Answering a Reader Question #17

ki~ki Wrote:

Hey Dania,
It's me again. My last open call went more as expected. I went to Reinhard Modeling agency in Philadelphia. When it was my turn, my interview didnt take very long. I asked her a few questions like if they are looking for anything in specific and so on. She answered my questions and said that if they need me they will contact me. She also said if I lose a few inches she would enocourage me to come back. I'm a little upset because I dont know where I stand i.e if I have the look, right measurements, camera friendly and so on. Right now I know I wanna do some runway and commercial print. For runway I know I'm kinda to big my measurements are a little bigger than I thought they were (34-27-39). Thus, is my measurements okay for commerical print or am I too big to fit those clothes too(Kinda funny I'M SKINNY how can I be too big). In addition, if modeling agencies say they deal with inexperienced models, does this mean they will train them too and if so do you think they would only take me if I have the right measurements when I first walk through their door or do they work with me since I'm only a few inches too big???????????????????
SO MANY QUESTIONS
THANKS FOR BEING A BIG HELP

Hey, Ki-Ki! There are never too many questions to ask...that's what I'm here for!

While it is easy to be discouraged about this situation, the bright side is that she encouraged you to come back. Most agencies will just tell you straight up, "No, you don't have what we're looking for." And leave it at that. Aside from getting signed, your situation was the next best possible one to experience.

Based off what you've said, I'm sure you had the look and personality, you just lacked the ideal measurements. Your measurements are too big for runway and while commercial/print modeling tends to desire the same 34-24-34 stats, this field is much more accepting of different body types and shapes. Commercial/print agencies mostly care that you are proportional. In commercial/print it is about representing a product, company or idea, not clothing so you won't run into the whole "sample size" issue that you would have faced if you pursued fashion/runway. That's a good thing! You may fare much better by looking into commercial/print agencies at this point instead of fashion/runway.

And when they say they will work with inexperienced models, that means the agency will train you for free (unless they offer a modeling school or class, which you want to stay away from). This will happen if they are interested in your from the get-go and offer you a contract. Just know that they may mention your measurements being too big but from what I know about commercial/print modeling, many will overlook that since you won't be modeling clothes or wearing sample sizes.