Posture advice for models by Neon Models

For models, posture is critical. Posture affects how you come across, how healthy you look and how your clothing is displayed. Posture is an all over body thing, it’s not simply about a high head and straight back – though that’s a good place to start!

Posture advice for models

Most people think posture just means standing up poker straight, stick your chest out and look straight ahead. But it’s not as simple as that.

Body balance

The first thing to check is whether your body is balanced and straight. Stand in front of a mirror, with a straight vertical indicator behind you, such as a pole or doorframe. Does your head lean slightly to one side? Are your shoulders even? If not, try to get everything even and see how it feels. The first step is becoming aware of your posture, and where there may be imbalances. Once you’ve indentified areas for improvement, you can start to make corrections.

Of course this doesn’t mean that when you’re working as a model, you’ll never pose at an angle – but a model should be a blank canvas, and any angles should be deliberate, not ingrained. This is particularly important for catwalk models.

Height and Lift

‘Stand up straight!’ Well, yes, good posture is about standing up straight – but people often strain to stand up straight by stretching their neck, arching their back and even going on tip toes. To get a real natural lift, and gain the most benefit of standing up straight, you need to think whole body. Start with your legs, make sure your standing foundation is firm, with an event weight on both feet. Legs should be straight but not locked. Them rather than focussing on the spine, think more about the chest. Take a deep breath and feel your body lift and tyour spine extend as you do so. Make sure your heas is light on your neck, and isn’t leaning forward. Finally, ensure your chin is straight out (not up or down). Standing up straight in this way will give you natural even distribution of body weight and restore the natural curvature of the spine

Relax

One of the most common problems when attempting to improve posture, is that people get really tense and stiff – which is completely counter-productive. To combat this, give your arms and legs a shake out to make sure you’re not holding any tension, and take a few deep breaths. If you notice any particular areas of tension, focus on gently relaxing them. Another problem with tension is that it affects the balance and lift of your posture. For example, if one side of your neck has knots in it, your head will lean towards that side.

If you follow these steps, you’ll give yourself a much better chance of success in the modelling industry. To find out more, register on our website.

Victoria’s Secret Model Angels – the career Launchpad of a lifetime

 

Victoria’s Secret show 2013 has jusy completed, and it contained all the usual glitz, glamour and eye-watering budgets it has become famous for.

Many of the most successful supermodels in the world appeared, including Brazilian beauties Adriana Lim anad Allesandra Ambrosio, the longest serving Angels, who wooed the press  as the professionals they are.

Some of the leading pop stars of the day performed on stage, including prodigy singer songwriter Taylor Swift.

The supermodels led the show, in outrageous costumes including wings and glitter against a backdrop of everything from an abandoned ship to a Parisian Boulevard.

With the exception of Kate Moss (who seems to have a habit of breaking all the model career rules), almost every single supermodel that has appeared on the Forbes rich list has been a Victoria’s Angel at some point. The contract is one of the most lucrative in the business, not to mention the beauty contracts that inevitably follow.

Find out about types of modelling and register with Neon Models today!

How to get a Victoria’s Secret Model Body

With the famed Victoria’s Secret Fashion show just over, starring the likes of Taylor Swift and some of the most successful supermodels in the world, perhaps you’d like to know how the ‘Angels’ as they are dubbed, keep their stunning physiques?

Erin Heatherton claims Ballet Beautiful is the key to her success. It is a serious of exercises and stretches designed by Mary Helen Bowers to polish and sculpt the female form. It increases flexibility, core strength and provides beautiful posture.

Alessandra Ambrosio carries out an intense fitness regime, including pilates and yoga three times a week and intense 10 day sessions of the Brazil Butt Lift class, devised by her trainer.

Doutzen Kroes favours running outside, especially along the Hudson River. She says she likes to have a really tough workout, working up a good sweat. Cardo is the best.

Other popular options are weightlifting, boxing, rope-jumping, running, cycling, and swimming. None of the models recommended dieting or eating less, though some do cut out sugary foods for a few weeks before a show. With all that exercise, you’d need to eat well!

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Gisele Bundchen – colour coding her kids

However, despite being one of the highest earning models in the world, she still finds it important to put her family first.

