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What are the requirements for becoming a top-ranked fashion model or supermodel?

Forbes.com posted an article, by Kiri Blakeley, on how to be a supermodel a few months ago.  It has some shortcomings that need to be addressed.

Here are the ten steps toward supermodeldom, according to forbes.com:

  1. Be at least five foot nine, weighing 110 to 120 Ibs. This would give you a body-mass index of about 16 to 18. "Models starve themselves, and we tell them to," says Richard Habberley, a top agent with Elite, which reps Victoria's Secret hottie Alessandra Ambrosio grin and Maybelline face Jessica White.
  2. Be Photogenic. Send sample photos to a local or national modeling agency. Don't bother spending money on professional photos. Agents can spot your potential from one Polaroid. It also helps if you have whatever look is "in" at the time. This season, it is pale, otherworldly-looking girls who have one "flaw"--a large nose, a gap in her front teeth. Remember, next season, the in look could be completely out.
  3. Get Signed. Move to a big city like New York and have a big agency, like IMG Models or Elite Model Management, behind you.
  4. Be Quiet. Models don't say much of anything during their casting sessions and runway shows. "They have to be a beautiful blank slate," says model rep Ivan Bart.
  5. Don't Party. Don't Be a Diva. Models who are late to a 9 a.m. hair and makeup session or come with bags under their eyes will quickly develop a bad reputation. "These are long days," says Edward Razek, who chooses which models get Victoria's Secret contracts. "Attitude is important. We are not interested in divas." Hear that, Naomi Campbell?
  6. Befriend Powerful People. Getting noticed by an editor like Anna Wintour or a photographer like Steven Meisel can mean the difference between being an anonymous runway stalker or a famous supermodel.
  7. Date Celebrities. Gisele Bundchen dated Leonardo DiCaprio and is now hooked up with quarterback Tom Brady. Kate Moss has an on-off (currently off) relationship with drug-addled Brit rocker Pete Doherty. If you're the face of Estée Lauder, choose your celebrity boyfriend wisely. The brand has a "morals clause" in its contract.
  8. Expand Your Brand. Gisele Bundchen licenses her name to a footwear company and may be starting a lingerie line at H&M. Kate Moss has a line of clothing at retailer TopShop. Heidi Klum designs a line of jewelry through Mouawad.
  9. Now You Can Talk. Tyra Banks has two TV shows (The Tyra Banks Show and America's Next Top Model); Heidi Klum has one (Project Runway). Gisele Bundchen has had roles in movies like Taxi and The Devil Wears Prada. Alessandra Ambrosio had role in HBO's Entourage.
  10. Don't Gain Weight. Ever. Heidi Klum was lauded by the press for appearing runway-ready a mere eight weeks after giving birth to her second child. Shortly afterward, she renegotiated her deal with Victoria's Secret. Tyra Banks, who doesn't even model anymore, was excoriated for some paparazzi photos showing she'd gotten a bit wide in the hips.

Heather Blessington added additional requirements:

  • Take your clothes off.
  • Sleep with your modeling agent and/or booker.
  • Be serious arm candy.
  • Wear teeny tiny skirts to castings.
  • Get a boob job.
  • Sell your soul.

There is a conflict between getting breast implants, which Heather added, and being very thin, which is strongly emphasized by Kiri Blakeley, but a number of supermodels do have breast implants.  How does one explain the conflict?  Whereas supermodels do not exist anymore, the term is still used to refer to fashion models who have a strong presence on both the runway and in commercial modeling/the general media.  So how can a woman have a strong presence in two types of modeling that, on average, have different requirements?  This is where both forbes.com and Heather Blessington come up short.  The explanation will prevent wasted time on the part of some girls who think they have what it takes to be a top model as well as encourage some clueless girls with the right potential to see a modeling agency.

The ideal high-fashion model is a tall, skinny and masculinized girl in her mid-teens.  The closer she approximates the looks of boys in their early adolescence, the better, and if she does an excellent job at this, then some of her shortcomings will be overlooked.  For instance, Kate Moss in her mid-teens bore such an uncanny resemblance to a typical boy in his early adolescence that her shortness was ignored by the fashion people.

