Becoming a sought after Model

The Civil Engineer who turned into Supermodel Michelle Alves…

In Londrina, Brazil, a great artist was born in September 1978 who would later become supermodel Michelle Alves.  She was raised in a family of academic professionals with her father being an engineer, and her mother a proficient lawyer.  With such outstanding background, Michelle was oriented strictly that education should come first before anything else.

Therefore, her desire to join the WWI regalia should be set aside for the moment until she finishes her schooling at Londrina State University.  Michelle took civil engineering which is practically not an easy course, but she excelled in it and became one of the top students in her class.  This tall lady with green eyes amazingly achieved top grades in her studies consistently.

However, in spite of a promising future in her course of engineering, supermodel Michelle Alves believed that academics were not meant for her.  She said that although she’s one of the top students in her class, she felt she didn’t belong there.  She wanted to make tours and earn her own money at an early stage of her life.  True enough, because she didn’t have to wait for too long before she could land in the right direction that she wanted.

Michelle was informed by a model scout that she has a lot of potentials to enter the fashion world, as she is blessed with the appropriate physical aesthetics required for modeling.  She grabbed the opportunity without second thoughts due to her desire to become a model, and partly because of her dream to stay in Sao Paulo.  Endowed with fluency in English, French, Italian and Portuguese, supermodel Michelle Alves was a perfect asset to compete in international modeling competitions.

Her rise in the modeling stardom was quick, and she immediately captured the attention of the public in the South American scene.  She made her way to follow the footsteps of other Brazilian supermodels like Gisele Bundchen, Ana Beatriz Barros and Adriana Lima, because of her obvious resemblance with Bundchen.  In early 2002, the big name, supermodel Michelle Alves bombarded the world of fashion in America.

Just within a year’s time she was already featured several times in Vogue, Glamour and Elle magazine.  She also filled one of the most coveted slots in 16 of the remaining spots for Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show held in 2002.  That show was supposed to be one of the most popular TV fashion events in the whole world.

After a few weeks taping, Michelle was contracted to be a Victoria’s Secret model officially, joining the list of world-famous names in the modeling industry, and making her status as a top-rated supermodel in America.  After 12 months, Michelle’s rise in stardom became unstoppable from being average in popularity on pages of magazines to become one of the highly-recognized faces

In 2003, she was featured in the Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated which was repeated in 2005.  Supermodel Michelle Alves has become the most sought-after spokesmodel designation for Christian Dior and Valentino, and has walked the runways for Stella McCartney, John Galliano and Versace.

Beach View 2011

The Hard Part Of Becoming A Model

November 8, 2010 
By Madison Plus

You know, being a model SOUNDS like it’s easy, but take it from me, it’s not as easy as it seems. I agree that it’s not that difficult to stand in front of a camera and smile when a photographer says “CHEESE,” but the “castings” and “options” game can be heart-wrenchingly tough. (Side note: why do some photographers say “CHEESE”? It always just makes me crave a cube of cheddar or at least a sliver of brie.)
I didn’t really know what a “casting” was when I signed with Wilhelmina. Little did I know that castings were going to consume random patches of my time during weekdays and come unexpectedly on a regular basis. My first casting was kind of a blur, but after awhile I realized that “casting” meant a few things: 1) a quick meeting with a client where they looked at your book, gave you the up and down, snapped a few shots of you from different angles, and took your comp card… 2) a potentially endless wait – never knowing how long it would last or how long you’d have to sit in the hallway of a studio or production office to be seen by a client… and 3) an awkward place where you actually got to see all of your competition.  The other thing about castings is that they’re usually quiet. You’d think that with 20-50 girls waiting in a small room, it’d sound like a zoo…but it doesn’t. Girls from similar agencies seem cordial with one another and greet each other with quick hellos, but apart from that, it feels like an empty back alley where you could be attacked for any reason at any moment.  These “castings” are the gatekeepers to booking the job and making the big bucks.


For me, in the beginning, castings were not only intimidating, but also overwhelming.  You can’t just goto a casting in your beat-up sneakers and your favorite pair of jeans. At a casting, you have to look your best – and I mean, your best. I’d even go as far as to say you need to look like some big-shot celebrity. You have to knock the clients off their feet with your fashion-forward choices and your no-nonsense attitude. You have to be confident and yet demure. You have to make sure that you look like a blank canvas as well as a finished Monet simultaneously. Dressing for a casting is an art and a skill (and usually comes at a tres cher price). It took me a long time to learn this, and trust me, I’m still learning everyday. I think as a model, you have no choice but to be a constant fashion piece in progress. The best thing I learned very quickly was that to stay on your game, the most valuable thing you could do was devour fashion magazines, blogs, and websites that give weekly or daily fashion and beauty tips or showcase up and coming designers and trends.