Gisele Bundchen may be one of the most famous supermodels, but she’s more than just a pretty face. The Brazilian is credited with ending the ‘heroin chic’ period of fashion modelling and found great success in the late 1990s, paving the way for a new wave of Brazilian models.

 

In 2009 she married New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and the couple now have two children. She says she runs her family with meticulous planning and organisation (the same as her career) and uses an iPhone app with colour coding to pull it off!

She likes to know what everyone is doing every second of the day and says of being good at your job and being a good mum and good wife: ‘It’s a dance that never stops’.

She says that the key to her success is to be doing whatever she’s doing 100% at the time, rather than trying to do two things at once or being distracted by what she’s doing later, or what she was doing earlier. She also claims 1 hour per day as solely hers, even if it has to be at 4 in the morning.

Modelling jobs are waiting for you!

New Creative Director of Louis Vuitton Announced

Nicolas Ghesquiere has been named as the new creative director of Louis Vuitton, and will begin work right away.

Luois Vuitton is an internationally renowned fashion house that was founded in 1854 in Paris, France and in

2012 its valuation was 25.9 billion dollars.

Ghesquiere is thrilled to be in the new role and says he is ‘honoured of the mission he is entrusted with’. He said in an interview that he felt all his previous roles had been leading to this point.

He speaks highly of his predecessor, Marc Jacobs, who handled the helm of the company for sixteen years, and turned it from a luggage and accessories emporium into one of the most sought after luxury brands on earth.

Jacobs has stepped down to work on his own line, and Ghesquiere has not ruled out following the same route himself. He says he has too much else to focus on right now, but maybe one day would like to do something in his own name.

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Neon Models Guide to Superfoods

If you want to be a successful model, then you’re body is your temple.

Models need to have flawless skin and perfect figures, and that means taking good care of yourself.

There are no shortcuts to good health, and the most important things are eating a healthy, balanced diet, avoiding toxins and getting plenty of sleep. And if you want to take care of your skin – stay out of the sun! For more tips and advice on being model perfect, click here.

In this article we’re going to look at the diet side of things, or more specifically – superfoods. What are superfoods, and which ones should you look out for

What are superfoods?

Superfoods is a term used to describe certain foods that have particularly strong or effective health benefits

and may even help with some medical conditions. They may be able to help with everything from warding off heart disease, cancer and obesity.

Blueberries

Blueberries are one of the most well known superfoods, and are packed with anti-oxidants and phytoflavinoids. They are anti-inflammatory and can help reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer.

Frozen blueberries are just as good as fresh, and about ½ a cup a day should give you great health benefits.

Omega 3 rich fish

Fish has long been known as ‘brain food’ and as well as there being some evidence that it can help stave off memory loss and Alzheimer’s, it may also be able to help avoid depression.

Wild salmon, herrings, sardines and mackerel are the best – but if you really can’t stand fish, you can get the same kind of benefits from fortified eggs, flax seed and walnuts.

Tea

Since ancient times, tea has been thought of as the miracle drink, and has been said to cure all manner of ailments over the centuries. Green tea in particular has been shown to be associated with lower cholesterol and the inhibition of cancer cells. But of course, it still has caffeine, so don’t overdo it!

Want to learn more about modelling and how to keephealthy for the camera? Click here!

Neon Models – Advice on Avoiding Fake Modelling Agencies

There is so much competition in the fashion industry, there is always a much higher supply of aspiring models than there is available work. This guide will help you avoid the fake model agencies and focus on the real ones.

Fake model agencies

This is probably the most common modelling scam. A company poses as a modelling agency, and gets the ‘client’ excited and convinced that they’ve got what it takes to be the next Kate Moss. The client believes that they’re only a few steps away from launching their modelling career, and gaining lucrative modelling work.

All they have to do is pay a small admin fee (which may not be that small after all) and then the modelling work will come flowing. But what actually happens is that as soon as the person has paid their fee, the agency goes strangely quiet.

People who have fallen for this trap find that months pass and not a job is in sight.

How to know if a modelling agency is real

There are a few signs, but the key one is if they ask you for money to be listed on their books. That’s a sure sign – as genuine agencies know that doing so is breaking the law.

Another thing to look out for is if they are willing to sign you up without seeing you in person first. People have been known to send in all kind of nonsense to modelling agencies, including pictures from years ago, photoshopped photos and even pictures that aren’t them. They also lie about height, weight etc. So an agency isn’t going to take you seriously until you’ve been to their offices in person.

