With COVID-19 still looming, many photo studios remain dark and no one is prowling the catwalks. What is an aspiring model to do?

Stay healthy, eat right, exercise, and educate yourself! Learn everything you can about the business so you are ready to take action once the industry is buzzing again. Expectations of instant gratification will get you nowhere these days. Select the “Modeling” category on my blog and read all the posts (keep arrowing back for more). For bonus points, read all of the Modeling Articles on my site.

Here is a cheat sheet of terms every model needs to know…

Agency – The middle man between the client and the model. They take a percent of what the model makes for each booking (usually 20%). A legitimate agency will not charge anything when they sign you; they only make money if you work.
(Best Modeling Agencies in NYC for Women) (Top Kid Model Agencies in NYC)
(Modeling Agency Appointment: What to Expect and When to Beware)

Book – The more common term for “portfolio.”

Booking – A confirmed modeling job.

Call-Time – The time the model needs to arrive at the job. Never be late. If you hold up a shoot, it can cost a client thousands of dollars (studio rental, crew, equipment rental, the photographer and other models’ time).

Casting – An “audition” for a specific job. Usually a model isn’t requested to do anything beyond show their portfolio, possibly have some digital photos taken, and occasionally try on clothing. If it’s a runway casting, models will walk for the client. For commercials, models will be put on camera, sometimes with dialogue, or they may just slate their name and agency and show their profiles or do a 360-degree turn.
(The Casting Couch: How Big a Role Does It Play in the Modeling World)

Catalog – This term can refer to a job, model, or market. A catalog job is a shoot for a store’s catalog, e.g. JCPenney. A catalog model usually has conventional American-as-apple-pie good looks, unlike the more unusual creatures populating high-fashion magazine spreads and catwalks. A catalog market is a city that has more catalog-type clients than editorial/high-fashion clients. Miami, Dallas, and Munich are examples of catalog markets.

Cattle-Call – A casting characterized by masses of models. Lists can go beyond 200 and involve hours of waiting.

Chart – A model’s work calendar on which an agent types in a model’s upcoming options, bookings, and any days she may have “booked out” for personal reasons or vacation. With the advent of model-agency software, charts became computerized. In the 90s, they used to hang from a circular frame above the bookers’ table and the bookers would spin them around to find the chart they needed.

Comp Card – Common term for composite card. This is a model’s key selling tool—her business card—which usually features a color headshot on the front and several shots on the back. The agency mails out packages of comp cards to clients constantly and the model must always have comps to leave at castings and go-sees.

Digitals – Your agency will periodically take digital photos of you at the agency, which are no-nonsense snapshots of you: headshot, profiles, and non-posey full-lengths so clients can see what you look like, sans makeup and elaborate styling.

Modeling Mentor Model of the Year Alexa Kissling – digital profile shot

Direct Booking – A job in which an out-of-town model is booked by a client who usually pays for the model to come in from another market. The client books the model from a comp card or portfolio, without seeing the model in person (or the client may know him/her from a previous booking).

Editorial – As opposed to catalog, an editorial job is for a magazine and editorial models can be more edgy than pretty. Editorial work pays much less than catalog but is essential to building a strong book of tear sheets and getting the exposure needed to climb the supermodel ladder. Top editorial models usually do the top shows and vice versa; the top editors who book them are sitting in the front rows at the shows. Paris, Milan, and New York are editorial markets.

Go-See – An appointment to go and see a client or photographer. A new model or a model new to a market will do days of pavement-pounding go-sees. Many agents use “go-see” and “casting” interchangeably, but originally a go-see meant a model was making the rounds and seeing the clients so they knew him or her for future reference; a casting was for a specific job.

Mother Agent – Your first agency or the agency that guides your career and places you with agents in different markets. Your mother agent generally retains 10% of your earnings, while the agency where they place you gets the other 10%. So having a mother agents does not affect the model’s net profits, since the total agency cut remains 20%.
(The Ins and Outs of Agency Contracts)

Option – A client has put a hold (“first option”) on a model, and that client will be given first dibs on booking the model should a “second option” or booking come in from another client.

