According to Jen Brook, an international model based in the United Kingdom, modeling is a very challenging career. She describes how she’s spent years hiding the truth about her job, where the glitz and the glam aren’t all that. As a model, she just speaks the world of good things; thrilling overseas journeys and, of course, dazzling glossy magazine publications; but never the secrets of the other side.
Here’s what she has to say.
- They don’t actually get paid very much.
Perhaps getting £200 plus for a day sounds amazing and all. Yet bookings aren’t regular, frequently only once, maybe twice a week. The admin part of the work is always more demanding than physical. The level depends on the model’s expertise and experience.
2. Reputation really is everything.
If you’re talking poorly about fellow creatives, it almost always comes back to them eventually. They’re mostly a close network of people who chat, even though they don’t all come face to face. It extends to photographers as well as models and make-up designers.
3. Having agency representation won’t necessarily mean success or wealth.
Agencies frequently have more than 300 faces on their books, but only 10% of them can really get regular jobs. Freelancing is typically the only way to fill a model’s calendar. Most models who appear to be leading a high life often spend their days in part-time jobs like waitressing or retailing.
4. Many models are super self-conscious.
A lot of models come into the industry by chance yet have never found themselves to be attractive. In reality, it’s always said that the best fashion models are those you wouldn’t look at twice on the street.
5. They don’t all snort drugs and eat tissue paper for lunch.
Celebrities that dominate tabloid headlines will tell you all about their lives on the runway, where there was little room to relax and the pressure to look slim was high. Yet like every job, you shouldn’t let the tension get to you. Drugs are not fashion related; they are stress and money-related. Addiction may happen to anybody at any time, it’s up to each person to handle himself and take responsibility for their actions.
6. Models don’t clock off at 5 pm.
Shoots range from anything from dawn to sunset. Like waking up as early as 3 a.m. to start hair and makeup on a dark beach, or even like working until 1 a.m. in a cave. The word ‘TGIF’ does not exist when you’re a model, weekends are the same as weekdays!
7. It’s not glamorous.
Getting changed in the back of a van, or worse in grotty public toilets is not the idealistic model life you’d expect. There’s a lot of waiting in the cold or pulling big equipment to difficult places in not too convenient clothes. Life on the road itself is more about couch surfing and hostels than the 5 * luxurious hotels most expect.
8. A model’s health is at risk all the time.
Your skin is constantly caked with heavy makeup and the hair is frequently backcombed and bleached without care – as long as it looks fine on a set day, long-term consequences are often overlooked. There’s nothing worse than the terror of sickness when the MUA comes to you with the brushes and tools she’s just used on other girls before you. Of course, most of them will figure a way to sterilize them, but who’s to know if they’re clean.
9. Drama follows models around every corner.
Sadly, Pervy’s observations and snidey statements are almost part of the job description. It appears using your body for work puts models under the same stranglehold as prostitutes to some, a shocking and highly old fashioned view of the general public. Touching models without permission is also a heated issue, with many in the fashion industry claiming it their right to grope clotheshorses while dressing.
10. You ache like crazy afterward!
Bending your bones into bizarre convolutions and holding them for long, the next day, and no matter how much you’ve warmed up before, takes a toll on your muscles. Cold places where the shoots are always nine hours long, particularly the bones cripple! When the heat leaves your body, you won’t get it back, so no amount of hot drinks and blankets will loosen up your shoulders, neck, and back tomorrow.
Reference: https://www.creativelive.com/blog/10-things-wish-knew-before-started-modeling/
