Liung wrote:
Tips? Advice? Consolation?

a wider heel will have more surface area to balance on vs a stiletto.

FIFTYONE PHOTOGRAPHY wrote:

a wider heel will have more surface area to balance on vs a stiletto.

Depending on the show she might not even get to pick her shoes, but as a general rule if you ARE asked to provide your own...plain stilettos are always the better aesthetic choice

Laura UnBound wrote:
you simply need leg and ankle strengthening and balancing exercises, and that's not something you'll accomplish in a weekend unfortunately.

For the short term, my most obvious advice is to try walking with more purpose. Dont just put your foot down when you step - plant it. It's easy for anybody to roll an ankle when they're just sort of strolling along, but if you're paying attention to making sure your foot is landing the way you intend it to, you're less likely to slip up. Part of that exaggeration you see in a lot of supermodel walks is that they're walking heavy, almost stomping.

Excellent advice, thanks! Specific focus on ankle strengthening is definitely not something I’ve heard of before but I’ll absolutely look into it. I like the way you put that, though, planting your feet. It’s a good visual! Yet one more thing to think about, I’m definitely getting flashbacks to learning how to ride horses and having to keep a bazillion things in mind all at once. But likely this too becomes second nature with enough practice—I remember my coach nearly crying with happiness when she noticed I had my heels down even while riding bareback.

The two aren’t entirely dissimilar for a good portion of advice, either: chin up, eyes up, hands down, hips forward, shoulders back and back straight, look where you want to go! And above all, make it look effortless!

The footwork for the turns has been the most complicated so far but once someone phrased it as “make your feet like a T” it kinda clicked as being like a certain figure skating turn, so I think I won’t make a complete idiot of myself.

FIFTYONE PHOTOGRAPHY wrote:

a wider heel will have more surface area to balance on vs a stiletto.

I think the wobbling is improved with a wider heel, but for my own shoes I tend to stay away from wider heels. I have a pair of heeled booties that have a heel diameter of about an inch and a half at the bottom, maybe a bit more, and I’ve had numerous incidents where I didn’t put my foot down completely flat, the edge of the heel slipped sideways and down I went onto the ground. Or at least, that’s what I assume is happening based on my foot suddenly sliding out from under me. Happens typically on hard, smooth floors, like in malls or restaurants. It is highly embarrassing and painful every time it happens.

Perhaps it wouldn’t happen in a catwalk setting due to being more mindful of my steps, but understandably I think, I’ve never tried to wear them in a professional setting. I haven’t fallen on my face in front of an actual audience yet and I’m keen to keep it that way! And whether by chance or subconscious aversion, I haven’t really bought wide heels since.

I don’t have this issue with wedge heels, but wedges aren’t really catwalk shoes I think!

I don’t know yet what this show will entail in the way of clothes/shoes, but for the audition I’m just sticking with my black pumps.

FIFTYONE PHOTOGRAPHY wrote:

a wider heel will have more surface area to balance on vs a stiletto.

Only in a few rare cases, the models have to wear either tan or black heels they have purchased themselves. It's usually the same heels they have to bring to auditions.

The bigger the shows, the more likely the model will be provided with shoes from a sponsor that might also not fit correctly!

Liung wrote:
This weekend however there's an actual audition coming up, which I decided to try out for. I've been watching a lot of YouTube tutorial videos for tips in preparation (if you have any favourites, please drop me a link!) but I've yet to see any mention of the one problem I know for sure I have: ankles. Mine are wobbly.

Lacking any formal training, my efforts to teach myself how to walk in high heels back when I first started modelling consisted of "just wear them all the time until it feels natural and not awkward". And I think I've succeeded... Except that with every step I take, apparently, my ankles wobble at least a little bit. This isn't a criticism I've had in any modelling setting, but my sister pointed it out to me one day while we were out walking and now I notice it all the time.

Tips? Advice? Consolation?

Okay, I have to put on my pro-hat here!

I have shot over 2,400 runway shows in my career. I have been part of hundreds and hundreds of fashion show productions.

Unfortunately, my quick fix solution is to live through this event. Look forward towards the press pit, do not look down (closed eyes and eyes not focused on the front will be deleted by any photographer and editor worth their salt.

After you went through this upcoming event... you have to train your ankles and calves through strength exercises. Good ones are those that you do for inline speed skating, because wobbly ankles are a big problem doing this.

It will take a few weeks of training... but you'll handle the runway like Naomi Campbell (who I've shot on the runway many times at New York Fashion Week), who is just a rockstar on the runway. Oh..., and it helps you in the rest of your non-fashion life too...