After a few years of being heavily booked by top fashion designers, the girl has made her mark on the runway.  She has also been growing up and starts filling out slightly in her breasts and developing wider hips.  In other words, her looks start leaning toward androgyny whereas when she started it was like those of boys in their early adolescence.  At this stage she may get some opportunities to model lingerie.  Whereas she will become less pleasing to some fashion designers enamored with adolescent boys, she will become more pleasing to fashion designers into androgynous looks or the appearance of male-to-female transsexuals.  She starts making a name as a lingerie model.  This allows her the freedom to afford to somewhat deviate from the requirements of high-fashion modeling, as in gaining some weight, which would make her more suitable for lingerie/swimsuit modeling, but she has also gotten older, and, in her early twenties, she is starting to get too old for high-fashion modeling, and hence it is not ill advised for her to trade in looks more suitable for lingerie/swimsuit modeling with looks better suited to high-fashion modeling.  At this stage she may get breast implants to improve her appeal as a lingerie/swimsuit model.  When she is well-known, fashion designers have less of a problem using her on the runway because her fame compensates for her age and weight.

So this, in a nutshell, is the path to becoming a supermodel.  There are some gaps in the account, but they will be filled by behaviors such as sleeping around with fashion industry personnel and/or running into luck, as in coming across and befriending powerful people or dating celebrities.

An illustrative example will help.

Alessandra Ambrosio

Fig 1. Alessandra Ambrosio.

The first two rows in Fig. 1 show candids of Alessandra Ambrosio in her twenties, much past her high-fashion modeling prime.  One can imagine how she looked like in her teens, when she was discovered by the fashion industry.  The last row shows professional photos of Alessandra Ambrosio.  Note the wonders careful posing can achieve.  Many pictures of Alessandra show enlarged breasts that either result from padded bras, digital editing or breast implants.  Alessandra is a big-name Victoria’s Secret lingerie model.  One has to wonder why Victoria’s Secret goes through the trouble of picking masculinized women and make them suitable for lingerie modeling via careful posing, digital editing and sometimes breast implants when there are feminine and attractive women aplenty to choose from for a company with its resources?  The answer is Ed Razek or something he represents.

Edward Razek with Gisele Bundchen

Fig 2. Edward Razek with Gisele Bundchen.  Forbes.com rated Razek as one of the five most important people in modeling.

Ed Razek has been hand-picking Victoria’s Secret models for 15 years.  One can make a reasonable guess about his sexual orientation since he would never use a woman like the one shown in Fig. 3.

Amy from Spunky angels

Fig 3. Amy from Spunky angels.  By the standards of high-fashion modeling, Amy is old and obese.  Though she isn’t old for lingerie modeling, she would be regarded as fat and lacking oomph [for people of some sexual orientations].  Note that Amy is an amateur glamour model and her pictures are amateur photos.  If professionals can do wonders for Alessandra Ambrosio, how much easier will it be for them to make Amy look better?

Der Wanderer posted the following:

Let me introduce to you one of Ambrosius “handlers” (and his “friend”) :

Alessandra Ambrosio, Richard Habberley

Alessandra Ambrosio/Elite at her 24th birthday bash alongside Elite’s Richard Habberley and friend at Suede.
 
(source)

Who’s the “handler” and who’s the “friend”, I couldn’t say.
But you get the point.

If I recall correctly, masculinized supermodel Stephanie Seymour reported that big designer Giorgio Armani had sex with her when she was 16; Seymour started modeling at 14.  With time, Armani gravitated from bisexuality to more exclusive homosexuality.  So when Heather Blessington mentions the requirement of sleeping around with fashion industry personnel, one can imagine what kind of men these often are.

Kiri Blakeley had this to say about Victoria’s Secret models:

At Victoria's Secret, which has made superstars out of dozens of models, including Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Alessandra Ambrosio, executives don't have to rely on personal preference to pick their next faces. They can measure a girl's potential in cold hard cash.

