The Voice of a Model
What it is like to be a young model in the 21st century
May 2014
Charles Frederick Worth, the first credited fashion designer, is known for many things—his beautiful designs, use of tulle, pastel colors, and stunning simplicity. More so than his dresses, he is remembered for redefining the fashion world. He united fabric selling and dressmaking, released seasonal collections of designs, and used live models. The novel concept that he introduced has grown and morphed over the years into the tycoon that is the fashion industry we know today. The first American fashion show occurred in 1903 and by 1910 large department stores began staging shows. By the 1920s retailers across the United States held theatrical, thematic presentations of their collections. In the 1970s and 80s American designers began to have private shows and by the mid 90’s the New York Fashion Week we know and, mostly, love today was well established. Fashion shows today are drastically different than those of the early 20th century. Not only have the fashions changed, but also the fashionable shape of the model has changed. The ideal woman of the 1910s was epitomized by Charles Dana Gibson with his “Gibson girl” illustrations; she was tall, statuesque, large breasted, had a small waist and protruding back end, she was sporty, athletic, and very flirtatious. The Gibson Girl exuded life and vivaciousness. This ideal then went through a whirlwind of change: the flappers of the 20’s, the Hollywood bombshell of the 30’s, masculine shape of the 40s, femininity of the 50’s, childish shape of the 60’s and 70’s, and strength and muscularity defined the 80’s. Something happened though in the 90’s, suddenly models began to look skinnier and skinnier. They lost the vitality of previous years, they were raw and exposed. Instead of dancing down the runway, they walked lifelessly with blank stares, their stringy hair hanging down limply. The influence of Kate Moss and “heroin chic” has been evident in the world of high fashion. This phenomenon has continued, with every year models on the runways are thinner, younger, and more and more odd looking.
Whatever the ideal beauty is at the time, it affects people, from the designers to the consumers. When a certain look is “in”, those who desire to be fashionable will do what ever they can to attain that look. This is sad, frustrating, angering, *enter any other adjective to describe the opposite of easy, breezy, beautiful*. Because no matter how much dieting and exercising we do, we can’t change the way we are made. When the fashion world seems to be catering only to one type of person, it is easy to see it as a villain. Since a villain is usually a person, it is pretty easy to go from hating the industry to hating the models—they have what we, the average Jane with cellulite and split ends, cannot attain. But what we often don’t realize is that they are victims of the “ideal beauty” as much as, if not more than, we are. They are told to lose weight or risk losing a job and yet no matter how “perfect” they look, they are still photoshopped and edited in the end.
Micah Parrish, a senior in high school, up and coming musician, and goofy girl has been modeling for four years. She has become one of the top models in the Denver Fashion seen and is the face of 303 Magazine. I called her up the other day and she shared with me the experience of being a model:
Name: Micah Parrish
JM: What is your experience in the fashion industry?
MP: I am primarily a model in Denver .
JM: Describe the backstage experience of getting ready for a fashion show or photoshoot
MP: Getting my hair and makeup done has always been my favorite part. Especially when you have a bunch of people passing you telling you that you look awesome, but you have no idea what you look like yet. It’s so fun. Fittings can be fun, but also detrimental to ones self image. I remember once they gave me a pair of pants that were too small, so they gave them to another model who fit into them perfectly. I compared myself to her for the rest of the shoot. I am usually not stressed because there isn't much I can do other than sit around and wait to be called to hair and makeup. The only time that I, as a model am stressed, is when I have quick changes between walks. However the atmosphere around me is always really stressed. For some reason they have the models show up usually about 6 hours before the show, we sit around, and about 2 hours before the show they remember that they still have to do all of our hair and makeup. The people, despite their self-centered personalities, are always pretty nice. They apologize profusely when ever they make me go through pain to achieve their desired looks, which happens a lot. The models however are just obnoxious. All the stereotypes about them are usually true. The models I know that are serious about modeling and pursuing it as a career, are all rude, and they complain all the time. None of them get good grades and they LOVE to gossip about other models, our agents, how such and such made them go through this, and they all try and one up each other on cool or crazy things they’ve had to do for modeling. It’s all one big competition for them. So for someone who isn’t really serious about modeling as a career but just enjoys it as a hobby, I can’t really stand them.
JM: Do you believe the mainstream fashion industry creates a certain expectation, or standard, of beauty? If so, what is it? How do they encourage this?
MP: Yes. Definitely. When I first went into my agency to be signed there was a whole group of people doing the same thing. We stood in a line and our agent went down the line saying things like “too big”, “too short”, and “your teeth are too yellow.” When I was signed she told me that I would make a good model, but since I didn't have long hair and had a more “quirky” look, I wasn’t going to get many jobs. That didn't prove to be true, but it goes to show that this industry is picky and brutal and definitely has it’s own high expectations to be met.
JM: Have you been personally effected by this?
