6

Modeling Tricks

“See that model. Gee, I wish I looked like that.”

Did you ever watch a magician pull a rabbit out of a hat or make a dollar bill disappear? If you have, you’ve marveled how he ever managed to do it. Then, later, when someone explained to you how the trick was done, you ceased to marvel; the mystery became commonplace. The very same thing applies to models. When you come to understand the aces that a model holds up her sleeve, you cease to wonder why she is so beautiful and begin to see how you too can be a beauty.

There are tricks in modeling, just as there are tricks in magic-making. In fact, there is a great deal of similarity between magicians and models, because both have a wonderful degree of control over their muscles. It is the magician’s muscle control that enables him to make a coin disappear, and it is a model’s control of her muscles that makes her look so straight and tall.

You never see a model slouch, you never see a model with her fanny poked out or her chin resting on her breastbone. A model knows that good posture is basic to a good figure, and that a good carriage goes hand in hand with a good posture. Not even the most perfect figure from the point of view of the tape measure can look well if it is slumped in the midsection and thrust out of joint at the hip.

To look your best you must get in the habit of standing tall—all in one line. Pull up from the top of your head. Tuck your fanny under and get your hips in line. Keep your chest high and your tummy in. Someone once told me to stand as if I wore a beautiful jewel that I wanted to show off at my bosom, and I think perhaps it is the best advice I can pass on to you.

One of the worst faults most of us have is that we do not stand up. Even when we are in a vertical position in relation to the ground, we still tend to sit down. Our rib cages are slumped into our waistline and our shoulders are bent forward. One way to correct this habit is to concentrate on your rib cage.

Think about it and try consciously to pull it up out of your waistline. A deep breath will show you how much you can bring your whole chest area up into the air. Even if you could, you wouldn’t have to hold your breath all the time in order to achieve good posture, but a deep breath every now and then is a good idea. It will help pull you into line.

Many teens seem to walk head first into everything—that is to say, they lead with their chin. This aggressive attitude comes from standing with the head jutted forward, shoulders slumped, and eyes focused on the ground. To correct this, bring your shoulders back, hold your neck straight, and let your chin fall into place so that it is directly above your breastbone. Keep your eyes straight ahead; you don’t have to look after your feet, they’ll take care of themselves. It won’t hurt a bit if, in the beginning, you carry this position to West Point extremes until you get the feel of what it is really like to stand tall.

Not like this. But like this.

How you stand greatly influences how you walk. It may seem like a little thing, but an ungainly walk can be the ruin of even the most attractive girl. You’ll realize this when you think how often comedians use a person’s walk to characterize humor. Mimics who mock shuffling gaits, knock-kneed and pigeon-toed walks, are funny on the stage, but if you walk that way in real life you’ll come to grief. Look to your own walk and see how it would bear up under criticism.

Furthermore, if only because clothes look well on girls who stand and walk well, you will want to practice good walking. A model works on her walk constantly, because she knows that to show off a design to its best advantage she has to move her body gracefully.

This is the way a model walks. Her feet are pointed straight ahead—toes neither in nor out. She moves her leg from the hip in a swinging stride and puts her heel down first. Every time she takes a step she picks up her feet; she does not just push them along. She holds her weight high and puts her feet down lightly, not as if they were bearing the full load of her body.

To walk gracefully one must move the leg in one piece. The movement should start at the point where the leg is joined to the hip and continue in an unbroken line to the ankle. In that way the leg moves forward in one sweeping movement, instead of propelling itself by a series of awkward disjointed jerks. These jerks you sometimes see come from bending the knee as you walk and actually using the movement as the point from which the forward movement begins. Get in the habit of moving your leg from the hip—if you’ve ever studied modern dance, you’ll know the feeling it gives, the sensation of fluid movement.

Some of you may have found this insistence of mine on how you stand and walk rather silly and tedious. I hope you won’t think so when I point out to you that your posture and carriage greatly bear on how well you dance. A girl who stands with a sway back all day long is not magically going to change and be erect on the dance floor. Oh, no; her fanny will be just as outstanding—and what’s more, it may be even worse, since her back is bent slightly more than normal as she leans against her partner. A girl who shuffles her feet along school corridors and city pavements will still shuffle every bit as much on the dance floor; moreover, she’ll probably shuffle right onto the long suffering toes of her partner. To be light on your feet, you have to pick your feet up and put them down again in a definite, precise movement.

Give some thought to how you look when you are dancing. After all, what the stag line sees of you is your posture—your face is hidden in the crook of your partner’s arm. It is your back that is on display—plus the way you hold yourself. If you’re sagging in the middle and dispiritedly moving along, you won’t be a pretty sight from the sidelines. So the next time you get up to dance, pull in those tummy muscles, tuck in your fanny, pull up your rib cage, and then dance. If you keep your arm lightly on your partner’s shoulder and your head high, you’ll look as light as a thistledown, be you five feet one or five feet eleven.

Right now is as good a time as any to banish a misconception that many tall girls have. They believe that they can camouflage their height by slumping. Well, it is just not true. If you are tall, you’ll still look tall if you slump, and you’ll be awkward besides. There is nothing to be done about height except to wear it well. Stand up to your full number of inches and be proud that you can see over the crowd. Tall girls are blessed with their height, for they and they alone can wear the extremes of fashion. Most models are tall; they have to be in order to show off complicated clothes.