The other thing about castings is that they can do a number on your self-esteem. One second you can believe you have skin as tough as an armadillo’s and the next feel like a wrinkly 80-year-old woman.  When you’re sitting in a hallway full of beautiful girls, it’s virtually impossible not to think, “Should I be here? Am I pretty enough? Are these girls from other planets? Because they certainly look too beautiful to be real.” Having to sit there and look at them for extended periods of time can be unbearable sometimes. But, if you want to be a model and you want to be successful, there’s just no way to get around going to castings.
Even worse than castings…being on “option.” Being on “option” means that you’re in top standing to get the job (aka, you’re on the client’s short list of choices). This is when my brain has a tendency to go absolutely bonkers. The thing about being on “option,” is that although your odds are good (and much better than not being considered at all), there’s still no guarantee that you’ll book the job. So, you can spend hours, days, or even months scrutinizing over whether or not you got the job, only to find out that they “released you” the day beforehand.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times this has happened to me since I started my modeling career. I’ve been on option for some amazing catalogs and clients and then left completely devastated. This, my friends, is just the nature of the business. There’s no way around the rejection or the uncertainty. Somehow, though, I always manage to pick myself up, go to another casting, and continue to hope that the stars align at the perfect moment and that I book the job of my dreams (and of course, get paid ridiculously well for it).
So, whenever someone tells me that they think models have it easy, I tell them “You try having multiple interviews a day, being judged solely by your appearance, and never knowing if you’re going to be able to make ends meet. Imagine that as your 9 to 5.”

Life Of A Model

April 27, 2011
A Model Life: Who is That?
By Madison Plus


Seeing your own face stare back at you when you walk into a store or open a catalog is a rare and unique experience. It’s hard to describe the feelings I get when I see my own work.

Sometimes, it’s exciting! It’s a sense of “Look Mom, that’s me!” and of accomplishment, especially if it’s a job that I’m extremely proud of.
Sometimes, it’s nostalgic. It reminds me of a specific crew or an unbelievable place where I shot. It can even feel personal, like private travel photos leaked onto the Internet and into millions of households.

Sometimes, it’s just bizarre. Although I know it’s a picture of me, it’s also how the client perceives me. The transformation I undergo with hair and makeup is often surprising to me. One day I could be made up to look like the fun, approachable girl-next-door and the next a sexy, unattainable temptress. And let’s not get into my ethnic background. Pinned as everything from Puerto Rican to Indian to Italian, I become whatever the client wants me to be…or, more importantly, what they NEED me to be.

It gets even stranger when I see a picture of myself and don’t recognize it as me until someone points it out. Or, when I’ve been so retouched that my defining features cease to exist. Then, I begin to wonder why they hired me in the first place. Was I just needed as a template? I have trouble understanding when clients go in this direction, but I’ve come to learn that it’s just the nature of the business.
I still haven’t gotten used to the range of feelings I have when my pictures surface, but I do know that it’s impossible not to judge myself in that moment. I may love the way a photographer was able to capture my curves and want to immediately text the shot to my boyfriend. Or, I may look at a shot and notice a large roll on my hip or a too-gummy smile and want to hide it under my bed. This is something I have no control over. Once that picture has been printed, there’s no “untag” button like there is on Facebook. I know this is part of my job and that the luxuries without a doubt outweigh the consequences, but there are definitely those pictures I’m happy to have floating around the world and those I’d really prefer were deleted…or burned. Unfortunately, it is what it is. There’s no way around it.

I also find it interesting how much I can’t help but scrutinize myself, yet who really pays attention to the models sporting their favorite brands? Unless it’s a celebrity, do you really remember the model wearing that cute dress you bought online? Or, do you just remember the dress?

I know before I became a model, I paid NO attention to the girls wearing the clothes. I just envisioned what I may have looked like in them. But now, the people in my favorite brands no longer have foreign faces – they’re my friends and colleagues. Now, when I’m browsing at the fliers in my mailbox or catch a glimpse of a billboard in the mall, I actually notice the people….not just the clothes, but the models.

To know that I am part of the sea of faces renders me speechless. I get to become part of a brand and contribute to its potential success. I’m thankful for these experiences (that’s for sure), but I still wonder when and if these feelings will ever change.

Who is A Model?

A Model is sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed for the purpose of displaying and promoting fashion clothing or other products and for advertising or promotional purposes or who poses for works of art.

Modelling is distinguished from other types of public performance, such as an acting, dancing or mime artist, although the boundary is not well defined. Appearing in a movie or a play is not considered modelling. However, models may be considered to express emotion in their photographs or video.

Types of modelling include fashion, glamour, fitness, bikini, fine art, and body-part models. Models are features in a variety of media formats including books, magazines, movies, newspapers, and TV. The models themselves can be a featured part of a movie----

NOW THAT YOU HAVE GOTTEN AN IDEA OF WHO A MODEL IS.....shall we move on?

Modeling agency

A modeling agency is a company that represents a group of models which they call their model board. A model bookers (also called "booker" or "agent") are a group of people who manage a model's career. An agent helps a model find jobs, book jobs, gives advice, and emails or gives copy books and comp cards to various clients they work with. ( a comp card is a selection of pictures printed on a card, a copy book is a scanned version of a models portfolio). An agent may send models to various clients and schedule modeling interviews (also called go and see or castings).
Take Note:A model does not have to work with an agent but it is highly recommended for fashion/runway models

TYPES OF MODELS/MODELING
We have different types of models and they engage in diverse kinds of modeling jobs
So if you are thinking of going into modeling you got series of options to choose from:
1.Super Models
2. Print Models
3. Fitness Models
4. Glamour Models
5. Runway Modeling 
6. Bikini Models
7. Alternative Models
8. Artist Models

and so many others like Hip Hop Models,Child Models, Promotional Model, Plus-size Model,Internet Models, Black fashion Models, House Model, Spokes Model the list is just endless

Well Maybe you might need some more detailed explanation on the above mentioned types of models. you can get this new and fast selling guide book titled "Amazing Modeling Secrets" written by Daniel Okafor

STILL TO COME

*Life of a Model

*The Hard Part Of Becoming A Model