MP: YES. I began modeling my freshman year, I was hardly done growing. Come sophomore year, I began to fill out a little more and be less of what I thought I needed to be to continue modeling. Halfway through sophomore year, I began purging and became bulimic. After a few months I began hating myself even more for giving myself an eating disorder, but at this point it was difficult to stop. I tried to start holding down my food again but my body had developed a natural reaction to just throw it up, so not wanting to tell anyone about my eating disorder I was removed from school to go to the doctors and be tested for what sickness I may have. Eventually I was able to keep food down, but my bulimia wasn’t over. While I was no longer constantly throwing up, I still purged often, whenever I was feeling self conscious and whenever I had a photo shoot or runway show coming up I would purge for a week or two leading up to it. Junior year was a struggle when I came clean about my ED to my friends and family and ever since then I’ve been in recovery. I’m happy to say that I no longer deal with bulimia and that I have learned a lot from it.
JM: What was the biggest lesson you learned from that time?
MP: I have learned more about myself and can finally see the flaws in the industry I adored just a couple of years ago. I am still a model, but I have found certain people in Denver that don’t have a problem with my size, don’t make me feel bad about myself and make modeling fun again. I still have to put up with obnoxious and dramatic models and people, and I still unfortunately compare myself to the other skinnier models, but I am so much more comfortable with my body now. Sometimes I think that I would have never overcome my insecurities so fully without hitting the rock bottom of bulimia.
JM: Do you believe it would be possible to change the image the fashion industry promotes?
MP: Of course. If the industry simply used regular everyday people of all different shapes and sizes this wouldn't be an issue. The problem is though, that even the consumers and readers and runway show attendees don't want to see that. They want the image that has been engrained into their minds of that perfect tall skinny girl. They want something to work for. If the industry said that everybody is beautiful no matter his or her body type, then nobody would be beautiful or special or stand out. However everyone, even the people that don’t fit the model standard, wants to stand out, be special and feel beautiful, which they can’t do unless there is a standard to meet. So, while the solution seems simple and obvious, society wouldn’t like it or let it happen most likely. There just aren’t enough people that see the beauty in everyone both inside and out rather than the materialistic image they’re told to look for.
JM: What would you do to improve the fashion industry?
MP: Even if I can’t change the image that is put out by the fashion industry, I would like to somehow make everyone see that the world does not revolve around them, and that they are not the most important person in the room. If the models could just be nicer, complain less, and maybe even help out rather than wait to be served, they would be much more pleasant and people wouldn't have tendencies to judge them and hate them. So many people make incorrect first impressions of me because they apply all the bad model stereotypes to me, and what is sad, is that they have reason to, because the stereotypes are generally accurate. And if all the hair people, makeup artists, fashion designers, producers, assistants, photographers, etc people would take the time to realize that they are part of a team, they might be easier to work with and shoots and shows would definitely run smoother without all the drama. Almost everyone just needs an attitude adjustment and ideally the image projected by the fashion industry would change as well to better fit the everyday person reading a fashion magazine.
It is sad to think that a beautiful young girl, blessed with long legs and high cheek bones would think, because she couldn’t fit into an impossibly tiny pair of pants, that she was not good enough. Until the ideal beauty reflects a person’s personality and soul, instead of just the number inside their jeans and how many ribs you can see, the grip the fashion industry has on its victims will never slacken. But if we, as Micah said, have a huge attitude adjustment, then we will all begin to bloom.
Whatever the ideal beauty is at the time, it affects people, from the designers to the consumers. When a certain look is “in”, those who desire to be fashionable will do what ever they can to attain that look. This is sad, frustrating, angering, *enter any other adjective to describe the opposite of easy, breezy, beautiful*. Because no matter how much dieting and exercising we do, we can’t change the way we are made. When the fashion world seems to be catering only to one type of person, it is easy to see it as a villain. Since a villain is usually a person, it is pretty easy to go from hating the industry to hating the models—they have what we, the average Jane with cellulite and split ends, cannot attain. But what we often don’t realize is that they are victims of the “ideal beauty” as much as, if not more than, we are. They are told to lose weight or risk losing a job and yet no matter how “perfect” they look, they are still photoshopped and edited in the end.
Micah Parrish, a senior in high school, up and coming musician, and goofy girl has been modeling for four years. She has become one of the top models in the Denver Fashion seen and is the face of 303 Magazine. I called her up the other day and she shared with me the experience of being a model:
Name: Micah Parrish
JM: What is your experience in the fashion industry?
MP: I am primarily a model in Denver .