If most of the boys you know are unfortunately shorter than you, you won’t get down to their level by slumping, so what’s the use trying and ruining your appearance in the process? Chances are that in time you’ll find a man as tall as you, and in the meantime make the best of it. Be consoled by the fact that the long-legged gal is the gal most often selected as the typical American beauty.

More than medium-sized girls and short ones, tall girls understand the importance of shoes. They know the difference it makes to wear a pair of flats or a pair of heels. In the main, it is better for everyone, short or tall, to wear flats during the day. They give your feet the proper support and good balance. Good balance is a necessary part of graceful movement—as you realized, perhaps, the first time you tried on ice skates and found that your balance depended on two thin blades.

In choosing your flats don’t get too low down. Do be careful to select those with a little heel. Absolutely flat shoes do not give the foot sufficient support, with the result that your heel tends to turn inward and your whole foot is thrown out of line. Ballet slippers were designed for ballerinas to dance in, not to walk in.

At the opposite end of the scale, when buying your party slippers don’t go to the other extreme and buy the spindliest heel you can find. Very few people can balance on such precarious pinpoints. Keep your heel height a happy medium, about half-inch heels for flats and anywhere from two to two and a half for good pumps.

If you are unaccustomed to wearing a heel, even the most moderate kind, try out your new heels before appearing at a party. Nothing looks quite so ridiculous as a girl mincing about in a pair of heels which she has not yet learned how to handle. Remember that your balance changes with your heel height, so be sure you know how to make the adjustment before you soar out on your next date.

One of the most important things for any teen to realize is that she is always on display—except in the privacy of her own bedroom. That is why you should practice your posture, your walk, and even how to handle your heels. You are being looked at by somebody every time you walk down the street, twirl on the dance floor, or drink a Coke at the drugstore. Therefore, keep your muscles in trim and your body in line so that you need never fear how you look.

A model learns by practice how to keep herself in line. She is not afraid to catch a glimpse of herself in a store mirror, because she knows that she is standing tall and walking freely. You can tell from the way she moves that she knows what she is about. A model has reached the point where she has so disciplined her muscles that they behave the way they ought to without having to be constantly reminded.

If you’ve ever watched a model in repose, you’ll notice that she stands with one foot at a right angle to the other, rather like a ballet dancer. She takes this pose so often before the camera that it becomes natural to her. It would be well if it became natural to you, for it is one of the most flattering and comfortable ways to stand.

The reason that this particular pose has been selected out of all others is that it throws the body into profile. The camera, you know, adds ten pounds to a figure, and therefore the less body you show to it, the less it has to work with. Thus a trained model knows how to stand three-quarter view, hips in profile and shoulders swung forward.

These are good hints to bear in mind when you are having your picture taken. If you remember just a few of them you’ll never have reason to regret a snapshot. The awful part of snapshots usually is that the ones we like least turn out to be the ones people save, so, if you’re guided by these suggestions, you’ll reduce your chances of having unflattering pictures of you in public view.

One of the cardinal rules of posing for a picture is to remember that whatever is nearest the camera will photograph the largest. If you are snapped on the beach with your legs and feet pointing straight on, your big toe will look as large as your head. If you put out your hand toward the camera, like a policeman directing traffic, your hand will seem as large as your torso.

Of all the parts of the body, hands are usually the hardest to control when posing for a picture. Often the best thing to do with them is to lose them—that is, put them behind your back or in some way get them out of the picture. You can put them at your waist with your elbows akimbo if you choose. It takes a great deal of skill to manage hands well—actresses are often noted for the way they use their hands—but ordinary human beings seem to get tangled in them, with too many fluttery gestures. So unless you know what to do with your hands, the best thing to do is nothing.

Next to hands, legs are most difficult to tuck away neatly. Especially in beach snapshots, they seem to extend from the body in alarming proportions. If you are having a picture taken at the beach, get your legs in profile with your knees slightly bent. If you want your face turned toward the camera, keep your legs to the side, but turn your shoulders full on. This will give a full view of your face, but keep your legs in proportion. Lying, standing or sitting, always try to keep your legs together, not sprawled apart.

Thinking about all these things at once before the camera goes click is not easy to do. A model learns how to do it fast because she has to do it often. But any girl can learn to do it too with a little practice. It is a valuable lesson in muscle control. If you doubt it, just try holding any pose you fancy for a half a minute—not so easy as it sounds, is it?

Learning how to make your body move the way you want it to and make it stay that way is good training for coordination. And muscular coordination is something that will stand you in good stead all your life. Coordination counts—in the field of sports, on the dance floor, and even in the business of having your picture taken.

One of the most-looked-at pictures any teen has taken is the picture for her school yearbook. This picture need not ever cause any qualms if you give some thought to it. Remember all the little things I have been pointing out in this chapter and you’ll make a pretty finished print.

Keep in mind that an absolutely flat full-face view is not flattering. Slightly three-quarters to full profile will do more for your features. Your photographer will be aware of all this, of course, and pose you accordingly. So do what he says without quibbling.

To a photography appointment wear a white tailored blouse (unless your school has a prescribed uniform). Wear no jewelry, except perhaps a strand of pearls. As to makeup, wear lipstick and a bit of powder—take your photographer’s advice as to how much to put on. Above all, do not change your hair style before your appointment—such experiments may turn out too disastrously, and you don’t want to go down in history looking like a freak. Do go to your appointment with your hair arranged neatly, clean, and well combed.