Like a lot of bloggers, I'm a fashion consumer and, as such, I go to the shows, read the magazines, am a member of the groups and always kind of wondered exactly what the whole modeling thing was about. When a notice came through that the MVW Academy was taking students, I figured it would be something fun and different and I'd have that peek behind the scenes so I sent in my headshot and signed up. The course was divided into five classes, 101-105, covering pretty much all the bases in increasing depth. I took all five, though graduates of other academies and working models can skip the first two and move to 103. I learned something new in every class, picked up some great tips, met some terrific people and snagged a bunch of useful notes, recommendations and landmarks along the way.
The first four classes were from 2-3 hours in length and covered posing, photography, styling, walking, shapes, prim editing, dos and don'ts and involved a lot of instructor interaction with the students. I had Miaa Rebane, Mimmi Boa, Mui Mukerji and Kay Fairey for these - the classes are offered at various times with various instructors to accommodate timezones. The last "class" spanned three days over a weekend with Frolic Mills. The first class was lecture and discussion of styling and color selection, the second was a closed runway exercise and critique and the third was the open graduation runway walk "final exam" - pass or fail.
The theme for the 105 exercise and graduation was "Red Carpet" and my Saturday night outfit just wasn't right - not because of any of the individual pieces, but because I didn't style correctly for the theme and the color wasn't right for my skin. I should have been thinking Oscar and I went Grammy. For the Sunday graduation, I kept the bracelets and skin but pretty much changed the rest. Luckily for me, the changes worked, I didn't fall off the runway, freeze, crash or miss my poses and passed the exercise to become an official graduate. Whew!
Credits:
Dress (Top): Lady Mor Ginevra
Hair (Top): Truth Cyndi (Crow)
Shoes (Top): Stiletto Moody Bare Katherine (Black Diamante)
Dress (Bottom): Miamai Gretha
Hair (Bottom): BooN QPT129 (Black - Hair Fair)
Jewelry (Both): Rozoregalia Hydra Earrings & Bracelets
Clutch (Bottom): Septem Essentia Manhattan Evening Bag (Black)
Poses by Manifeste