JM: Describe the backstage experience of getting ready for a fashion show or photoshoot
MP: Getting my hair and makeup done has always been my favorite part. Especially when you have a bunch of people passing you telling you that you look awesome, but you have no idea what you look like yet. It’s so fun. Fittings can be fun, but also detrimental to ones self image. I remember once they gave me a pair of pants that were too small, so they gave them to another model who fit into them perfectly. I compared myself to her for the rest of the shoot. I am usually not stressed because there isn't much I can do other than sit around and wait to be called to hair and makeup. The only time that I, as a model am stressed, is when I have quick changes between walks. However the atmosphere around me is always really stressed. For some reason they have the models show up usually about 6 hours before the show, we sit around, and about 2 hours before the show they remember that they still have to do all of our hair and makeup. The people, despite their self-centered personalities, are always pretty nice. They apologize profusely when ever they make me go through pain to achieve their desired looks, which happens a lot. The models however are just obnoxious. All the stereotypes about them are usually true. The models I know that are serious about modeling and pursuing it as a career, are all rude, and they complain all the time. None of them get good grades and they LOVE to gossip about other models, our agents, how such and such made them go through this, and they all try and one up each other on cool or crazy things they’ve had to do for modeling. It’s all one big competition for them. So for someone who isn’t really serious about modeling as a career but just enjoys it as a hobby, I can’t really stand them.
JM: Do you believe the mainstream fashion industry creates a certain expectation, or standard, of beauty? If so, what is it? How do they encourage this?
MP: Yes. Definitely. When I first went into my agency to be signed there was a whole group of people doing the same thing. We stood in a line and our agent went down the line saying things like “too big”, “too short”, and “your teeth are too yellow.” When I was signed she told me that I would make a good model, but since I didn't have long hair and had a more “quirky” look, I wasn’t going to get many jobs. That didn't prove to be true, but it goes to show that this industry is picky and brutal and definitely has it’s own high expectations to be met.
JM: Have you been personally effected by this?
MP: YES. I began modeling my freshman year, I was hardly done growing. Come sophomore year, I began to fill out a little more and be less of what I thought I needed to be to continue modeling. Halfway through sophomore year, I began purging and became bulimic. After a few months I began hating myself even more for giving myself an eating disorder, but at this point it was difficult to stop. I tried to start holding down my food again but my body had developed a natural reaction to just throw it up, so not wanting to tell anyone about my eating disorder I was removed from school to go to the doctors and be tested for what sickness I may have. Eventually I was able to keep food down, but my bulimia wasn’t over. While I was no longer constantly throwing up, I still purged often, whenever I was feeling self conscious and whenever I had a photo shoot or runway show coming up I would purge for a week or two leading up to it. Junior year was a struggle when I came clean about my ED to my friends and family and ever since then I’ve been in recovery. I’m happy to say that I no longer deal with bulimia and that I have learned a lot from it.
JM: What was the biggest lesson you learned from that time?
MP: I have learned more about myself and can finally see the flaws in the industry I adored just a couple of years ago. I am still a model, but I have found certain people in Denver that don’t have a problem with my size, don’t make me feel bad about myself and make modeling fun again. I still have to put up with obnoxious and dramatic models and people, and I still unfortunately compare myself to the other skinnier models, but I am so much more comfortable with my body now. Sometimes I think that I would have never overcome my insecurities so fully without hitting the rock bottom of bulimia.
JM: Do you believe it would be possible to change the image the fashion industry promotes?
MP: Of course. If the industry simply used regular everyday people of all different shapes and sizes this wouldn't be an issue. The problem is though, that even the consumers and readers and runway show attendees don't want to see that. They want the image that has been engrained into their minds of that perfect tall skinny girl. They want something to work for. If the industry said that everybody is beautiful no matter his or her body type, then nobody would be beautiful or special or stand out. However everyone, even the people that don’t fit the model standard, wants to stand out, be special and feel beautiful, which they can’t do unless there is a standard to meet. So, while the solution seems simple and obvious, society wouldn’t like it or let it happen most likely. There just aren’t enough people that see the beauty in everyone both inside and out rather than the materialistic image they’re told to look for.
JM: What would you do to improve the fashion industry?
MP: Even if I can’t change the image that is put out by the fashion industry, I would like to somehow make everyone see that the world does not revolve around them, and that they are not the most important person in the room. If the models could just be nicer, complain less, and maybe even help out rather than wait to be served, they would be much more pleasant and people wouldn't have tendencies to judge them and hate them. So many people make incorrect first impressions of me because they apply all the bad model stereotypes to me, and what is sad, is that they have reason to, because the stereotypes are generally accurate. And if all the hair people, makeup artists, fashion designers, producers, assistants, photographers, etc people would take the time to realize that they are part of a team, they might be easier to work with and shoots and shows would definitely run smoother without all the drama. Almost everyone just needs an attitude adjustment and ideally the image projected by the fashion industry would change as well to better fit the everyday person reading a fashion magazine.
It is sad to think that a beautiful young girl, blessed with long legs and high cheek bones would think, because she couldn’t fit into an impossibly tiny pair of pants, that she was not good enough. Until the ideal beauty reflects a person’s personality and soul, instead of just the number inside their jeans and how many ribs you can see, the grip the fashion industry has on its victims will never slacken. But if we, as Micah said, have a huge attitude adjustment, then we will all begin to bloom.