Now, if the actual fashionshow is a few weeks away... even a week, start those exercises asap, because it will help already.

https://youtu.be/c2Di3y6LfmE

Liung wrote:
The actual show isn’t until May, though there will be rehearsals before then, so I’ve got lots of time to practice and do these ankle strengthening exercises. The mention of inline skating is interesting, I recently unearthed my figure skates and Guelph has a fountain in front of the City Hall that turns into a skating rink in the winter, perhaps it’s worth going out to do that!

If I can brave the -30’C weather, that is. Brr.

Thanks for all the advice and I’ll be sure to practice lots in the coming months!

Great! You'll be fine... do your figure skating and those exercises since you have time.

Also, if it's that far out date-wise... wait until next week with before you follow up. 

P.S.: Chaos backstage is totally normal... right up to the line-up! 

Liung wrote:
I passed the audition!

Congratulations!

Chances are there will be some sort of choreographer around to correct the models’ walks. If not, the organizer may do so.

Liung wrote:
I’ve yet to be in a show that wasn’t an unmitigated disaster behind the scenes, so this will be a nice change of pace.

One makeup artist I know participates in every fashion show that she can. She says she’s addicted to the organized chaos. lol

Liung wrote:
First fashion show I was in, as I mentioned, was supposed to be an accessories company, but they bailed.

If the designer/manufacturer bailed, most likely it was because it was obvious that the show was shaping up to be a trainwreck.

Most likely it wasn’t a large or well-known company like Fendi, Louis Vuitton or Kate Spade. First, they don’t do shows in small markets. Second, they are very particular about who coordinates their shows, the preparations that are made and how well the show is managed.

Typically, they will have a brand manager working closely with the coordinator throughout the preparation period and through a major show.

If a show is being sponsored by a bar or club, it won’t have the polish and attention to detail that you’d expect from a top designer’s show.

Liung wrote:
The models didn’t show up. I think there were supposed to be 10-15 of us, only 6 showed up and two left after sitting in the lounge for ages with nothing happening because also: The makeup artist completely didn’t show up. The hair person was two hours late. The brand rep was several hours late. The photographer was even later. The show finally limped forward with a great deal of improv and panicked flailing.

This isn’t an issue with a major designer’s shows. They use top agency models, and top agency models show up. It’s what they do – or at least part of it. If a designer or coordinator complains to the agency that a model showed up 10 minutes late (even if there was a good reason, in most cases), that model will essentially be on probation for a while at best.

Liung wrote:
next up was Frederick’s of Hollywood who wanted to show their new swimwear line. I don’t think the club owner actually met anyone in person, he put an ad out, I responded with a couple pictures, I was added into the email thread for the models and organizers and told when to show up and what to wear.

In the overall scheme of things, Frederick’s is a relatively low-end retailer. My guess is that Frederick’s didn’t decide to do x fashion shows for a particular season (most likely spring/summer) and pick Guelph as a site for one of their shows.

Most likely, they were persuaded by a coordinator or possibly the bar owner to sponsor a show there.

Liung wrote:
The models didn’t show up. I think there were supposed to be 10-15 of us, only 6 showed up and two left after sitting in the lounge for ages with nothing happening because also: The makeup artist completely didn’t show up. The hair person was two hours late. The brand rep was several hours late. The photographer was even later. The show finally limped forward with a great deal of improv and panicked flailing.

Unless they are put together by an experienced organizer, shows like these are pretty much low-budget operations. The models, MUAs, etc., aren’t paid well and possibly aren’t paid at all. If they aren’t being paid, the flake rate might not be much better than what some MM photographers experience for trade shoots.

If I were the only MUA, and if I were expected to do makeup before the show for 10-15 models (and freshen it during the show), I probably would have shown up either. lol

Having more than 3-4 models for each MUA is a very bad omen. A very-experienced MUA can work much faster than one who just graduated from cosmetology school. Still, it’s reasonable to allow at least 30 minutes for makeup. When you add time for hair, the time is more like 45 minutes to an hour for makeup and hair.

Having one MUA for every two models wouldn’t be an outrageous expenditure. In a top designer’s show, some (and possibly most) of the models are likely to be making upwards of $1,000/hour.

With one MUA per two models, the models could arrive about two hours later than if there was one MUA per four models. You can do the math.

In that show, even the brand rep didn’t take it seriously.

Liung wrote:
apparently all the other girls had done a fitting at the bridal boutique before hand, and since they were doing body type inclusivity they were actually pretty short on things small enough to fit me.

You’ve hit upon something that many amateur models who want to become top professional fashion models consider to be grossly unfair. In fact, I’ve seen many MM profiles over the years by new 5’ 3” or 5’ 4” models who vow to take the fashion industry by storm.