“Some girls sell incredibly well,” says Chief Marketing Officer Edward Razek. Computers track each photograph in every catalog. Not surprisingly, girls who move merchandise end up moving up the corporate ladder to supermodeldom.

This is misleading.  Blakeley makes it sound as if the purchasing behavior of consumers determines who gets to be a top model.  The girls moving merchandize are the ones who appeal to the personal preferences of the majority of big names in the fashion business, and this majority is of an atypical sexual orientation.    

The forbes.com article featured a photo series on a day in the life of an aspiring supermodel, featuring 17-year-old Edythe Hughes, and said that time will tell whether she makes it big.

Edythe Hughes

Fig 4. Edythe Hughes.

What success can Edythe Hughes expect?  She is insufficiently masculine to make it big as a high-fashion model.  In 2007, “she strutted the runways in New York for Vera Wang, Rebecca Taylor and Jill Stuart” and was being advanced $150 per week by her agency for expenses related to modeling.  Not good since the big designers with atypical sexual orientations didn’t sign her up.  She did better the year before when she was signed up by Calvin Klein as an “exclusive model” and made $9,500 for one show (net earnings about $5,000), but she was younger and had a less feminine physique then.  In the event that Edythe Hughes fills out and becomes more suitable for lingerie/swimsuit modeling, the fact that she never made it big as a high-fashion model would make it highly unlikely that she becomes a supermodel.

Blakeley’s article had some comments at odds with each other:

So how does a pretty teen girl go from nobody to supermodel?

“It’s the girl who never thought she could who gets discovered. The prettiest girl in school doesn’t always make the best model,” says Ivan Bart, a top agent with IMG Models, which reps Bundchen, Heidi Klum and Kate Moss.

Ivan Bart’s comment is closer to reality than Blakeley’s before it.  Bart’s description should be regarded as an euphemism.  The reality is that high-fashion models typically have a history of being widely regarded as unattractive or even ugly by their peers and being teased for their looks before signing up as models.  This is because most people’s idea of an attractive girl isn’t one who looks like a boy in his early adolescence.

So the take home message for teenage girls reading this should be much clearer than the picture from Kiri Blakeley’s article or the commentary by Heather Blessington.  Girls who look like [skinny] adolescent boys should see a fashion modeling agency ASAP.  There is no time to waste, and it is not a problem if they are, say, 5-foot-7.  Remember, outstanding features by the standards of the fashion industry, the yardstick of which is the degree to which one resembles a boy in his early adolescence, renders one less likely to be rejected for shortcomings on some typical requirements.  Another example of tolerance for non-standard features provided that they are accompanied by features regarded as desirable by industry personnel is that tall, slender teenage girls who are not so masculine have a chance at fashion modeling if they have fine facial features, pale skin and blonde or red hair.

A thin 15-year-old girl who looks like an adolescent boy may only have 2- to 3-years before she fills out or starts looking androgynous and thereby becomes less appealing for initial consideration to many of the big designers.  So again, there is no time to lose.  Age 20 will typically be too late to start fashion modeling.  She could be making big money during this time, and if she makes it big, then her high status could allow her to get away with slight non-compliance with weight requirements, making weight control with advancing age easier compared to less well-known models.

I have run into feminists blasting the fashion world for undermining the self-/body-esteem of women, but looking at the contrast between the women shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, one question must be asked, namely, how many feminists realize that the fashion world is great for the self-esteem of masculinized women?  The wonders that the fashion world does for slender and masculinized women is a reason why I have been expressing a wish for alternative fashion industries rather than replacing the current one, and at least one mainstream beauty pageant focusing on feminine beauty rather than making them all do so.

Comments

What do you think Edythe has in that bowl?

Lettuce soup with food coloring/zero-calorie creamer to make it look like a shake, which, along with an apple, will be her lunch. She is working on losing weight to get more modeling offers.

I know a lot of women whom eat a lot but they are skinny like Edythe. I think she looks a little bit skinny but no problem with me I find skinny legs are prettier than fat legs with no curve of erik's model.

