Posts Tagged ‘Model’

• Curvy Models – Do you want people to know who you are?

  Date: 2010.05.11 | Category: ASOS Curve, Articles, Plus-size Models, The Industry | Response: 2

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  There are some models who don’t want to use the internet to further themselves in any way – this is totally fine and if this is the case for you then please skip this post.

  If however you are new to building your online presence in order to progress in modelling then you can follow some of my top ten tips. You don’t have to be a curvy model, otherwise known as plus-size model, to gain something from these tips. Heck you don’t even need to be a model – but as that’s one of my areas of professional work I’ll use that as an example.

  These things have and are working for me, and although I now work exclusively as a fuller figured model via my agency, making yourself known outside of that so you build a base of followers and supporters can certainly help you gain notoriety – even press attention.

  You may already be doing some or all of these things – so if you are – keep doing your thing.

  So let’s begin!

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• Photo Make-up Inspiration using Beauty UK Cosmetics

  Date: 2010.05.02 | Category: Beauty - Skincare | Response: 4

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  This look using Beauty UK Cosmetics was inspired by an ad by Akris of Bond Street London that Rachel gave me…

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• Are curvy fashionistas ready for flab?

  Date: 2009.08.03 | Category: Articles, Plus-size Fashion, Plus-size Models, size-acceptance | Response: 4

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  Now since you all know I talk about things that no one wants to talk about in the plus-size world you know some day I’d have to hit on this, and while I’m on the case I will chip in with something else as well.  Two for the price of one. Oh joy! You cry.

  Now let me just say this isn’t a rant, and if it turns into one then please know I’m also ranting at myself too.

  I just hope posts like this will make the plus-size community question what they really want to see in size acceptance as well understand that deep down we’ve all be tainted a little by the media machine where accepted beauty is concerned, even if we don’t care to admit it.

  So there I was, minding my own Internet surfing business when I stumbled upon an online magazine that my favourite fashionista, Marie Denee guest writes for called, Gemini Magazine. You may already know it but you’ll have to forgive me for taking my sweet time to discover it.

  What struck me about this well balanced (fashion/beauty/opinion/advice) plus-size women’s magazine is that they have slightly bigger than standard plus-size models in it; and praise the lord they are showing a hint of cellulite and I think I may have spied a stretch mark. This is fantastic!

  Now don’t get me wrong there is retouching in the pictures, but some of them do show a hint of the two things women in general hate to show. I don’t like showing my cellulite or stretch marks much but I’m learning slowly to embrace them more. And when I see glossy pictures with a few hints of cellulite or some stretch marks I do feel kind of liberated into a new dimension.
  To see these things in a magazine is one step forward in our internal perception of what we truly want in size acceptance. Or in fact what we want  seen as acceptable by mainstream.

  I noticed as I flicked through the pages  of Gemini Magazine  how  plus-size fashion still has us in a little bit of denial. Don’t misunderstand me; baggy dresses are super comfy and appeal to the Hippie in me but when it comes to tigher dresses why are we still using huge bands to cover up that flabby tummy?  And why do we feel we need to wear Spanx to hold it all in? I don’t own a pair of Spanx but I do own two pairs of body control brikka knickers. Why? Because at some point I have been sucked into the belief system that flab should be kept firmly from view. It is such a hard battle to win though isn’t it ladies? On one hand we want to show ourselves in a certain way to appease ourselves and to some degree be acceptable to mainstream, on the other hand we want to be seen as we really are. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could embrace the diversity  that shows itself in the adult plus-size world?

  Funny, that it’s only when we’re surrounded by others who are plus-sized and accepting that we become free in our minds to let it all hang out.

  For instance, I went to the Vegas BBW Bash recently and saw many large women in the tightest, most revealing swim suits. They didn’t give two hoots. They let it all jiggle, wiggle and so forth. But magazines, such as Gemini Magazine ( and bless them they are not the only ones) are telling us that we should forget that tight tiny two piece and go for something a little more conservative and regulating of our fat? Why?
  Granted, the only thing I  was truly concerned about was my boobs falling out in a no-topless pool area.

  You can’t promote ‘plus-size’ if you aren’t going to embrace every women and man that falls into that bracket and their need and want to let it all hang out. Where are those super sized ladies? Where do they fit in? Considering their percentage is high in the plus-size world; why are they not getting fashion spreads?

  I understand though how it works. This community is taking tiny baby steps into being accepted and that’s OK, but I want to see a little more embracing of much larger women.
  I am not as big as some of my other plus-size friends, but I’ll fight for their right to be treated equally where fashion and representation is concerned. Because by doing this we all free our minds to media perception a little bit, day by day.

  I totally applaud Gemini Magazine in their concept and execution of their magazine. It is refreshing and beautiful, but if you’re going to talk about plus-size swim suits then represent  various sizes of plus-size models – not just curvy/firm ones. And please don’t tell me I can’t let it all hang out in a two piece. OK, you can tell me that if its a non-topless pool area but other than that please let my tummy and south heading puppies roam where they will. I dont want to wear a freakin tankini.

  I wore a two piece on the beach in Barbados and I can tell you, I never got a second glance or a crappy look. Indeed there were women much larger than I in tiny two pieces.

  We’re forgetting the golden rule – we want to look good for the opposite sex or what the media tells us looks good in order to win the adoration of a dreamboat. Let me tell you something Sistas, if that ‘boat’ doesn’t love every single inch of you the way you are – he’s not worth dreaming about.  I have had to reafirm this in my own mind more than once during my life.

