessary to change the scenario.

Stephanie Schur who is a designer conducted her first runway in New York few weeks ago. She considered models with glowing skin and healthy look for her show.

She rejected models that looked pale and had thin hair.

But most of the models today look the same. They are all beautiful but none of them is extraordinary. Runway concentrates more on the clothes. They look for girls who best suit their clothes.

Schur believes that young girls do not consider runway models as their image. In fact they are keener to imitate the actresses.

Every woman want to be pretty because in today’s world “we know more about women who look good than we know about women who do good,” says Audrey Brashich, a former teen model and author of All Made Up: A Girl’s Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype and Celebrating Real Beauty.

Brashich read number of letters from young girls who were keen to become famous models, singers or actresses while she was working at Sassy and YM Magazine.

She said, on the basis of culture we were at par with women like Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie. She also said that women who are thin and beautiful become celebrities while women who actually bring amendments remain unknown. Mostly people have a tough time naming women who are accomplished in other fields. Considering models, stars and celebrities as our idol, this will not change until the pop culture changes the sight of women they consider their idols.

The population is being constantly being bombarded with TV commercials, magazine covers, hoardings showing these ultra thin models over and over again.

The celebrity images of Nicole Richie and Kate Bosworth make matters even worse. According to Lamb, a psychology professor at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt., ” these images are making girls as young as 9 and 10 vulnerable to falling prey to this sexy image.” What worries her all the more is that they start working on this from a very young age and are even encouraged by their parents to do so.

This feeling of wanting to be sexy is ok for the teenagers but such behavior at a preliminary stage in life should be negatively reinforced. The pressure and hype is so much that girls shy away from sports also because the athletic figure is not considered sexy by many.

Murnen has studied this topic for 15 years and he remarked “We have done studies of grade-school girls, and even in grade 1, girls think the culture is telling them that they should model themselves after celebrities who are svelte, beautiful and sexy.”

Murnen’s research says that only 18% of the girls in the vulnerable age group do not get affected by this and are supposed to have high esteem for their bodies. But this is a very meager percentage. 6000 girls were studied and it was found that the more the girls were exposed to fashion magazines, the more risk they had of having a poor body image.

Katie Ford, chief executive officer of Ford Models has a different view point. Her megastar models include Christie Brinkley and Rachel Hunter .She thinks that the thinness propaganda among models in U.S.A is not the problem. The actual problem is obesity and the dangers associated with it. She says that “You can look as far back as Greek statues and paintings and see that. It’s part of women’s fantasy nature,” Ford says. “The question is: When does that become destructive?”

She says that eating disorders and obesity are a result of numerous issues and cannot be blamed entirely on the television, glossy fashion magazines and entertainment industry.

The organizers of the fashion show in Britain rejected the idea of banning ultra thin models saying that it interfered with the creativity of their designers.

Designers feel that fashion looks good on skinny models but according to German supermodel Claudia Schiffer, today supermodels are unhealthy rather than beautiful. She says “ It doesn’t really look good anymore. Fashion looks good on thin models but when you look at today’s models you cannot help but think there is something wrong. They are way too thin. It is only bones that stick out.”

New research has been conducted at the University of Sussex by Dr.Helga Dittman and Dr.Emma Halliwell from The University of West of England. The research was conducted to show that there is no positive relationship between using thin models for advertising and the selling of the products. The study was conducted on 800 women and the researchers compared the impact thin models had having size 8 in comparison to normal sized model having size 14 and in the healthy body weight category. It was found that the thin models portrayed a larger than life image and established negative feelings in women watching them. On the other hand, the normal sized (size 14) women enforced positive feelings in the women watching them and was good for the sales of the products they were endorsing.

So we can conclude that thinness does not sell. It is the healthy body image that sells
This unreal image has created an unhealthy feeling in women who no longer like their bodies and always suffer from anxiety leading to stress and eating disorders. Women resort to severe dieting to the point of starvation leading to anorexia nervosa (which is self-starvation, low weight and fear of being fat) to bulimia nervosa (the binge-and-purge disorder). The number of people in the U.S.A having an eating disorder is 24 million. The vital step to be taken is to educate the youth about the dangers of eating disorders.

The abnormally thin models project a very unhealthy image for the youth. The norm today has become “Thin is beautiful”, but in reality it isn’t by any standards.

Milan, Italy, the fashion capital of the world has cum up with a solution by asking models to submit a health certificate before being allowed on the ramp. This is similar to the test athletes have to go through. This will immensely help in projecting a healthy and beautiful image in public.