It hasn’t happened yet, and it isn’t likely to happen in the foreseeable future. The are reasons why top fashion models are at least 5’ 9” (Elite’s CEO has announced that Elite is now focusing on models 5’ 10” and up) and Size 2 or smaller for females.

First, most fashion designers are convinced that their designs look best on tall, slender models. It’s been that way for decades, and their belief is not without foundation.

Second, when you standardize the size of the models, you can standardize the size of the garments for fashion shows, and the models become somewhat interchangeable.

Let’s assume that there’s an afternoon show during Fashion Week in Milan. There are 20 models, each of whom will wear three different garments during the rotation, and some will wear four. You don’t have to spend hours figuring out which sizes fit which models. Everything is Size 2.

Generally, models who are Size 0 or 1 look good in a Size 2, and some models who are Size 3 or even 4 look good in some Size 2 garments. But virtually all of the models are Size 2.

Let’s say that two models are unable to participate. One model wakes up with the flu, and maybe another is accosted in the city. It happens…

In 2016, Kim Kardashian was tied up and robbed of $10 million in jewelry in her hotel room in Paris. Gigi Hadid (who had been assaulted previously in Milan) and other models promptly beefed up their security details.

If a model is unable to meet a commitment, the agency will send another model to fill in (assuming that’s agreeable to the client). But what if the model is in Milan, and her agency and handler are in NYC?

For all practical purposes, the garments are “one size fits all,” at least for the participating models. Redistributing the garments on short notice just before the show is pretty simple and straightforward.

Liung wrote:
the show was really badly organized and the audience was left waiting for 20-30 minutes at a time between walks with an MC who was under the mistaken impression he could sing

facepalm

Liung wrote:
Is my disastrous experience with shows in fact completely normal?

That depends on where you are.

Here’s how it works in some mid-size markets. I can’t say how it works in all of them.

There’s one or more people in town who individually coordinate maybe 1-3, fashion shows a year. This person could be a smallish fashion designer, a wardrobe stylist, a boutique owner or even a former model – someone who has enough knowledge and experience in the fashion industry to pull it off.

Most likely, it’s not their full-time job.

The first step is to find a sponsor for a show – someone to pay the bills. Companies like Fiat, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz sponsor fashion shows here from time to time, or it could be a group of local designers and/or boutique owners.

Just as an example, if the coordinator wants Mercedes-Benz to sponsor a show, she (I don’t know any men who do this) knows at least one local dealer fairly well. The dealer (who hopefully does a high volume in MB sales) approaches someone at MBUSA with a proposal to sponsor a show.

If MB agrees to sponsor the show, they will expect each MB dealer in the area to contribute some money and manpower (for transporting things back and forth, setting up before the show and tearing down afterward, etc.). MB would be referred to in promotional materials as the sponsor.

If it’s a go, the coordinator/promoter will contact local boutiques and designers about providing garments for the show (for which the provider will pay for participation).

This is not unlike how co-op advertising works. For example, if Bergdorf-Goodman decides to buy a full page to advertise Michael Kors designs, Michael Kors has a program under which they will pay a percentage (typically about 50%) of the cost of the ad.

The coordinator will contact models, MUAs and others who have participated in past shows and may send out a casting call. The local runway coach and others are brought in as needed.

Typically the show is booked in a relatively small theater, a local opera house or a similar venue, but I’ve seen shows where a dealer cleared the showroom and held the show at the dealership. Rehearsals are held.

The sponsor pays for advertising and promoting the show (among other things).

The dealer who submitted the idea to MBUSA, expecting a production that MB can be proud of, invites someone from the national distributor’s headquarters to attend, opening the door for repeat shows in the future.

There is a mall in St. Louis that contains retails stores owned by (to name a few) Brooks Brothers, Chicos, Coach, David Yurman, Eileen Fisher, Evereve (which sells a variety of labels), Kate Spade, Kendra Scott, Lilly Pulitzer, Louis Vuitton, Lulu Lemon, MAC, Michael Kors, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany & Co.

While only a few of those brands have participated in local fashion shows, some of the other marketers of high-end clothing, jewelry, etc., in that mall have been showing more interest lately.

That only comes when people know what they’re doing.

Camerosity wrote:

You’ve hit upon something that many amateur models who want to become top professional fashion models consider to be grossly unfair. In fact, I’ve seen many MM profiles over the years by new 5’ 3” or 5’ 4” models who vow to take the fashion industry by storm.

Oh no, I'm 5'8 and well aware I'm a little too short to actually be a proper runway model. I mean that the show was including plus size models, and I guess the models who bailed and I was filling in for were mostly plus-size. So of the dresses they had left over, most were much larger than the 0-2 size I would fit in. Both the body suit and the skirt I ended up in took a lot of safety pins to fit me properly. My understanding is that these were not dresses intended for the runway, but actually were all products from the bridal boutique that produced them.