Erik, I agree with much of what u say erik, but to be honest, I don't think it is such a big revelation that being androgynous, skinny, and masculine are requisites for modeling, not that it is right. I mean, I learned that just by watching America's Next Top Model. I mean on top model, they pick the ugliest, most jacked up, skinny, lanky, androgynous girls. It is very frustrating because there are really pretty girls that try out but Tyra always eliminates them. Furthermore, Tyra talks about how being weird looking and 'ugly' to most people gets you places in the modeling world. So, anybody who disagrees with your take on modeling should really just watch that show, and they'll see exactly what your talking about.

Does Amy from 'Spunky Angels' fit your requirements of femininity? Where would she stand on the masculine-feminine scale? IMO she seems to look better overall and appears quite feminine, how come you have not added her to the attractive women section? IMO she looks better than most of the women you have pitched as 'attractive' in the attractive women section.

Alex: Amy is feminine and attractive. I will add her to the attractive women section at some point; just been too busy to be working on it.

Emily: I am glad that the masculinization of fashion models is not news to you, but it is to some people.

Don't blame Tyra Banks for eliminating women whom the majority would consider more attractive. She is not the sole judge, and any judgment on her part takes into account the looks that will get a woman booked by fashion designers. So the designers are ultimately to blame for the eliminations though they will sometimes let rank well some women they find less appealing (these women have better public appeal) because the show is marketed to the general public.

What about Laetitia Casta? She is well known for her big breast, she is only 5.6 and she never had a boy-like figure!

Doors: Laetitia Casta was never a supermodel. So bringing her into the discussion is not very relevant. Supermodels have not existed for many years now, but in a loose sense the term is still used to describe models that are or have been high-profile high-fashion models and are also high-profile commercial models (lingerie, swimsuit, etc.), thereby having a strong presence in the media. Laetitia Casta is known for lingerie/swimsuit modeling, not high-fashion modeling. She is an exception to the kind of lingerie models Ed Razek or industry homosexuals in general prefer, but exceptions don’t make the rule.

Still, it is of some interest to look into the extent of femininity that industry homosexuals will tolerate, and if Laetitia Casta is among the best examples of femininity promoted by the homosexuals in recent years, then the answer is, again, not much. I have some pictures of Laetitia Casta showing that her backside is not especially feminine, especially in contrast to her breasts, and her skeletal frame (shoulder width – ribcage width – hip width ratio) isn’t that feminine either. Someday I should post these pictures.

I think you are right in some of your assestments. I do think you overstate the masculinity of some of these girls. Sometimes a strong face still looks very feminine especially in a petite girl with curves. Some of my favorite models have these looks like Kate's Playground and DelanyDecolleur. These are online models of course, but have the right waist to hip ratio to be extremely feminine. Thanks for the great website and beautiful girls.

that kate has no ass and hardly any breasts. The lingerie model is built well but could have a little more ass. Very pretty in the face too.

why do you insist that women who look like they are smoking pot all the time are attractive. the reason why he would never chose amy is because her face is hideous and she look retarded. why do you like women who look high all the time? is it because they look easier to take advantage of?

the reason why a lot of models look like "boys" is because their masculine striking features WORK when photographed. the softer your features are the more retarded and unphotogetic you look on film even though you might look just fine in person. take this from a girl with a weak jaw and chubby cheeks. the masculine people might look ODD in real life but in photos they look beautiful. THAT is why they were considered ugly when they were growing up, because their features are too intense for the real world, but in photography it works

umm: Here is a close-up of Amy’s face. Does she look hideous and retarded to you? How does the masculine face and masculine body of Alessandra Ambrosio work for lingerie photography?

Im sorry buy Amy is not an attractive woman and Alessandra is one of the most beautiful women ever, I don't know what your smokin

I disagree. I think that Amy is one of the most attractive women he has on this site! I mean seriously compare her to the other women he has on here! Some of them are gorgeous, okay that is an overstatent... some of them are okay looking, but she is one of the better looking ones and if I were a guy I def. would go for her in a heartbeat. She has a beautiful body and face! She doesn't look like a saggy chubby retarded wide eyed loser like the rest of the women on here, she looks really beautiful and cute.