  The Carribean in general loves curvy fat gals. ‘Child baring hips’, is a term that springs to mind, but in America and Europe males in general buy into the FM Magazine and Miss World  look more than the fat. I’m not saying every man has to desire a woman who is plus-sized. I’m just saying that many men follow/roam in packs and that goes for what’s acceptable and cool. If I didn’t have  a point here why do you think there are so many closet Fat Admirers in the world who long to come out the closet but are too afraid of what their friends think?

  Some would argue we should just leave them there, but I disagree. I say, slowly raise the bar of acceptance by showcasing more diversity in the plus-size world. Obviously the adult industry are way ahead of vanillla plus-size magazines in that respect, but I long for the day we will see much larger plus-size women showcasing plus-size fashion.

  If more plus-size magazines moved a little toward showcasing bigger and beautiful – particularly in fashion, we would have a louder voice than we do now. Like it or not, we are ruled by fashion and beauty. Let’s try as little to change the perception.

  One last thing and this goes for all plus-size magazines. You need to stop focusing on face pictures. We know the faces of plus-size women can be just as beautiful as slimmer women, but what we need to do, in the vanilla plus-size magazine world is show the whole body and I mean flab and all. Once again diversity is the key. You may raise some eyebrows, but life would be dull if we didn’t raise a few.

  And you wonder why there was no diversity in the sizes on the Fox show, More To Love. Never mind mainstream not being ready to embrace diversity in the plus-size world, let’s ask ourselves if we are truley ready.

  One day my friends, maybe not in our lifetime – people like Anne Wintour will not be the organ grinders of fashion, instead some super hot fat sassy chic will be running Vogue and she will know true diversity. Laugh if you want – but lets face it, lots of folks never thought they’d see a man of colour in the President’s chair.

  Yes, we can!

  Vx

  Vanessa Reece

  Related links

  http://vanessareece.com/2009/06/10/heads-curvy-fashionista/

  http://vanessareece.com/2009/05/21/bite-anne-wintour-tells-oprah-winfrey-lose-weight/

• Photoshoot ideas : Envious Greed Theme

  Date: 2009.07.27 | Category: Make-up Tutorials | Response: 0

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  Vanessa Reece

  One question I get asked a lot is how do I come up with ideas for photoshoots.

  Some models don’t find this process easy when trying to build a porfolio or test shooting.

  I tend to get ideas on the hop and use things around me as props or certain make-up looks to inspire me.

  This past Sunday I was cleaning my make-up brushes and sorted out my make-up when I came across two items that inspired the pictures you see on this post.

  One item was a bright green eyeshadow called, Jade, by Ben Nye and the other was the cheap-as-chips diamante style bracelet  that for some reason was in my make-up bag.

  The two items combined inspired me to shoot a few head shot pictures with the theme of, ‘Envious Greed’.
  I applied my make-up (and if anyone is interested I’ll note the colours at the end of the post) – then I simply got a feather boa and wrapped it around my face. I didn’t want to mess with the hairstyle but I wanted it to allude some extra glamour.
  I asked my son, who’s learning about basic photography, to take some simple headshots of me.

  I then picked two I liked and ran them through Adobe Photoshop. I have a plug-in for it called ‘Imagenomic: Portraiture’ and I literally set that to a function called ‘Glamour’ and played around with the light until I got the look I wanted – which was that of a glossy print ad. I then ran the curve tool which gave the picture more depth.

  It took about five minutes.

  Next time you are sorting out make-up or outfits think about how you can use them in your modeling work. You’d be surprised how you can use things around you to build a good photoshoot.

  If you don’t have Adobe Photoshop you can download a fully functional 30 day trial from www.adobe.com and as a model you would be best to get to know this program because it’s good to use for very basic to more detailed work.

  You can also resize your pictures in it which is invaluable. I’m always amazed how many models don’t have a clue how to use photo editing tools. I never see using photoshop as simply retouching either. It’s good to add light to a picture or turn photos to black and white.

  There are a ton of Photoshop tutorials online. I learned most of my basic Photoshop skills from free video tutorials and the rest I stumbled upon when using the program.

  
  The second picture here shows me in a slightly different light. Again, I played around in Photoshop with the curve and brightness/contrast tools to get to this final result.

  Don’t think you’re selling out by using Photoshop. You can use a little or a lot. Every picture you see in glossy magazines has been edited in some way. You can create some very artistic looks by using Photoshop. I have a mixture of very natural pictures and highly made up ones in my portfolio.

  As a pin-up model you can get away with a lot of artistic looks.

  Imagine what you can do with what’s around you; a pose, and five minutes in a photo editing program.

  For those who like my make-up here is a list of items I used and where I used them.

  Remember I used foundation, concealer and my eyeshadow base (Clinique touch base)  first.

  Ubran Decay: Eyeshadow (Honey) Used all over the eye first as well as underneath the lower lid.
  Ben Nye: Eyeshadow (Jade) Used from the middle of the eye blended to the outer corners and slightly flicked up at the ends. Plus, a little mixed under the eye to blend with the honey colour.
  Rimmel London: Black Liquid Liner (eye lids)
  Clinique Mascara: High Impact (Black)
  False eyelashes. I cut one in half and used them from the middle of the eye out.

  Shu Uemura: Blusher (Brick 65)
  Clinique: Lipstick (Red Drama) I only used this very lightly. It’s a lot darker when used fully.
  Lip liner (just a basic red)
  Clinique: Lip gloss (202 Cherry Spritzer)

  Further Links:

  Check out my six part make-up tutorial for a light evening look here

  Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/user/vanessareece

  More information on plus-size pin-up modeling can be found here:
  http://vanessareece.com/professional-plussize-model/