Modeling & Acting 101 - A Model/Actor's Diary

One of the posts on this blog that gets the most comments is the "Want to Be a Victoria's Secret Model?" post. What amazes me is that almost all of the comments are from people asking what it takes to be a VS model. The whole post is about how to be a VS model so I'm not quite sure why readers are posting comments asking this. I don't know--do they just not read the post and just comment? I'm curious because as far as I know I made the post fairly easy to read and understand. Another thing I've noticed about some of the comments is that there are questions from aspiring models listing their height and stats and it clearly does not meet the requirements I list in the VS post. As a writer I guess I'm a little frustrated that I continue to get comments with questions that are clearly answered in the post itself. If you are one of the readers who have left a question asking how to be a VS model, I'll simply tell you to read the post. I even up...

I recently took a road trip down to Los Angeles to interview with a designer about being a potential model for her upcoming line and I figured since I was going to be in the area, I may as well see if I could kill two birds with one stone by attending any open casting calls what were available during the dates that I would be there. The one that ended up making the cut was BMG Models. Known for representing both fashion and print models, I made sure to have all my stuff ready: portfolio, headshot and resume. After taking care of my interview, which went really well, I stayed overnight at a friend's and prepared for the open casting call the next day. BMG holds their open calls every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4:00pm - 5:00pm. I went on a Wednesday with one of my friends in tow for support. I wore form-fitting, dark jeans, my taupe 4-inch heels and a form fitting, dark green tank top. After stepping off the elevator we searched for the right suite and opened the door. T...

The term "new faces" is one that is constantly popping up on modeling agency websites. While not all agency sites have them, a good majority do. As the name implies, new faces means male and female models who have just been discovered by that particular agency. In general, a model listed under an agency's new faces division has little to no experience. In some instances it could include a model with prior experience but overall it is more closely associated with a newbie. Each agency deals with their new faces division in its own way so there are no hard and fast rules as to what I can tell you that will cover every modeling agency out there. If you are a potential model who gains interest from an agency, they may start you off in their new faces division. At the office you'll have Polaroids taken of you, which the agency will post up on their website. Even though those photos are not professionally taken, they will be temporary until you have managed to get a ...

Hello, readers! I'm so pleased with the poll results and want to say THANK YOU to all who have taken it so far (Remember, the poll is good for the rest of the year since I hope to do more traveling so there is no expiration date to take the poll)! Even though there are higher numbers of readers in other areas outside of Northern California I would like to start locally--that way by the time I make it out to other parts of the country, I'll have a greater idea of how I'd like the meet & greet event to go. So that being said, I'm reaching out in this post to my Modeling 101 blog readers from Northern California...Dania Denise wants to meet you!!! Because I know my readers are all from different parts of Norther Cali and are from various backgrounds/walks of life, in order to make the 1st ever Dania Denise Meet & Greet successful, I'm going to need your help and participation! If you live in Northern California and are interested in meeting me, please, plea...

For those of you that are all about skin care products and taking care of your complexion, I thought it would be fun to update you on what products I'm currently using to keep my skin in top shape. Please note that I have eczema with a combination skin type (dry cheeks, oily T-zone) so shop according to your particular skin type when looking for new items to try out. CLEANSER(S) I use this for most mornings when I'm on the go: I use this to take off my makeup...even though it's not really a makeup remover, it works for me. I also use it on days when my skin is more sensitive than usual: TONER Toner is awesome for taking care of my oily T-zone. But in the Fall and Winter my complexion tends to dry out more than usual so I skip out on the toner: COTTON PADS To apply my toner I use generic-brand, 100% cotton pads (the rounded kind). You can buy them from any drugstore for really cheap and they come in a good size quantity that'll last you a while (80-...

Do you hate waiting? Are you one of the most impatient people on the planet? Does it irk you to have to wait around for other people to get things done? When waiting around do you have the tendency to fidget or get irritated? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you will have a difficult time succeeding in the modeling industry. "Hurry up and wait" is a popular saying not only in the modeling industry, but the entertainment world as a whole. Model or actor, the nature of the work entails being in a rush to...wait. You may even be hassled in the makeup chair to hurry up and get done, then report on set and...wait around for 15-30 minutes. It can be a confusing concept to grasp if you're not used to it. I think it is important to touch on this matter briefly because until you're in the situation, it can be hard to imagine what it's like to be on set for a photoshoot and why certain things take so long to get done. First off, if the shoot ...

The path towards becoming an Abercrombie & Fitch model isn't exactly traditional and even I am intrigued by the casting process they use. For those of you that want to know how to become an A&F model, you'll want to check out this post. 1. You have to be 18 or older. Unfortunately, the nature of A&F shoots are pretty sexy and even adult in a sense and as such, their models are required to be of age. (Of course there is A&F kid models but that comes later). 2. You have to work at an A&F store. No lie! In order to be considered for any of the company's ad campaigns and photoshoots, they actually turn to their own employees to recruit models. So if you're looking for a job in retail and feel you've got what it takes, fill out a job application at your nearest A&F store and get hired. That's the first step to getting your foot in the door. 3. Put in work. Once you've started working at A&F, you'll become eligible to submi...

I did the online catalog shoot for 49 Square Miles a few months ago but they have finally updated the website and my photos are on the main slideshow when you get to the home page. Yay! So I thought I'd share. To jog your memory, 49 Square Miles is a San Francisco-based company that specializes in custom, hand made leather handbags, belts and accessories. Their products are for the fashionistas at heart and even though I'm not a huge purse fan, I become a groupie when I saw how gorgeous their handbags were! Check me out (oh, and the products, too haha): http://www.49sqmi.com/index.php The slideshow shows different pictures each time you refresh the page so if you're only seeing the same 3-4 images then refreshing it should allow you to see more of the images from the shoot. If you need a new handbag or just want to add to your collection, then you'll love what 49 Square Miles has to offer.