It's all biology really.

Your idea parallels one that already exsists, however while your idea is that the features they look for is masculine vs. feminine, in more proper terms it is neoteny vs. dominant features. Here is the site URL: http://employees.csbsju.edu/lmealey/hotspots/Chapter09.htm.
There are the "dominant" features: high cheekbones, strong jawline, high forehead, heighth. These are features that happen to be more common in males due to mate selection, as females prefer "dominant" features in men. Then there are "neotenic" (or babylike) features: large eyes, large lips, long eyelashes, small nose. These features happen to be more common in females, due to men's preference of neoteny features in women.
If the objective of a model is to be a beautiful, blank canvas then the best way to appeal to all audiences is by having someone with both features so that when they add whatever fashion, the model's features can play up the parts.

These skinny girls are Ridiculous! What kind of message are you sending to society, picking someone apart who already looks like death and calling her fat...none of these girls on this page are fat..To be honest I doubt any of these woman can have kids being since they are so underweight....Society is sick...bones are beauty...sorry but a girl with color in her cheeks and curves like the average girl will sell more clothes then these bags of bones they need help. These poor girls have the worst life...I Like who I am and trust me I have more butt then these girls but I know I enjoy life more because I am average and Healthy and One day Healthy girls will rule the modeling industry...Just Wait...

Kimberly could be air-brushed to perfection. She is extremely cute without the usual styling, make-up, airbrushing and photography tricks. Once those were employed, as the always are, she would be an absolute stunner.

not sure where this is going really. are you attacking the general standards of the modelling industry as outlined by the above article? I would have to agree with that especially given the young age of most high fashion models. I would certainly like to see all models under 18 banned from high fashion.
or are you attacking the so called masculization? and putting blame for it squarely at the feet of homosexual fashion deseigners, which comes across as an attack on homosexuals. it is a relatively small section, nay tiny, of society that you are lashing out at. surely you don't begrudge them their sphere of influence?
I prefer Cories definitions of dominant features, and believe it is this rather than masculinazation that gives these girls their appeal. besides there is a scale, as someone who has a small nose and wide jaw, flat bum and big boobs, i think i fall squarely in the middle of said scale as probably do most woman, and much of what you call masculine, such as jawlines etc are more to do with the fact that the average face of a woman has more fat on it than the average fashion models, lack of fat making the features seem more dominant/masculine.
further more, i wonder why this so called masculisation bothers you so much, as you have pointed out and proved by this site, there are more than enough feminine women for men to ogle and most seem quite happy with what is out there. as said above in reagrds womens self esteem picking odd or unusual looking women and celebrating them is good. idealising overly skinny women is not. as for your obsession with so called feminity again it seems as extreme and as rare as anything celebrated by the fashion industry. an hourglass shape may be lovely but it is rare, totally roughly 11% of the population at most. the majority of women have what is termed a straight up and down shape with relatively little HWR.

Some of them could use a boob job because they are really flat chested to pose for lingerie. My favorite shape is obviously Amy from Spunky angels, hands down.

Have you seen Peter Alexander's models used for the Christmas Catalogue 2009... It is clear that his taste is on the Masculine side, in fact, from the models he uses, it is clear that he has absolutely no liking for a normal female body, and instead uses these women.

Image

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As a feminine woman, with a female body shape, hips and boobs, I find it uncomfortable to see all the homosexuals design clothing that is marketed to me, because a lot of it is designed to drown out or smother the female body shape, and what results is an ugly sack shaped clothing, or something that hangs out at the shoulders and is designed to make me look more masculine, because I know the homosexuals have ABSOLUTELY NO liking for the female body at all. In fact, they would think my female shape, although normal in most people's eyes, is grotesquely fat and unnattractive. That is why I prefer to buy clothing designed by females. But the fashion industry and clothes as a whole leave a lot to be desired.
It is hard to know how the clothes would be different if they were all designed by heterosexual men and women, but my gut feeling is that it would be a hell of a lot easier to find clothes that look good on my body shape.

