New York Fashion Week
All of the ELLEgirl Model Search contestants had the opportunity to go to New York to audition for shows in Fashion week. I walked for two shows: Indashio and WTB, designed by Richie Sambora and Nikki Lund.
Thursday night was the Indashio show. I arrived at 6:30 to hair and makeup. The energy backstage was crazy! Models were running around, stage hands were setting things up, there were photographers and video cameras everywhere snapping candid pictures every second… you could feel the excitement all around.
I sat down to get my hair done by one of the stylists. He got to work curling and pinning and scrunching until he got the results he wanted: beautiful retro waves. Then I was hustled over to makeup where one of the Makeup Forever Alliance artists grabbed me and got to work. She did bright gold shadow all around my eye and double winged liner with dark purple lipstick. The whole time I was getting primped, photographers and video cameras kept walking by and taking pictures of me. After my hair and makeup were done a bunch of the models went out into the hallway to practice our walks. The walk for this show was very “New York”, as in very straight, no movement in the hips or arms, and a fierce expression. When we were done practicing, we went backstage to get into our outfits. The clothes were all very sparkly, slinky, and bright. I loved them! It was time to line up to walk, and my heart started pounding! I was so excited and nervous. When I got to the runway and stepped out onto the stage, all the nervousness vanished and all I could see were bright lights and excited faces of the audience. I felt so fierce on stage! The show went amazingly well. It was so exciting and everything went perfectly.
Both shows were so different. The first was very vampy and over the top, the second was more classic and rock-n-roll.
Friday night was the WTB (white trash beautiful) show. I showed up to hair and makeup at 3:30, and the process started all over again. This time, my hair was teased out about 5 inches above my head, then pulled back really tight into a half ponytail. The makeup for this show was very different then the night before. We had iridescent turquoise eye shadow that reminded me of a mermaid’s tail, and no eyeliner at all, and peachy pink lip-gloss. I spent a lot of time backstage giving interviews for the New York Times Page 6, AOL, and the Sephora blog, and getting lots of pictures taken. I got into my outfit, complete with shoes and jewelry by WTB. The clothes for this show were so different. They were very funky, mostly leather, and very sexy. They were designed for a “rock and roll girl”. The walk was also different for this show. We were allowed to have a little more movement in the hips, and they wanted a sly, sexy smile on our faces, sort of like we had a dirty little secret. The excitement and energy backstage was just as high and just as crazy! We were lining up and the same excited/ nervous feeling came back. It was my turn to walk, and again it went away and I felt fierce and powerful. Afterwards, the ELLEgirls got to meet the designers and did an interview with them.
Fashion week was an amazing experience and I am so thankful to the ELLEgirl model search for giving me the opportunity for this experience and helping me achieve my dreams!
