Whats the Model LOOK?

Your “look” is not nearly as important as location and attitude.

Are you surprised that looks aren’t at the top of the list?

Is your “look” important in getting you work? Of course it is. In fact, when you show up at that go-see with your book, it’s the single most important thing that will determine success or failure at that moment. You have to look like what the client wants to hire.

But that just means that once you have the other things that are needed for success, “looks” is the tiebreaker. It’s the other things that really count. If you didn’t live where you needed to so you could show up at the go-see, it wouldn’t matter what you looked like. If you didn’t have the commitment to invest the time and money in pictures, comps, a decent wardrobe and self-presentation skills, it wouldn’t matter what you looked like. And if you didn’t have the discipline to get a good night’s sleep the night before, get up early, prepare yourself and arrive on time, it wouldn’t matter what you looked like. In all of those cases you would be disqualified from competing long before a client ever saw you.

Now, given that, what do you need to look like? Well, in the fashion world that’s pretty well understood. Tall, very thin, beautiful (maybe not pretty, but beautiful) and you have a shot. But “commercial models” generally have a different look. Clients and agencies usually want what is referred to as “generic good looks” by type of appearance: soccer moms, executives, doctors or whatever fits the role that the client is casting for in that ad campaign.

A good commercial model is a commodity: able to fit any number of roles – because that is what the client is buying: a person to fill a role. Actors can be excellent commercial models because they can easily take on the “look and feel” of the person that is to be portrayed.

Commercial models don’t have to be “beautiful” – and many of them aren’t, although they tend to be more than just “good looking”. A commercial agency always wants to have some “traditional models” (meaning young, very attractive women) in their group because that tends to attract the attention of clients to an agency. But it is the others – children, older men and women and “character” models, in all ethnic categories – who do a large percentage of commercial modeling work.

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What is Model Attitude?

Being a model is like any other job – you have to bring the right skills and attitude to it. Without that, you are doomed to failure. Among the things that help make for a successful career:

1. Self Discipline. You have to be able to get to go-sees, shoots, jobs, meetings and appointments, in good condition and able to perform. If you can’t do that, people will find out very fast, they talk to each other and they remember.

2. Commitment. Modeling requires sacrifice of time, resources, effort and giving up other things you could be doing that you may enjoy. You can’t just hang out and wait to do jobs when called – you have to spend a lot of effort and perhaps significant money preparing yourself for work as a model.

3. Ability to get along with others. Models have to work with photographers, art directors, clients, makeup artists, agency staff and other models. All of these people and others influence which jobs you get and don’t get. Any of them may be able to keep you from getting work, even if you are the person with the best “look” for the job. And all of them talk to each other. If you are abrasive, obnoxious, rude or just someone they don’t like to work with – you won’t get much work. In the long run, people tend to hire people that they like to work with, and you are trying to get hired all the time.

4. Self Confidence. No matter what you really think or feel inside, you must show that you are confident in your ability to be what the client needs you to be. Self doubts need to get left at the door of the go-see or studio.

5. Teamwork. Modeling can be a lot of fun (as well as a lot of hard work). You may find that you are the center of attention, people fluttering around you all day, the object of constant praise, and made up to look like something you only hoped you could be. At times like that it is very difficult to remember that this isn’t about you. It’s about what the client needs, and you are there to be just that. If you look the best you have ever looked, and that isn’t what the client wants, you have failed. As a model you are playing a role, and you need to be what the role calls for, not what you want to be.

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How much does it cost to Start Modeling?

Modeling is a business, and like all businesses requires investment by you. These investments may be in time and effort or in money, but you cannot hope to be successful as a commercial model without making them. At a minimum, you will need to invest in the following:

1. Pictures The single most important thing you need is good pictures, in the proper style, to represent yourself. You may find qualified photographers who will shoot you at reduced or no cost, but that is by no means assured. Generally, models must be prepared to spend several hundred dollars at the beginning of their career, and to invest more on a regular basis to keep your “book” or “comp card” updated. Some models (typically young women) may find that they can get pictures done free or for greatly reduced rates, but all models should be prepared for the likelihood that they will have to pay for pictures. Often what you get for free serves the needs of the photographer, not yours. It is relatively rare to find a good photographer who is willing to shoot commercially useful pictures for free.