High fashion models are supposed have the physique of a ten year old boy because they are unattractive. People like Marilyn Monroe were high fashion models before designers realized that people were looking at the model and not the clothes. If the model does not catch your interest, you look at the clothes. I'm in the business from the design end and we are taught to elongate the figure, a sketch having 9 heads instead of the normal 7. High fashion models are the closest we can come to in reality BECAUSE they are disproportional. Don't dog the industry if you don't know from where the rational is coming. Models aren't paid to be pretty, they are paid to model designs.

Erik,

I know you aren't answering anything for whatever reason. However, I am hoping you can tell me your personal opinion about this Victoria's Secret model:

Candice Swanepeol:

Candice Swanepoel Pictures, Images and Photos

Candice Swanepoel Pictures, Images and Photos

Candice Swanepoel Pictures, Images and Photos

Candice Swanepoel Pictures, Images and Photos

candice swanepoel Pictures, Images and Photos

candice swanepoel Pictures, Images and Photos

The girl is masculine yes. She has large shoulders, a weird belly button, she has no breasts, and a less than ideal ribcage. However, the girl has HIPS! And last time I checked little adolescent boys don't have hips, at least not like that.

I understand she is the exception, considering almost all the rest of the Victoria's Secret models really do look like boys. However, why is she the exception? It just doesn't fit your speculation really.

She does appear to have hips (esp. the first photo).

However, she has a 'boyish' face (not necessarily unattractive). Flat chested. I noticed in the last photo she has flat butt. She also has long arms.

Of course she may be the exception to the rule. Still not overly curvy though.

Apollyon,

Yah, her face clearly is masculinized. However there are women in Erik's attractive women section that have more masculine and boyish faces than her, and these women are not even in the "slightly masculinized" section. I can copy and paste them for you to see if you would like.

Clearly this girl has a really flat but, she also has wide shoulders and really lanky arms. However, as I have said before she has hips, and her face although slightly masculine is not really ALL that bad in comparison to the other VC models.

I believe the overall intent of the "attractive women" section is to serve as a contrast to the masculine women in the fashion industry, but to call them all "attractive" is a total joke. Erik has pretty poor taste in women IMO, and I myself find most of these women to be pretty average.

He also seems very biased against showing women with even moderately sized jaws and cheekbones, going in line with his idea that those are correlates of masculinity and femininity.

I mean, are they more feminine than the fashion models? Yes, especially in terms of body structure. But the face and such? And that much more attractive overall? Sure...

Violet Corpus,

I understand what you are saying. Some of the women in Erik's attractive women section aren't that great looking. There are two reasons for this:

1) There are actually some women with some masculine features in this section. Mostly in the face. I don't why Erik would post some of these women. I noticed that Erik is sometimes attracted to women that are actually kind of masculine. Now Erik's excuse is that every woman on the planet, no matter how feminine, will display at least one or two slightly masculine or pseudo masculine etc. trait. However, women like Megan Fox or Keeley Hazel, all women he really finds attractive, are not feminine overall. They aren't even close. So I don't know whats going on.

2)Some girls are pretty much feminine overall in his section. HOWEVER, they truly are average everyday girls. They generally have very bland faces. I have to say though that average everyday women don't necessarily have the bodies of the women in his attractive women section. I think that if you or any other guy were walking down the street or if you met one of these girls you would think, "Oh, she's kinda cute". I do think you would be attracted to her, but it wouldn't be like a very strong carnal attraction. It would be a more casual attraction. I can't necessarily explain it. But either way, Erik should post photos up of better looking women. He should post photos of women that could TRULY replace fashion models in the industry. These women should:

1) Be in shape (although all the women in Erik's section are pretty much in shape)
2) Have nice teeth (nobody has perfect paper white teeth, but jesus if youre going to be in a magazine you should)
3) Have no butt zits (I don't know about the attractive women section, but I've noticed that some of Erik's "attractive" women have butt zits! It's like Jesus how do you even get those? How the hell does enough bacteria spread around your ass area so that you have zits covering it? Might just be an STD or something...
4)Be a certain height (I still think there should be a height requirement. I still think certain proportions are more ideal for modeling clothes and this includes height, so that already eliminates some of the "most feminine" women.
4)Have a decent hairstyle (Don't even make me comment)
5)No cheesy makeup
6)Better posing (obviously, fashion is not about looking like a cheap porn star wannabe and smiling while doing it)

I can't think of anymore now.
But although many of Erik's women would impress a man walking down the street, they would not turn heads on a billboard or in a magazine.