Camerosity wrote:
It also looks like you were one of the tallest models there.

Especially since I was in socks and they were all in high heels! Though the headpiece added a LOT of apparent height.

Though, maybe to be expected, both for Asian fashion and kimono fashion in particular, that height is not as important as western fashion. The thing with kimono is that it's not meant to make the wearer look good; the wearer is meant to make the kimono look good. The ideal shape for a kimono is a column: no curves! Curves will distort the pattern and straight lines of the garment! So traditionally women are to wear a lot of padding to completely obscure any hip or bust curves. I learned this over the course of getting ready for the show, it was fascinating!

And then they got to dressing me and there was no padding! I got very confused. But Mamechiyo is a design genius, and in order to fuse traditional kimono with western fashion shapes (in my case, an A-line skirt) my outfit was actually comprised of TWO separate kimonos that had just one arm each, layered onto me. That allowed it to spread out over the crinoline and still be gorgeous and display the beautiful pattern, and to leave me with a small waist and mostly-curvy figure. I still had to wear a binder bra, though.

Also, kimono itself as a garment is very one-size-fits-all. Or at least, way more than western clothes are, anyway. All kimono would drag on the floor by a lot if you didn't do the particular fold of the fabric under the obi belt that adjusts the hem to the proper height. (Mine did not have that fold and so dragged on the floor.) So for the most part, two people with several inches difference in height can wear the same kimono with no issues whatsoever. On me, the kimono sleeves were above my wrists, but that was okay. It is acceptable for kimono sleeves to be near your first knuckles all the way to above the wrists. It's such a versatile garment!

And really cool? Like I was sure I would be absolutely dying of heat, but while my hands got red because of my poor blood circulation, that was it. No sweating. Silk is actually really light and breezy, even though it's heavy. I don't think any of the models got overheated.

LnN Studio wrote:
I think today fewer young women wear traditional heels that often so in addition to the ankle exercises start wearing heels more frequently.

Basically the way I taught myself to walk in heels was to just start wearing them all the time. A teacher a long time ago said that the easiest way to learn to use chopsticks was to just use them nonstop for a week, and now I get stared at when I pick chopsticks over forks and use them with ease. So I basically applied the same principle, lol.

There's a brand of shoes from Payless that are ridiculously comfortable, so I wear them a lot. Flip flops are really uncomfortable to me, to constantly have to flex my toes to keep them on, so actually when I just want to go out quickly and not bother with socks I typically put on my heels! I have a pair of black pumps that are getting pretty tattered, I wear them so much. When they started wearing out I went back to Payless and bought another, identical pair so I'd have a non-worn pair to use for modelling.



^I brought nice black slingbacks to the show and then in the rush of getting ready totally forgot to switch, and nobody noticed so I walked out in my tatty pumps with the peeling heels!

RIP Payless, when they went out of business I dashed out and bought a third pair of black pumps (black pumps are eternal) and then the same shoe again in shiny nude.

But I have started having a problem with heels; sometimes, without warning, my toes start seizing painfully. It feels like the tendons in my foot have suddenly started contracting and my toes are forced upwards and I nearly fall to the ground in pain. I never used to know why they did this, it would be once in a blue moon. But ever since I started mermaiding, it's been happening more often--foot cramps are a super common problem in mermaiding. I'm now coming to realize that while it's triggered by my toes being pointed for an extended period, mostly, the chances it will happen will GREATLY increase if I've been wearing "bad" footwear. If I spend a day wearing heels, and the next day I go mermaiding, almost guaranteed I will have a footcramp.

This is potentially dangerous: my one tail is a basic fabric and if I'm trouble I can easily pop my feet out of the monofin and shove the tail down and free myself. But my other tail I am zipped into, and the last time I swam in it the person who zipped me up also did up the latch and hook closure at the top. I got a footcramp, tried to get out of the tail, and couldn't undo the hook on my own. I managed to fight through the pain to get to the edge of the pool and someone helped me undo it, but... a little dangerous.


The past few months I've been avoiding heels altogether except for modelling, because I suddenly developed a distinct numb spot underneath my toes. A bit of Googling later turned up "Morton's Neuroma" https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con … c-20351935 "High-heeled shoes have been linked to the development of Morton's neuroma." GREAT. JUST GREAT. It went away eventually but that's a pretty clear "you're causing damage to your feet" warning sign.

I'm trying to get around to going to see an orthopedist but somehow I think they're just going to tell me "stop wearing heels". Ughhhhhhhhh.