2. Comp Cards/Headshots Your agency will need photos of you that they can send to casting directors – and they won’t get them back. So you must have printed “composite” cards (for commercial and fashion models) and/or “headshots” (for actors/actresses). “Comps” may run $80-$200 or so; headshots should cost $50-$100. A model can start with only a printed headshot, but a comp is much preferable as soon as enough good pictures are available.

3. Self-presentation skills We discourage models from taking “modeling classes” – they are not required and often are counter-productive. Still, a model should have a good basic understanding of makeup and wardrobe, and may require some guidance on posture and other self-presentation issues. There are a variety of ways to get these things, some relatively inexpensive, and some costing in the hundreds of dollars.

4. “Bag of tricks” Even though many assignments will have professional makeup artists and stylists to prepare you, some will not. You must have the materials and skills to do your own makeup in a variety of styles, and a wardrobe and shoes appropriate to basic modeling situations. You can reasonably expect that these things, if you do not already have them, may run to several hundred dollars or more, depending on how much you wish to invest in flexibility to easily take a wide variety of assignments.

5. Modeling Skills Although we do not recommend “modeling schools”, agencies and clients do want models to have extensive experience in front of a camera. The best way to get this is, quite simply, to do a lot of shooting. Ideally this should be with a photographer who is skilled at working with models in commercial or fashion style shots. Still, any kind of experience is helpful, and even shoots with relatively new photographers often help you gain self-confidence and posing skill.

6. Advertising You need to get your pictures in front of photographers, art directors, casting agents and others that make hiring decisions. It used to be that your agency would assist you in this by including you in the agency headsheet book that is mailed to such people. Now it is more common to use an agency website as well as promotional mailers. As is customary in the industry, agencies must recover its costs from you for these promotional items. Depending on the degree of promotion of you that the agency does, the cost to you may run from $75-$700 per year. Each agency has its own policies on these services and costs.

7. Communications This is a fast-paced business. If your agent can’t find you quickly, you may well lose a job that could pay you thousands of dollars. There are a variety of solutions that models use: cell phones, beepers, good answering services – but one or more of these is necessary to a successful modeling career.

8. Living Near the Market This is a very expensive item, but also a critical one. Fashion models often must relocate. We do not advise commercial models to move just to be a model – but if you aren’t within an hour or so of the market city, it is very difficult and expensive for you to compete for jobs.

In all cases above your model management company should be prepared to help you decide what you may need to do to be successful and to advise you on appropriately qualified vendors and sources. A true “agency” may not in some cases – it’s outside the scope of their duties.

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So you want to be a model?

If you are reading this page it probably is because you are interested in becoming a model. There are many kinds of models: fashion, commercial and glamour are the major divisions. These pages will not discuss glamour models in detail – that is a topic best left to others who deal in that specialty. We will focus here only on the majority of models in the United States: commercial models and, to a lesser extent, fashion models.

What does it take to be a model?

1. Location. If you aren’t where the market is, you won’t get work.

2. Investment, of both time and money is needed. Becoming a model isn’t free, although it may be affordable. At a minimum you will have to have the Required Marketing Materials.

3. Height and Body Type. It’s a lot harder if you are 5’2” tall or not slim.

4. Attitude. Can make or break your career. Usually it breaks it.

5. Looks. Sure, they are important, but look where they are on the list.

6. “Being Discovered”. You think this is how it works?

And after all that, if you get to be a model it may not be what you think. Before you make all that investment you need to know all about the reality of Your Role as a Model.

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