Request Casting – A casting in which the model has been specifically requested by the client.

Tear Sheet – Any page from a magazine or publication that the featured model can “tear” out and put in her book. Tear sheets, especially good ones from top magazines, are like gold. They prove a model is in demand, and, since people are sheep, that leads to more demand. A great tear sheet trumps good catalog cash.

Modeling Mentor Model of the Year Em Marie has built a book of fabulous tear sheets while modeling in Asia over the past two years.

Test – A shoot that is done specifically to build a book—the model’s and/or the photographer’s—not for a job. New models need to test as much as possible. Experienced models will replace test shots with tear sheets, but most models—except the top echelon—will continue to do some testing throughout their careers to keep their books updated.

Voucher – This is the form, provided by your agency in your voucher book, that you and the client fill out at the end of each booking. One copy goes to the client, one to the agency (these days generally you can take a photo and email it to them at the end of the booking), and one for your records.

Blast from the Past: Check out My Favorite Modeling Articles from Tear Sheet magazine

If you are looking for representation for your cutie patootie in the Big Apple, here are a few questions to ask yourself first:

1. Do you live near New York City? If you are in Iowa, it’s going to be a long trip to get to castings! Most child models repped in the city live in the tristate area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut). NY Models, for example, takes submissions from kids who live within 2 hours of the Big Apple.

2. Do you know what is involved with child modeling? Get educated by reading these posts (scroll back for more): Child Models.

3. Are you realistic? Manage your expectations before you even start your agency search. Modeling is super competitive. Success requires a combination of luck, good genes, the right personality, tenacity, and geographic compatibility (the closer you are to NYC or another large market, like L.A., the better your odds. BUT don’t relocate just to up your kid’s odds. Chances are their income won’t pay the cable bill, let alone rent).

So with those minor considerations behind us, here’s a list of the creme de la creme of kids’ modeling agencies (click on the links to their sites for submission details):

New York Model Management’s Kids Division

My allegiance to NY Models dates back two decades to my own career, so I have to list them first! Actually, that history aside, the fantastic experience I’ve had with the kids bookers there would nudge NY Models into #1. They are professional, organized, and understanding (this last trait is a wee bit rare in bookers, by the way).

James Miller, NY Models (trivia: my son did a movie and music video with James. He is an awesome kid and had a great kid modeling career. He’s now a budding teen actor.)

Generation

I have some history here as well. Generation was a loyal advertiser when I ran Tear Sheet magazine. They are still a top agency for young faces. They also have a TV division. (Most modeling agencies have a relationship with talent agencies, and actor-model crossover is common.)

Wilhelmina Kids & Teens

A division of Wilhelmina, Wilhelmina Kids & Teens reps models and actors, from babies to older teens. Wilhelmina is one of the original “Big 4″ modeling agencies in NYC, alongside Ford, Elite, and Zoli.

Funny Face

Funny Face has been in the biz for 40 years, so they know their stuff. They rep babies, kids, teens, and adults for modeling and commercial print work.

Super happy (or unhappy) with your child’s agency? Comment and give us the scoop! Don’t forget to enter the Modeling Mentor Model Search to gain exposure to agents! Winners of my model search are now represented by top agencies in NYC, LA, Atlanta, Paris, London, and in all major markets in Asia!

The Donald’s Model History

This is not going to be a political post, but let me just say that I’m not using “model,” as in ideal, and I can’t bring myself to title this “My Modeling World Encounter With President Donald Trump.” Enough said.

My first encounter with Donald Trump was in 1988. It was not the real Donald but it was real life (as opposed to not-the-real-Donald in the Twitter imposter sense). Two college friends in Boulder had dressed up as NYC’s flashy new couple about town: Donald and Ivana Trump. It was some approximation of this look (below), with some fur thrown in (to be fair here, we must remember that 80s fashion wasn’t kind to anyone). At the time, my roommate and I were dressed as static and cling. I had no idea who the Trumps were. Nor that I would hanging with the Donald a few years later.

