From the Editor
As some of you may know, I have been looking forward to this day with great anticipation. I have been practicing my walk, turns and poses in various styles of shoes from kitten heel, to stacked heel and yes, all the way to stilettos. And to what end? This morning marked my professional debut as a runway model for Liz Claiborne’s summer line. I wasn’t too apprehensive until the moment came (as such moments are wont to do) before I walked onstage and actually thought about the choreography. Was it pose, walk, pose, turn walk? Or pose, walk, turn, walk, pose? Either way, I survived the event without falling off the catwalk or stepping out of a shoe and making all of my quick changes with the help of my wonderful dresser. Please enjoy my recollections!
The Early Bird…
I have an almost annoying habit of being early. I would much rather be 45 minutes early than 5 minutes late. On occasion, despite my best efforts and planning, I run late. Luckily, that did not happen today! In the information I received about the day, it was implicitly clear that call time was 9AM and all models must be there ON TIME (meaning early).
Two other items of note in the information: 1) makeup and hair would be done after a brief fitting 2) breakfast would be available after arrival. This morning, I woke up on time, left on time, and arrived at the venue 25 minutes early, which was fantastic. I checked in, had my fitting (which went swimmingly), had my makeup done and was sent back to the dressing area. All this in 45 minutes, leaving 75 minutes for me practice walking, contemplate life and snap a few pictures. As the other models returned from makeup, it hit me. There was no hair stylist. And I had thought “come with clean, natural hair” in combo with “makeup and hair would be done” meant someone would be there to do hair! Luckily, I always carry a bottle of frizz product in my bag and used most of what was left in the bottle to get my hair under control. What did I learn? Clarify! After spending some time stretching and hobnobbing with the other women, I suddenly became quite parched and went off in search for water. And what else did I find, but breakfast! (First and foremost, let me say I burn a lot of calories in a day and enjoy taking part in victuals) It consisted of sliced cucumber topped with a dollop of spicy ranch and garnished with a carrot shaving, creamed avocado on crostini and what appeared to be a mini-crab cake. Any other time of day, I would have been thrilled to be amidst such items. For breakfast, though? Yet eat them I did, gladly finding them to be quite delectable. My dreams of significantly increasing my caloric intake would have to wait. As they say, “don’t feed the models”!
A Petite Amongst Tallies
This, presumably, is the reason when I haven’t had many fashion gigs. Generally speaking, I’m too short for the runway. There is still hope in a wonderful section, dubbed “Petite”. Put 5’5″ me in sandals (yes, sandals) next the 5’10” in wedges and the difference is obvious. Never have I felt to small – but proportionately so. Once I got over that I was not only the shortest, but the youngest model, I stood as tall as I could with all the right things extended as they should be, I still felt pretty good!
Waiting, Wishing, Hoping
The time had come and the clock had struck 11AM. The show began! Suddenly, the model in front of me turns and asks me a question. I didn’t have an answer! Was it because I wasn’t paying attentions? The lack of experience? Was the subject even covered?! We replayed the events of the choreography lesson. All that was covered was partnering! What did we do by ourselves? Just do one take down then pose, or keep walking until we were excused? So between the several of us backstage, we each did different takes and then switched it up for the next one. No one ran backstage to tell us differently, so I assume we did something correctly!
Slippers & Princes
My first look of the morning (also my favorite) was an “on-stage transition” meaning I took off the cardigan, added a belt, hat and other various accessories, changed my shoes and became set for evening. The actual transition part, I was ok with. It was the shoes I had an issue with. Cute and utterly adorable, also a size too big. Inserts were added to help reduce the risk of slippage, but made only a slight difference. Luckily for me, I had an escort on the glam look and kept hold of his arm so as not to look too silly trying to keep from walking out of my slipper. However, due to my shortness of leg and shoe issues, I believe my gait was a tad smaller than he was accustomed to. C’est la vive.
The Flash
Thank God for my dresser! Each change went smoothly backstage and my room was even cleaned between looks by my wonderful dresser, Claire. The first change was fine, the next we barely made because of all the layers and zippers and the final change was moved to the hallway and a second dresser was added to help with jewelry. All done with time to spare and without flashing anyone else backstage too much!
After the Finale
Then, quickly as it started, it was over. Maybe 45 minutes total. I have no idea how, but most of the models were out of there within a blink of an eye. As I was leaving, I said goodbye and thank you to the director and she gave me very positive feedback. I know work like this, especially for petite’s is hard to find, but hopefully I made a good enough impression as to be remembered for next time.
Coda
I am always trying to keep my skills up to par with the competition and want to find additional ways of developing myself as an actress, and now a model. I’ve gone back to school for this particular job and expect there may be other areas of “performance” that I have not yet touched upon, but am willing to explore. I would like to continue to hone my newfound runway skills and fashion modeling. I need to attend more fashion events, I need to pay more attention to catalogs that I receive. I need personal flair in my walk. And I definitely need to experience this again!
