Fancy Flyer

A couple of months after the newspaper incident, the agency called again and said I was already confirmed for a department store shoot two days later, all I had to do was show up. I could hardly believe it, it was finally going to happen! I pictured everyone in my school leafing through their mail-delivered catalogues and spotting me, looking absolutely glamorous.

I'd been told to have my hair and make-up done and ready to shoot when we got to the studio, so on the day I rushed to the school bathrooms, with its awful fluorescent lighting, as soon as the last bell went and hastily applied some make-up, mostly borrowed from my mom. A younger girl using the wash basin stared at me in wonder. How much do you think I enjoyed telling her that I was on my way to a photo shoot?

My mom and I arrived at a dark, cold and dingy warehouse studio in the city, where I was immediately shooed into a dressing room. I had to remove several layers of clothing, it was the middle of winter, and I was mortified to be in my underwear in front of the none-too-friendly stylist. I wondered what I would be wearing and hoped it would be something really cool and trendy.

When the stylist handed me a huge, ugly white bra, I couldn't hide my shock. "Is that it? Is that all I'm wearing?" I squeaked. "Yes dear just get it on, we're running late. You can put your pants back on." As she left the room I took a quick moment to swallow back the tears threatening to spill over and gave myself a little pep talk in the mirror. 

"We came all this way, my mom took time off work to bring me, I was getting paid for it, I don't want to be a prude..." There was no turning back. 

I ran my brush through hair that had been in a ponytail all day, applied some more Vixen lipstick, straightened my shoulders and walked out into the studio wearing my jeans, boots and the Ugliest Bra in the World.

I was made to sit on a little stool in front of a plain white background. My mom was standing in a dark recess of the warehouse, trying not to get in anyone's way. When she saw what I was wearing, or rather not wearing, she just pulled a funny disgusted face and gave me a huge grin of encouragement. I tried to greet the photographer and introduce myself. He gave a condescending little smile and said "Just sit there and smile, okay?" I did my best to follow his instructions, and within twenty minutes it was all over. The photographer and stylist hastily moved onto the next shot, hardly even saying thank you or goodbye.

Thus I learned my very first lessons in modelling:

Ask questions before the shoot: you're allowed to know what you're getting yourself into.
Be ready for anything: including underwear/swimwear, extreme temperatures, embarrassment.
It's certainly not all glamour all the time: in fact, mostly it's not.
You're not the star of the show on set: you're just the product.
Pay your dues: you have to start somewhere, most likely not at the top.

I still don't know why I'm doing this, except for the little "in all honesty" clause this blog is based on, but here, for your viewing pleasure, I present, the true star of the show.

The Ugliest Bra In The World

For the bargain price of 79 US cents ladies, don't get one, get two!

And just to really rub it in, at about the same time I was Pepping the Ladies' Fancy Bra, Miss Eva Herzigova was saying 'Hello, boys!' in her Wonderbra and causing all kinds of commotion all around the world.

Please vote in my poll on the right, how much do you think I got paid for this beauteous work of art called the Fancy Bra Flyer?

Everyone has to start somewhere...

Promise you won't laugh?

In the interest of relating my journey through the world on the wings of a madcap modelling career with complete truth and honesty (my self-sworn commandment for this blog) I will post my very first model pictures here, right now...

...Well, maybe in a little while, when I've worked up the courage and gotten to know you a little better!

I went to a tiny, amateur little modelling school in my mid-teens with big dreams and high hopes. I'd been devouring fashion magazines for a couple of years and stared in wonder at the gorgeous, glamorous girls smiling, sulking and pouting their way from cover to cover.

I was naturally thin and had suddenly grown to a respectable 1.75m (5'9") which was (and still remains) a good model height. At school I was shy and bookish, not athletic in the least, certainly not the popular cheerleader type. But my slight build, clear skin and wild imagination gave me the courage to ask my parents if I could go on the course. They spoke to the agency and thought it would be good for my self-esteem regardless, deciding to send my two younger sisters along!

The course took place over three days, covering such topics as skincare, make-up application, dressing correctly for your body-type, healthy eating, exercise and then finally posing, walking on a ramp and different types of modelling. At the end of the course we had to apply our own make-up, dress up in two different styles, walk the ramp and pose for photographs.

Which resulted in these, my very first model photographs!

 

The make-up, wardrobe and poses might go a long way towards giving away my current age! 

I'd love for you to guess which year these photos were taken? Vote in the right hand sidebar!

Okay, now that you've had a good chuckle, can you believe that from THAT I went on to become a supermodel? Okay, so maybe not a supermodel at all, but at least a professional, full-time, international model with agencies, bookers, shoots, shows, travel and a nice bit of income to boot.

How I managed that, stayed sane, healthy, friendly, drug free, down-to-earth and true to myself, is the story that will unfold on Model Mentality.