Donald Trump, with his first wife, Ivana, circa 1988

Ivana probably had no idea her husband would soon have an affair with Marla Maples and trade her in for a newer model. Ivana had been a fashion model and Marla was an actress and occasional model. (We’re seeing a trend here.) Donald’s obsession with models became even clearer when he transported busloads of them up to his little place in Palm Beach, Mar-A-Lago (see photo), for an Ocean Drive Magazine party. It was 1993. I was young and had nothing else to do that night. The sleaze factor was mitigated by the fact that male models were invited as well. This, in my experience, was also the difference between free model dinners in Madrid (both genders invited) and Milan (only women, more often mere girls). It’s the difference between feeling like you are at a fun party and feeling like you are being pimped out.

Mar-a-Lago, the Trump estate in Palm Beach

The Mar-A-Lago arrangement pretty much worked for everyone: the men looking for hot arm candy, the models looking for sugar daddies, and those of us who just wanted a peek into the lifestyles of the rich and famous and some free drinks.

Jill Johnson, Donald Trump, and model Jeff Bowman at Mar-A-Lago

Not surprisingly, Trump was a jovial, charming host. I mostly hung out with my longtime model pal Jeff Bowman. I chatted with Donald and we discussed my plans to move to New York, the big daddy of all modeling markets, the following spring. “If I can ever help you in New York, just let me know,” he said. He seemed genuine, no wink, but I’m sure it’s an offer he made to many models.

I never took him up on it. I’m not sure how I would have…just strut into the Trump Building (which one?) and demand the Big D fulfill his promise? Ask if he could arrange a spread in Harper’s Bazaar perhaps, or a billboard in Times Square (clothed, please)? Oh well, alas, it did not come to pass.

Within a few years, a budding model named Ivanka Trump modeled in the big Versace show in Bal Harbour. She had a decent career (possibly with the help of rhinoplasty). Her dad started a modeling agency, Trump Model Management. He snagged some of the industry’s best bookers. His agency represents many modeling legends: Ali McGraw, Carol Alt, Kim Alexis, Tatjana Patitz. His agency became a loyal advertising client of my magazine, Tear Sheet. Not everyone took a chance on us 20-something publishers, so for that I’m grateful.

My friends and I used to see Donald out on the club scene. We witnessed the courting of Melania. We thought, He’s too old for her! She saw green. Or maybe even red, white, and blue… The rest of us never saw it coming.

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It’s style maven Robert Verdi’s birthday today. He’s just a smidgeon older than I am (I won’t get specific, but I caught the tail end of the bell-bottom trend—the first time around—and vaguely recall the Sonny & Cher Show). I have fond memories of interviewing him. Not so fond memories of the morning when I was primping to go up to Bryant Park to be interviewed by Verdi for Full Frontal Fashion. I never made it there. It was September 11, 2001.

This article appeared in Tear Sheet a few months before that…

Since then, Verdi has co-hosted Discovery Channel’s Surprise by Design, hosted Fashion Police on the Style Network, judged She’s Got the Look on TV Land, starred in The Robert Verdi Show on LGBT’s Logo channel, made guest appearances on numerous talk shows, and designed homes and a wedding for Eva Longoria.  His client list also includes Cynthia Rowley (wedding), Sandra Bernhard, Mariska Hargitay, Bobby Flay, and Hugh Jackman (apartments). The New Jersey native has his artful hand in every aspect of fashion and design—proving that no matter how it looks on Housewives of New Jersey, a person can be ultra stylish, totally likeable, and from NJ.

Fashion’s elite are sure to stop by his eighth annual Luxe Laboratory Fashion Week Retreat

Connect with Robert Verdi on Twitter

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For more on Heidi and me (OK, really me on Heidi): Heidi Klum: Bombshell + Nice Girl

I never did get a copy of that catalog, but here’s a snapshot of Heidi and me from a Tear Sheet party in the late 90s. She didn’t forget the little people from way back when.

This picture, dork and bombshell, answers that question about the 16 million bucks!