Besides, how can I even trust Erik's judgement? With age a man naturally becomes less selective when it comes to women. It's obvious why men are hardwired this way also, because with age, everyone becomes less desirable. Men probably less than women. However, men are hardwired to become less picky, because anyways the younger men are going to be taking the REALLY attractive women so there. Erik is like 30 something now, which isn't old or anything. But shouldn't I be listening to the 20 yr. olds over him?

Oh, in the above:

I mean that with age men do not become less desirable as quickly as women. This is because younger women will still be interested in older men, however most young men will not be interested in older women. Men always go for younger. Women can go for young or old.

So I am saying that with age, a woman will become less desirable more quickly than a man will. A man will remain desirable for a much longer period than a woman will.

But even so, they can't always compete with the younger men. Except in terms of providing security and such, which is the reason most younger women go for them in the first place. However, with women becoming more independent and securing their own futures, less and less women will depend on men for that.

"Now Erik's excuse is that every woman on the planet, no matter how feminine, will display at least one or two slightly masculine or pseudo masculine etc. trait."

I don't know where he says said that. I think that's basically the same thing as saying "nobody is perfect". Which is true. When it comes to the face, its very, very hard to find a woman who's perfectly feminine on every single account. Very hard.

The majority of people have both feminine features in their face and body overall.
It is better this way too because imagine being a woman with double d size breasts and sloping shoulders etc trying to play tennis.
Having both feminine and masculine features is more conducive to this society today.
Extreme femininity might have been ok for the society in the 1950's but today it would not be beneficial in a world where women today play sports or have occupations outside the 1950's type roles of mother,secretary,nurse or cook.

The model posted doesn't have a masculine face.Her face is not masculinised-its far from masculine.It would fall on a scale somewhere between feminine-masculine and leaning very much more towards feminine.
She has very masculine and wide shoulders,smallish breasts and (assuming that one photo is accurate) a flat bottom.
She also has feminine features like her face,lips,hips and face profile.

Eriks Attractive women section isnt about having the most gorgeous woman there but about which women he finds attractive.He finds women with extreme femininity attractive and the photos are meant to suggest and represent that.I think his point is that feminine women are attractive and that he finds them more attractive then masculinised women and the section is meant to serve as a contrast to the masculine women in the fashion industry so i think he chose photos of women that are feminine in general and not photos of the most beautiful woman in the world or best lips or professional makeup or height requirement etc.His site is about femininity vs masculinity not about who is the most gorgeous.
Still,he should use photos that are not pornography.Theres alot of stock images or art model photos he could have used instead.

Visitor,
You shouldnt be trusting Eriks judgement regardless of whether he is in 20's,30's,40's,80's or whatever.

"The majority of people have both feminine features in their face and body overall.
It is better this way too because imagine being a woman with double d size breasts and sloping shoulders etc trying to play tennis.
Having both feminine and masculine features is more conducive to this society today.
Extreme femininity might have been ok for the society in the 1950's but today it would not be beneficial in a world where women today play sports or have occupations outside the 1950's type roles of mother,secretary,nurse or cook."

Mary, while I know your post means well it is very erroneous. Actually, what you suggest here is that masculinity is better regardless of sex.

However not every women, like every man, wants to play sports. To say that women are better not having entirely feminine bodies because of only some women playing sports is misguided.

In fact, look at women who do play sports. It is not surprising that more often than not these women are highly masculine physically. That easily leads to the conclusion that it is a relative thing and not something that should be reflected on all humans.