Designers are often blamed for encouraging this concept of “thin is beautiful” which encourages diseases like anorexia, bulimia, psychiatric problems in the young generation who try to emulate the models.

The second thing she shares is, ‘be honest with your self’.

Always “be prepared for any challenges in the profession”.  Never leave anything for the last minute or to put it simply – be organized.

Another tip that she shares is, “Give importance to time”. Have a professional outlook. Stay away from bad mouthing each other jealousy.

“Being humble in the profession, will teach you to treat others with respect”.

An important thing to remember is “Respecting your organizers” – remember there are people who can make or break you.

The path to a successful modeling career is full of challenges. The successful model is determined to cross every hurdle and make it to the top. You have to be focused to emerge victorious.

When you look at these glamorous beauties who have made it, you probably wonder about the experience and the length of the journey. The journey is indeed long, but trust me, all successful models get to the point where they are, when they aim for the stars and reach it.

It is like those running the race, all the players, have one determination - to win. Every player tries hard and follows all the instructions, but if you notice, the winner is one who doesn’t give up and keeps going until he reaches the finishing line.

Let me conclude this chapter by saying that if you are really serious and want to reach the finishing line in a modeling career then have faith and a strong will power that you will make it as a model. Don’t give up, but fight it till the end - this is one of the most essential secrets to get you a coveted position as a successful model.

NUTRITION: “I eat lots of green vegetables and lots of fruit. I drink at least a quart of water a day–it’s good for the skin, bringing out all the impurities. I don’t eat red meat at all. I stick mostly to chicken and fish.”

BEAUTY TIP: “If you’re planning to wear lipstick all day and you don’t want to keep touching it up, apply your foundation to your lips, then apply your lipstick; it’ll stay.”

ENERGY SOURCE: (very essential for a model because of the long working hours): “Basically, I try to get enough rest. I also find you have to have a positive attitude. When you think positively, you have energy.”

Imagine opening up a secret treasury box and unfolding every secret as it comes along. This is really going to be a fun journey towards achieving success in your modeling career…

• THE FIRST SECRET

The first secret chit from the box is chit of “pictures” – one word and it describes everything. In the career of modeling if you know and believe it comes all down to your pictures and portfolios. It is one of the primary secrets that boost your modeling career. Who would not want to see stunning pictures of yours, especially the modeling agents? They find your strengths in your pictures. And if the pictures come with the right expressions, then there is no doubt that you already ‘in’ it and you could already be on your way to the top.

• SECOND SECRET

Before unfolding the second secret, let me tell you a fact, that not every one is beautiful, or all five fingers are the same. Therefore the second secret is although not every one is sexy, you can find attributes about yourself that make you one of the sexiest. Find something in you that is irresistible, so that as a model it is noticed in you. It is something that you need to take an effort in; don’t expect help from others, to give you ideas about irresistibility. So the best thing is to introspect and find out your strengths that will make you the sexiest amongst the rest.

• THIRD SECRET

Now sitting back you must be wondering about the third secret. The third secret is how you project yourself in front of millions who are watching you. You cannot ignore this at all, this is one of the main criteria of modeling and so you need to really work hard to be the best in the projection of yourself when you are on the ramp.

Although this is the tricky part, yet your hard work will definitely reward you in the longer run in this profession.  “So work at it and prove your best”.

• FOURTH SECRET

Ok now coming to the fourth chit of secret. The fourth secret is being confident about yourself. Many models lack the confidence they should have in themselves. Lack of confidence indirectly creates negative feelings. Negative feeling gives birth to negative actions and negative actions ruin your career. So choose to be confident so that you are able to sustain till the end.

• FIFTH SECRET

Beautiful skin is the much hidden secret in the profession of modeling. You can also say, your profession is incomplete without beauty. Your negligence in keeping your skin beautiful can just take you off the hook and back to square one. In any case follow the saying, “beauty is next to your success”.

Now how will you keep your beauty intact?  To have beautiful skin you have to be careful of your diet and at the same time of your liquid intake. Glowing skin comes with a lot of care.

• SIXTH SECRET

The sixth secret is the “look at me, look at me” factor. Let me clarify this. You have to have that ‘WOW’ factor so you turn heads wherever you go and grab the attention of the modeling agents and agencies.

