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.

Marine Vacth – France’s New Muse

Marine Vacth is not a new face in the fashion industry, as she her delicate features and huge blue eyes have seen her starring in campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent and Luois Vuitton, among others. But now the 22 year old French model is launching her acting career with the lead rols in Francois Ozon’s new film, Jeune et Jolie, which translates as Young and Beautiful.

The film is about a teenage girl who voluntarily decides to take up prostitution as a career told in four seasons and four songs. She lies about her age to rich older men, and hides it from her parents and friends, until an unexpected event forces her to face the real world.

Vacth has already been compared to several legendary French actresses, such as Marion Cotillard and Brigitte Bardot, but she is quick to brush off any ego-building, saying she is flattered, but she is only at the beginning of her career and just wants to take it one day at a time.

Another steamy French film has been released this week to high critical acclaim – Blue is the Warmest Colour a love story between two women, which explores in intimate detail the journey of first love.

Inspired by Marine Vacth's modelling success? Think you could do it better? Then register with Neon Models today!

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!

Gisele Bundchen’s body guards charged with attempted murder

We’ve all heard about certain celebrities who get into scuffles with the paparazzi when they feel that their privacy has been breached too far, but this story takes things a little bit further.

In 2009, Gisele Bundchen married NFL star Tom Brady in Costa Rica, and things got a little out of hand when some pushy photographers tried to get a picture of the bride for their magazines.

 

It was alleged that her bodyguards opened fire on the men, shattering car windows and narrowly missing Rolando Aviles and his colleague.

The couple have avoided talking about the incident, though Brady has previously denied that the bodyguards were armed.

However, the court appeared to disagree, as the bodyguards have been convicted of attempted murder, jailed and ordered to pay damages of around £6,200 to each of the two photographers.

 

Visit the Neon Models Website and register for free!

 

Will fashion mannequins start reflecting normal women’s sizes?

You probably don’t really notice the silent clothing display models, standing on the islands around the departments stores – but they are currently at the centre of a heated debate that revolves around the unrealistic body image portrayed by the fashion industry and the negative effects in can have on real people.

These shop window and island mannequins are usually around size 8 and have unfeasible body proportions which are humanly impossible – extra long limbs and tiny waists.

In recent years, stores in Scandanavia have begun displaying mannequins that reflect real women’s shapes, to the delight of campaigners. 

Now the pressure is on in the United Kingdom, as a Member of Scottish Parliament has called on retailers to follow suit.

SNP MSP Dennis Robertson’s daughter died of anorexia two years ago, and since then he has become a tireless campaigner to raise awareness of the damaging effects of impossible expectations.

He said: "People who have eating disorders, it's not caused by the mannequins, it's not caused by seeing the fashion within the magazines but it exacerbates a condition for people who are predisposed or who have an eating disorder and it hinders, it puts barriers, obstacles, up for those people who are going through the pathway of recovery.

"I urge the retail industry to get real and show us the images which reflect people and reflect the shapes and sizes of the community we live in."

Visit the Neon Models Website to read about Plus Size Modelling

Jennifer Lawrence – a positive role model for young females

Oscar winning Jennifer Lawrence is a breath of fresh air in an industry famous for shallow values and cat-fighting.

She has already been a force for good against the pressure that Hollywood places on actresses to lose weight – no matter that they are a healthy and attractive weight to begin with. Lawrence proved her mettle as an actress in Winter’s Bone and The Hunger Games, and has already had a phenomenally successful career – so didn’t see why she should lose weight in order to maintain that career. Which is why she said ‘No’ when producers told her to lose weight.

In interviews she comes across as genuine and down to earth, genuinely speaking her mind, rather than pandering to sound-bites or saying what will help her get ahead.

She says she thinks it’s important for young girls to have positive role models, people who are atrong, physically and mentally and achieve important things – rather than only being faced with images of pre-pubescent pop stars simulating sex.

Find out more how to become a supermodel