Also, there are so many physical activities that a person can do that can be better suited for an individual. For example, yoga is a very good option for exercise for women who have large breasts but don't want to do something like running.

i have a very slender body and i meet all the right requirements, and i really want to go into fashion modelling. But i would never do all that stuff just to get noticed, like starve myself and have sex with a famous guy whos 10 yrs older than me. I have limits. I just hope that if i ever get into modelling they wont force it onto me.

You know Kris this is called JEALOUSY, you wish you were like all these models, beautiful, rich, and gets anything they want because they are beautiful unlike you, I'm guessing, you need to get a life, because they have one!

Wow! what a great post!i like all the model but the sexiest for me is candice, she is not only sexy but her face is beautiful. thanks for sharing this nice article keep it up!

I definitely agree candice is so beautiful, sexy and smart! i like her body much so slim, thanks for sharing! cheers...

maulflanders: I have known about Andrej Pejic, but was unaware of the article. Thank you for pointing it out. The article is worth commenting on, which I have posted here.

I find that a good supermodel needs to be a great role model as well. When I as young I look up to girls like Cindy Crawford, Isabella Rossellini, Christie Turlington and Linda Evangelista. These ladies are not only drop dead gorgeous, they also promote the importance of being beautiful, inside and out. I can still remember one of Cindy’s recommendations of a home-made facial scrub which consists mainly of used coffee grains! Many photographers will say these girls are professional supermodels and are not just about looking good. The likes of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell have put modeling to shame.

i think real beauty is every body type as long as your beautiful on the outside nd inside then thats beautiful..no one is perfect and its always a back and forth thing with slim girls and girls that are curvy and plus size..God made us individually the way we are for a reason...im 17 and im slim and people quickly assume that i dont eat and thats not true i juss have a fast metabolism..i want to be a model and when i get there i want to make every body type feel accepted in the industry

I have an interest in modeling, i would just like to know what the requirements are for height and weight...can anyone h.elp me? Im 13 so im not looking into starting yet, but if anyone has any tips please contact me and [ cosithomas98 {at} gmail {dot} com ] . thankyou

Cosi: Do not post your email in a manner that allows spammers to get it via automated tools. Post it like I modified it. Regarding the fashion modeling requirements, they are explained above. If you are not short and look like an adolescent boy, apply NOW or you will miss out on the incredible amount of money you can earn via modeling. If you are tall, slender and lean toward boyish looks, apply as soon as you can as the boyish looks will not last—if you wait till you are 16, it may be too late. If you deviate from a tall, slender and boyish look somewhat but look Northern European, you may still have success; the only way to find out is to apply. If none of the above, then you are likely looking at something other than fashion modeling.

Heather Blessington's added requirements make models seem like soulless sluts.
I came to this article hoping to read good information but an article saying you can never gain
Weight if you want to model obviously is incorrect. Not all models are twig thin. I'm 15 and weigh
About 120 pounds and I even know this.as for the comments
people are leaving STOP HATING ON MODELS.

to destiny- he's not "hating" on models, pls use yr brains and THINK. He's actually doing something good FOR MODELS AND WOMEN by being real and brave enough to suggest the need for a normal healthy slim model as one who is SCARY SICK THIN and has to starve herself to death -just to please some bitchy gay designers and sell overpriced clothes to clueless women!! Wake up !

And FYI MOST WOMEN OR GIRLS ARE NOT NATURALLY SKINNY OR EMACIATED UNLESS THEY HAVE TO STARVE THEMSEVLES TO DEATH AS PROVED BY THE DEATH OF SOME MODELS DYING FROM LACK OF FOOD AND MILAN'S CHAGING FASHION LAWS RECENTLY

Don't judge people before you understand what they're actually talking about and use your brains instead of getting caught up in emotions that have NOTHING do do with the issue

And thanks Eric for this interesting and informative site which I believe to be true as one of yr female readers- and I admire yr ability to put up with insults from ppl who don't know what the hell they are talking about- and who are actually dumb enough to think something's not true just because it's not PC

ok, sleeping with your agency, and selling your soul?!!?!
and getting breast implents! thats just a lie! maybe some do but
im sure u dont need to!

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