• SEVENTH SECRET

The fact today is having ‘strong mind and determination’ goes a long way to help you get to the top. Many models fail in this very quality and find themselves at the bottom of the list amongst their competitors.

Successful models have come up, by keeping a strong mind and determination in this profession. It really makes a marked difference.

• EIGHTH SECRET

How many times have you heard, “having a perfect figure is like icing on the cake”? It is a fact that modeling agents require every model to have ‘right figure’. Whatever might be the case, you have to work hard to be fit, train and exercise so that you maintain the perfect figure. Lots of successful models have been able scale new heights because they have worked hard in toning their bodies.

• NINTH SECRET

The ninth secret is intertwined with the last secret. Many models starve themselves and end up spoiling their beauty because of their foolishness. If you really want to be in the ring, then make sure you eat with nutritious food which is healthy and that will not make you look sick and undernourished.

• TENTH SECRET

“Be bold and be strong” – sounds like motherly advice? The simple thing to do is not to worry, eliminate fear and just face the competition with all the courage you can muster. Don’t give up hope come what may. The early years of modeling may be fraught with tensions and failures but you must try and keep your aim in focus.

• ELEVENTH SECRET

Have a set plan for yourself, introspect and know your thoughts at the same time. Have an aim so that it becomes easier for you to reach the aim. Once you have your eyes set on your goals than it will be easy for you to achieve your crown without any hesitations.

• TWELFTH SECRET

Twelfth secret is - get to the point, don’t go beating about the bush with your career. Be a perfectionist and know what you want from your profession otherwise you will go crazy and end up totally confused.

Be sure of which model agent and agencies you want to work with. There are many and you have to do detailed research and choose the best.

You will get your crown when you work with reputed agencies or modeling agents who are in the top ten list.

• THIRTEENTH SECRET

The thirteenth secret is to be cool and calm - in short ‘take a chill pill’. Don’t stress out, it will only add to your burdens and will make you lose out in the profession. Enjoy every moment in the profession.

• FOURTEENTH SECRET

Fourteenth secret is, ‘understanding your profession’ and doing your homework on the profession. Familiarize yourself with the modeling world.  Don’t listen to people, rather see and then believe it for yourself. There are myths linked with the profession of modeling. So you be careful while doing a research for yourself so that you are not caught up in these myths.

If you have colored your hair, make sure it looks stunning and fresh. There shouldn’t be two inches of roots showing a different color of hair (as a result of you having the last color job four months back)! Your haircut should look fresh. It needs to define your face and make you distinctly different.

Once you take care of your make up and hairstyle, the next thing to think about is your clothes. Do have an enviable fashion wardrobe? The clothes you wear should highlight the best parts of your figure.

Once you’ve settled on your whole model look, what you need to do is to get it on film. You need an experienced model photographer for this. This certainly is not as simple as going to the photographer around the corner. A professional and skilled photographer is very essential for your career as he or she will render you “picture perfect”.

A good fashion photographer will be able to guide you with a creating an impressive fashion model image. Having a Sears Portrait Studio picture definitely won’t do the trick here. You have to make that extra effort to look for your photographer. To shortlist and come to the right decision, it may be helpful if you view some of their previous work. See if they have done any work for other professional models. If the photographer shows you an interesting mix of photographs you’ll know you’ve found your man. Anything that looks less than professional, just move on to someone else – after all, it’s about your career.

So, what’s the perfect look for you? What is the magic mantra that will make modeling contracts pour in? Perfect pictures, of course! Once you’ve settled on the make up, hairstyle, clothes, poses and even selected a photographer, it all needs to harmonize in print. Your pictures should look professionally done, crisp and bright. Don’t opt for dull ones – that’ll put anybody off. Generally speaking, it is best to portray yourself as glamorous, if of course, you are old enough. This is definitely not recommended for child models especially those under the age of thirteen.

In today’s day and age, a glamorous look sells most easily. It attracts attention and generates interest among prospective clients. Creating an initial impact with a sexy image is always a big advantage – the image will stick with the client.

Clients who are looking for models to sell their products, know that it will do well if the model has a universal sex appeal. Take a look at any ad in a magazine or on TV and you’ll note that the models project a sexy and desirable attitude. This goes for both male as well as female models. You also need to do the same if you want a great modeling career.

You need to break the mundane mould and make a strongly different impact with your individual model look. Try not to look like a specific successful model. Get the most out of your modeling money by giving the clients exactly what they want and in turn, they will give you just what are craving for – more and more modeling contracts!