My daughter wants to be a model – should I support that or not?

no way! thats the modern brainwashing of cosmetics companys and tv at work for you.

the new crops of young are being tainted b4 our very eyes!

You should not support that , its an awefull world

first find out what modelling involve i know is hard business and u usually travelling a lot i would speak with her and told her that she will get your support but she has to remember that school come first by the way modelling can be very expensive when u start and not always pay back

Modeling is not a realistic goal (unless she is drop-dead-gorgeous), it is an expensive pipe-dream. The vast majority of ‘modeling opportunities’ are actually schemes to separate loving parents (who of course think young Brittany is a thing of beauty) from their cash…

It’s good she has a good self-image, but not so good that she is wanting to express it in sexy outfits and such. Modeling is a hard business and a lot of girls who think highly of themselves are turned down because there is so much competition. Don’t discourage her, but tell her she is too young to be wearing the sexy outfits and you will only agree to get some photos done of her if she dresses her age.
Sen the photos in to modeling agencies, then tell her to get back to her regular life and if it was meant to be, you’ll hear from the agencies soon. This should pacify her for awhile!!

no : / no offense

and yes i’d be concerned abt her always wnting to be sexy.. who is trying to be sexy for ?

It is the first step to the porn industry.

Yes but only if she has a head strong person that could guild her in the right way and make sure she don’t get a big head.

Hey Robert,
I’m kinda sorry to hear about it for your sake and also for hers as well. She should not be that concerned about being sexy. Sure, teenage girls ARE concerned about this whether we like it or not, but to be that overly obsessed about it says there’s an underlying serious problem.
She is seeking a need to be desired and wanted and accepted and is going about it all the wrong ways. She’s thinking that to be sexy, beautiful and physically appealing will make her more likeable. She couldn’t be more wrong.

I am a model.
So I speak from experience here.

Being a model takes a LOT of hard work and dedication. I do NOT NOT recommend it for a young girl who just wants to look sexy in pictures. Sure there are photographers that would die to take a young teenager’s picture. A lot of perverted ones, too. Believe me, I’ve seen it all. But that doesn’t make her a real MODEL.

If she wants to be a model what you need to do it find a legit Agency that will (now I can’t think of the word for it, drat!) “appeal” for her, “work” for her, whatever.. something like that.
Anyway, once she gets some tasteful professional photos together for the Agency and then for the clients then she can start getting work.
At first doing some jobs for free is what you should consider doing just to get a resume built up. Then it’ll be easier to find paying work. The more on the resume, the more professional it looks, and the more professional the photos are the better it is for your daughter, unless she’s so absolutely and flawlessly gorgeous that they cannot turn her away, that’s the reality of it.
There will be days, weeks, months, where she won’t get a single job, and then when she DOES get one it will last for HOURS and HOURS. Sometimes for very little pay or none at all. It can get extremely difficult and exhausting and is bad on the schooling and social life of anybody, unless it’s they’re full-time job and they’re professionals, and even then it’s extremely exhaustive work.

I am with Craze Agency. They cover the Western US for the most part. DO NOT SIGN WITH AN AGENCY THAT CHARGES ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY. They are SCAMS. Do NOT pay for modeling and acting classes to get into an agency.
A great way to gain experience is to do pageants. They teach modeling and are character-building and teach confidence and purpose and poise. I highly recommend them.
She can offer to do modeling jobs for photographers that are just starting their business and will take her picture for free. You can look on Craigslist because there are people always looking for models on there.
One word of advice, though. NEVER LET HER GO ALONE.

She needs to take care of herself. No smoking, drinking, drugs, staying out too late, etc. No fast food, fried foods, candy, sodas, or any type of “junk food” or drink. These things will ruin her body over time and make her age prematurely.
Rest is essential, and plenty of it, as well as a very active lifestyle, hobbies/interests, etc. She needs to be well-rounded.
Don’t let those models photos she sees make her think otherwise. It’s not all glamorous. And quite frankly, when you’re a model you’re not treated like a real person. You’re an object. Period. There is not emphasis placed on you as a person but only on how you position your body, your face, your expression and whatever you’re wearing.

She has to be tough to handle this, and know that it takes HOURS of dedicated work, sometimes freezing, sometimes burning in the sun, sometimes standing in one spots contorting your body in strange positions for hours to just standing still for more hours, and going without food or bathroom for a while sometimes, etc., etc.

Good luck with all of it!!!!!

HM well the right answer to that is shes a teenager and she can be what she wants but i say once she is about 16 or 15 then maybe let her try or if you feel really sercure about her then say im not really sure about that sorry… I really hope this helped because my daughter wanted to be one too,,and it worked good luck!

First of all she needs to stop dressing sexy. 2nd of all you need to encourage her to finish her education first. Any modeling agency that’s worth their wright in gold will make sure their models finish high school first. If she were to pursue it now and get signed to an agnecy like Ford or Wilhelmina she’d only be allowed to work during summer months when she is out of school. After of all that you should absolutely encourage her dreams. I was a child/teen model and the number one reason I quit at 19 was because my mom refused to support me in any way. It crushed my dreams. Keep her grounded, remind her that looks fade and she needs an education but I’d definitely encourage her to pursue her dream.

You should always be supportive. Let her try it. It is a hard business but people do make it.

