A pretty good friend (let's just pretend her name is Naomi Campbell...ha!) is hosting a charity event. In addition to a gala, the other component of the charity event includes a fashion show. Because you believe in the cause and want to support your friend, you throw in your support financially and as a volunteer runway model.
When you show up for the fitting for the fashion show, the collection is not what you imagined and not particularly anything that you would wear. The construction and quality of the pieces are horrible...and that is a gracious description. You begin to realize that you'll be photographed in and likely attached with this sartorial ineptitude into perpetuity.
The fashion show is THREE days away. You want out.
What would YOU do?
I wound continue to model. Although not my personal style and selection, modeling is just that wearing clothes by someone else for a purpose. As long as it was nothing vulgar or overly revealing, I'd grin and bear it. I'd also subtly ask about her getting new designers for the next show. I would try my best to rock it so people would remember me as, the model who worked the crap out of those hideous clothes! Hey, it's worth a try!
ReplyDeleteDo it anyway, but make suggestions as to what you think will enhance the garment.
ReplyDeleteI would ROCK those pieces anyway! Because at the end of the day, it is not about me. I volunteered because it was a cause that I believed in and she was a very good friend of mine..not because I am an aspiring model or because I wanted to be photographed in the "latest fashions". But after the fashion show is over and and my good friend and I chat I would make a joke about it though just for laughs. But that's just me.
ReplyDeleteI would let my friend know that the fashions are dreadful but I would do it for her and that she owes me big time!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a show I just watched on VH1 :) I think if you volunteer you should stick with it! If you a model your job is to make a paper bag look good!
ReplyDeletewww.babyshopaholic.blogspot.com
I agree with everyone else here. You volunteered so keep your promise. Next time I bet you'll investigate thoroughly BEFORE you open your mouth won't you? Besides, when you tell your friend just how awful her clothes are, one of two things will happen... Either she will take the critism well and make changes, or maybe she'll be so pissed off she won't ask you to do it again. If the latter happens, then you have a way out!
ReplyDeleteIt would be tacky to backout three days before. Talk them in to change things to enhance your beauty.
ReplyDeleteIf they say no, then you have to work it like a professional.
Before I volunteer to be in the show, I would have to know who the designers are and what the pieces look like. You need to know what to expect. What if you show up and it's all swimsuits and you aren't comfortable modeling in swimwear, or it's all pieces leaving very little to the imagination and SO not your taste or what your personal brand represents? I would just let her know that I reserve the right to pull out, but will still come and donate money. It would be up to her to let me know well in advance of the show in case she needs to get someone to fill my spot.
ReplyDeleteOh yes stick with it. I had to model in my son's end of senior year fashion show. As a working mom, I didn't hang with the boss moms who doled out black tie dresses. So I got workout gear[!] and given the choice between golf, tennis, or aerobics, I picked aerobics. And wound up in Nike "hip hop" pants and a peach long sleeved top that was so revealing I had to borrow TWO sports bras to wear it with. Thus forever endearing myself to all the teenage girls backstage:). I'm actually very fond of the resultant photo, as a memento, not of my style but of the smile on my face as I walked with my boy.
ReplyDeleteIt's Naomi Campbell....DON'T SAY ANYTHING unless you want a cell phone thrown at you!
ReplyDeleteOnce you step in it, you have to keep on walking.
ReplyDeleteI would do the show anyways and try to rock the garments to the best of my ability. If she is a true and close friend, I would definitely have to talk to her about the quality of the clothes. In the end, I guess it is really about the charity and not the clothes.
ReplyDeleteIf the person feels that strongly about it, then she should pull out now! This will give them time to find someone else which shouldn't be too hard! Personally, I would continue to model! Since I'm aware of how 'avante guarde' upscale designers' can be, I would go ahead and don that outfit(s)! Then, on the runway, I would walk that 'cat-walk' and set it on fire! I'd get to the end and strike some poses that would equal Tyra Banks, Naomi Sims, Cyndi Crawford, etc.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I had that experience before. I participated as a model for a church event some years ago. The other chosen women and myself were so excited; especially when we found out the upscale store that was going to provide the clothing for us to wear. When we met at the store to get our assigned articles, our bubbles of excitement were burst sort to speak! The manager of this store seemed to have found clothing that we had never seen there before. Let me re-phrase that, they had to have been hidden somewhere, like at another store! They were the plainest, most unattractive, dowdy looking apparel that I wouldn't have given to my great-grandmother! LOL! We were all young church-going women, but our taste was much, much better than that! As we left the store in disbelief, we decided to make the best of it! To make a long story short, when I got on that runway, I walked it with my 5'4" height self as if I was a 5'8" professional model! I had a ball! I worked the clothes and not let the clothes work me! I received many compliments from those present about my modeling abilities. During the luncheon, no one even mentioned the clothes! Actually, we all did very well as models by supporting each other behind the scenes and turned it into fun for us!
-pearls