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How Much Do Models Earn - Neon Models Guide

This is a difficult question to answer and it’s tempting to say – how long is a piece of string? But of course, from Neon Models' experience there are some guidelines and rules of thumb that we can apply to give a rough idea of how much models might earn.

At the lower end, you have your models who are just starting out. They are trying to make a name for themselves, so they’ll probably earn just over minimum wage, and they won’t get work more than a couple of times a month, while they’re building their portfolio.

Once the new model has become a bit more established, then they will start getting more regular work and can start commanding a higher fee. At this point, it makes a big difference what type of modelling the model wants to do, and how often they are willing and able to work.

For example, if the model is suitable for high fashion shows (i.e. they meet the strict height requirements), then they could earn £500 - £1000 for a single weekend. If they are willing and able to work at shows every weekend, then they could earn between £2000 - £4000 per month. Of course, fashion shows aren’t thick and fast all year round, so this wouldn’t be sustainable all the time.

However, catalogue and commercial modelling is much more reliable and jobs are more numerous from Neon Models' experience. This kind of work is also open to models with more gentle or classic looks. Commercial photo shoots could pay anything from £200 - £500 per day and may last from one to five days, or even more. This work can get tiring, but it’s a good way for a model to earn a regular income.

And of course at the very top end are the supermodels. These are the few and far between who have been lucky enough to become recognised household names. If you reach this status, then the sky’s the limit and you can commend extremely high fees and work as little or as often as you want!

Modelling jobs are waiting for you!

Become a freelance model - advice from Neon Models

If you want to break into modelling, one of the first questions to ask yourself is whether you’d prefer to join a modelling agency or go freelance.

Of course, you might decide to chase both routes and see which one works out the best, and that’s a good idea too, if you have the time and resources to do so.

An important fact to be aware of is that even if you are signed to a modelling agency, you’re not actually ‘employed’ by the modelling agency and there is no guarantee that they are actually going to get you any paid work. They are an ‘agent’ that means they deal in making introductions and getting a commission of the fee that the model is paid by the client, and sometimes an additional introduction fee.

For this reason, freelance models may find it more lucrative to go directly to the clients, and cut out the agencies fees.

Of course, getting in front of clients is easier said than done, and freelance models – especially those just starting out – have to do a lot more legwork, networking, meeting the right people, making the right connections.

A freelance model also has to take care of the business side of being a model, and that means invoicing clients, chasing payment and making sure all the correct contracts and other paperwork is in place. There is plenty of advice out there and you can find free templates for most contracts, but you need to make sure you do your research.

If you do have the right kind of drive and skills to become a freelance model, then of course the main benefit is that you get to keep all of your hard earned cash. With agency fees averaging about 20%, that can add up quite quickly. On top of that, you have a lot more control over where and when you work and you’re not limited by an agency contract which restricts who you can work for.

Find out more about freelance modelling

How to join a modelling agency by Neon Models

Modelling agencies get hundreds of applications from aspiring models, so how can you make sure you give yourself the best chance of being noticed and signed?

Use decent quality photos to apply

All genuine modelling agencies will ask you to send a snapshot that they can assess to see if they want to meet you for an interview to see if they’d like to sign you to their books. While you don’t have to spend a fortune on these pictures, if you send in something in bad light taken on your mobile phone, they’re likely to throw them out without looking properly. So, try to get access to a decent camera (and someone who knows how to use it), and make sure the pictures are taken in good light (preferably natural light) and show you clearly and looking relaxed.

Read the guidelines

You might be surprised how many people don’t read the modelling agencies’ guidelines. This is just a silly mistake that can be easily avoided, and if you’re careful to make sure you follow their guidelines you can save yourself a lot of wasted effort and rejection. Most modelling agencies will specify if they work with males and females and what ages. Also, if they have minimum requirements such as height. Ignore their guidelines at your peril!

Choose your agency carefully

These days there are many different types of modelling and many different types of modelling agencies to meet all those requirements. The largest agencies will cater for everything from fashion shows to catalogues to TV commercials on an international basis, but smaller agencies will specialise and may be a better bet, especially if you don’t have classic model looks, aren’t so tall or are looking for alternative or body part modelling.

Find out how to get in to modelling