One of my very close friends worked for many years as a model. She was very beautiful, therefor very successful. She did an ad for a beer commercial, and was asked to be in the movie The Matrix (she would have accepted, if she didn’t have to return to Canada for some Visa problems).
But, she quit modelling after she had her baby, and says she never wants to go back. It is a nasty, competitive business, and after working as a model for over 20 years, she got nothing out of it. She now works at a car company, and is always having to move for different jobs, which will be a lot harder once her daughter starts school in september.
She lives in an apartment, that she can barely pay for. Her last apartment, she had to run away from. She couldn’t afford the rent.
This is not the life I would recommend for any child.

Make sure she understand that a model, like a pro athlete, is not a person. They are a commodity. It is hard and no one cares.

Trying to look sexy is not a good thing for a young teen and sexy only works for VS, Playboy, etc models who are all over 21 years old. That’s not a good look for a 14 year old who aspires to model. At that age, they are looking for fresh-faced innocent looking girls who could be in a Delia’s catalog or Nordstrom Brass Plum website. She is going to have to tone it down if she wants to be a model at her age.
http://store.delias.com/browse.do;jsessionid=4697085F149DE6D369320AEEB0D8EA28.worker2?categoryKey=dresses&topnavTrack=dresses&incmpid=TopNavDre
http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/2377032/0~2378467~2378483~2377032?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=leftnav&pbo=6002456

Modeling is an extremely hard business that has some great people but also attracts its fair share of scammers, perverts, drug pushers, etc. Before you decide anything, you need to read the book “Model” by Michael Gross – they might have it at your library or look for it on Amazon. It’s the most realistic book ever written about the modeling industry. You need to be fully aware of the dangers your daughter could potentially face in this career – pressure to lose weight at all costs (eating disorders, diet pills, cocaine), contantly being told you are too fat/thin/ugly/exotic/plain/small lipped/wide hipped/etc for the job. Going to 100 go-sees and being rejected until you finally get that first job. This can take a toll on even the most confident girls.
Good Morning America did this recent story on the dangers young models face
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=127146&page=1
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/537643.stm – concerns one of the largest and most reputable agencies in the world
Also read this article http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/columns/citypolitic/1866/

If your daughter does want to get into modeling, she is going to need to be at least 5′7″ by age 14, and 5′9″ by age 16 with measurements of 34-24-34 plus or minus 1″. If she’s not tall enough, she’s only going to face rejection or be scammed by rogue agents and talent searches charging thousands of dollars and never getting anyone any work. Don’t believe anyone saying they have work for petite models or “real people” – these are almost always scams.

If your daughter is tall and thin enough, then you have to be involved. Make sure she NEVER submits photos online without you knowing – there are too many scam agencies or perverts posing as photographers and model scouts targeting girls on myspace, facebook, bebo, etc. Also as she is under 18, she should NEVER discuss work with anyone. Tell her not to post sexy pictures on any sites or she will be groomed by internet predators looking exactly for these type of pictures.

Take her to an open call at a legitimate agency like Ford Models – call their office nearest you to find out the times. They have them weekly, and will tell you on the spot if she is model material or not. If they say something like “we’ll be in touch” it’s a nice way of saying she’s not model material. If they schedule a second meeting, at least it means she has potential, whether or not she gets signed is another issue

No problem supporting her modeling dream if you know how to go about it. Here is some info that can give you a start on what you need to know:

Best “education” on how to get into modeling & the modeling world: http://www.newmodels.com. This site explains how the modeling world REALLY works and how to get into modeling. Educate yourself so you don’t get scammed. Also, check out http://www.modelingscams.org.

FYI – you don’t need a portfolio in order to send photos to an agency. Any agency who wants you will know exactly what kinds of photos they want in order to promote you. Do NOT listen to anyone who says you need a portfolio in order to get started! I had nothing when my agency accepted me. When they signed me, they told me what types of photos they needed (“Commercial/lifestyle”), gave me a list of photographers in the area who did that type of photography, and I had to get photos taken for my comp card (model’s business card which has photos on it). I didn’t have to use any of the photographers on the list, I was free to go to any photographer I wanted as long as they knew how to do commercial photography. If an “agency” sends you to use their in-house photographer & don’t give you the option to shop around for a different photographer, then it is a scam.

Also, no need to go to a “modeling school” and most agencies prefer that you NOT do modeling school. You don’t need to waste money on “training.” Save that money. Any “agency” that is telling you that your daughter needs to pay for training to be a model is a SCAM. Legit agencies make money when your daughter books jobs (takes 20% of her earnings) as a finder’s fee for a job; that is the way it should work. Best of luck!

You should support it. My parents didn’t, so I went behind their backs. My mom told me when I had straight A’s, she’d take me to a modeling agency. At the time, I didn’t care much for school. So I found online modeling sites and met up with crappy photographers on my own. Luckily, nothing bad ever happened to me and I eventually moved to NY to model full time. But, things could have turned out far worse.

If she’d have supported me, I wouldn’t have amateur photographs floating around out there and I would have gotten a great agency much sooner.

It does concern me that she wants to look sexy at that age (and I agree with other posters). There are several types of modeling; if she wants to be a fashion/editorial model, she needs to be min 5′9″ and size 00-4. Sexy is not the goal, looking like a young, clothing hanger is. If she wants to be a glamour type model (aka the sexy, Playboy type/ great for swimwear and lingerie), then she needs to be 18!!! Those models don’t have strict height and size requirements; they just need to look gorgeous in face and body. It’s a catch 22 in all types of modeling; you are selling your body and your face. It is a hard, tough business, and it can be a bad industry. But it can also be amazing!