Had a shoot for an outdoor adventure company M360 with a guy named DK and little boy from my agency this week.

The setting was in a forest not far from the city, when we arrived a little buggy picked us up and took us through the park to a more secluded area. The client had various settings for the shoot including doing yoga in the woods, me and DK playing with our "son" and drinking champagne, pretending to BBQ some food and pulling ourselves on a platoon through some very questionable water.

For the last look the assistants were trying to make it back to land and had to cross via 4 platoons. The first guy crossed a bit too quickly perhaps showing off a bit and ended up in the lake (twice), phone and all.  The scene resembled something you would see on an episode of Wipeout, it was priceless!

On a completely different note my room mate Maryna bought a turtle off the side of the road which we named Moby. He's the new pet of the house and so adorable. Maryna was told by a few people that they've only lasted 3 days as pets because they're not carefully taken care of, so she's determined to be a good mother and takes good care of him with visits to the park each morning and night so he can stretch his tiny little legs. He's been here for 6 days now, so far so good!

It's been a busy week in Shanghai for me. I had 7 jobs ( 2 catalogues and 5 shows ) in the space of 5 days. 6 of the jobs were for the same client - Dazzle. They do womenswear, very cute clothes alot of colour and layering. The photoshoot was for their Winter 2011 catalogue. I shot with 2 other girls, one from Poland and another from Australia. The shoot went for about 8 hours which isnt very long compared to what I've heard about some girls doing 14 hour shoots. That's not to say that I wasn't ready to finish by the end of it. Believe it or not but its tiring getting dressed and undressed 100 times over. Especially when youre wearing 3 layers of winter clothes and were in the middle of summer. Any girl that likes to shop would understand..after 4 hours of trying on clothes at shopping mall you usually get fed up and go home.

The second shoot was for puffer jackets. Now the temperature outside was around 35degrees and humity around 90% the girls I was shooting with had started at 5:30am and shot outside until 10:30 where they meet me in the studio to then shoot the rest of the collection until 5pm.

One the of girls had a fever and cracked under the pressure from the heat and exhaustion. She burst into tears on set and ended up being sent home. So that left me and another girl to shoot the rest of the line. It was good fun there were 2 girls and 2 guys. We would take turns shooting individually then would pose together as couples and as a group.

Not sure whats on the cards for work this week yet. We go into the agency each Monday to collect our pocket money and check the calendar for any new jobs we've booked. Apart from that it will be castings as per usual.

The last 4 days have definitely been eventful. Had my first night on the town last Thursday where we went to Bar Rouge, spent Friday recovering then out again Saturday to Club Gaga and last night to Rich City. The clubs here are breathtaking, it's obvious no expense was spared when creating these venues. As a model the clubs want you to stay and have a good time and they definitely make sure of that. From allowing access to an open bar to bottle after bottle of alcohol being brought to our table. And at the end of the night they even pay us for our time.

The castings have been somewhat positive the last few days. I got booked for a lingerie shoot on friday, but turns out I already have a job that day so I couldn't do it which was disappointing as I hear lingerie pays well.

Me and Ashlee went to the 'fake' markets on Saturday. There are stalls as far as the eye can see full of Chinese folk yelling out what I can only imagine is banter about what they have to offer. Everything at the market was dirt cheap. 29RMB for denim shorts which works out at roughly 5AUD. That price isn't set in stone as well. It's very easy to barter and get an even lower price. I managed to buy some shoes for 120RMB that were initially 230. I think I could get used to this!

Long day today with about 8 castings. One being Dior show. About 120 6ft giants were present including the local models. Ive never felt so short in my life! My number was 70, even though we were one of the first to arrive they like to see the Chinese girls first.

While waiting I met a fellow Aussie who used to be with the same agency as me - Scene, she was filling me in on her modeling career around Asia and Europe so the 2 hour wait wasn't as bad as it could've been.
I managed to book 3 jobs today - 2 runways shows and a catalogue. All for the same client; Dazzle (womenswear)

Day 3

The weather in Shanghai today was wet and muggy. We had 6 castings, a few for catalogues, a tvc, and a show for crocs. We were asked if we could ski for the tvc and although I've never really ski'd in my life I said I could. If I get booked I'll just need to wing it, it can't be that hard surely! 
 
Usually for catalogues the client would give us all clothes to try on and each of us would take turns posing while they video us. One of the castings was in a small apartment which was used as a model agency. There were close to 50 girls there so you can imagine how stuffy it was. The first client seemed to like me and called me back in for a second look but the second client not so much. There was alot of waiting around in between so I got talking to a few of the other models - An American girl who i had met on Sunday and a Mexican guy who was telling us about the food in his home town. Who knew burritos aren't really Mexican but more of a Texas food? I feel robbed!

Day 1 & 2

The model apartment - well what can I say it's no four seasons. The kitchen is covered with dirty dishes and food scraps and the fridge is inhabiting some not so identifiable produce. Who knew we actually had a cleaning lady.  I go to use the toilet but it's blocked and there's no toilet paper, looks like I'll be holding on.. I then go check out where I'll be sleeping. I'm sharing a room with a nice Ukrainian girl named Marina who arrived a week prior. As I have to be up at 5am for a show I decide to hit the hay. I assess my bed situation, the mattress is more spring than anything and the blankets are stained and itchy. I quietly thank the lord I brought my own pillow and make do with what I have for the night. I didn't get all that much sleep, between the foreign screeches of drunken girls in the apartment and being bitten alive by mosquitos I woke every hour hoping it was time to get up.

The next day me and about 20 other girls drove to Xicheng Lu which  is  2 hours from the city. The job consisted of us parading on stage whilst some Chinese popstar performed then we would stand next to a Rolls Royce each while the locals took photos of us. Its crazy how fascinated they are of Caucasians, both men and women falling over each other to get a photo of the tall fair girls.

It's now Monday and we've just arrived home after attending a string of castings, the apartment is starting to feel more homely after I sorted my bed with a new sheet and blanket and am now more comfortable with the other girls.

As an outsider looking in, one would come to the assumption that a models life is cruisey and full of luxury. All we have to do is stand there and look pretty, right? Well that couldn't be further from the truth.  Don't get me wrong there are definitely the luxurious moments when it comes to being a model but it's not an easy road to success.

Arriving in Shanghai on Saturday I came to the realization that this is no holiday, the next 3 months are going to be tough but I'm here to work and hopefully make some money so whatever this industry throws at me, I'm ready.

Introduction

I have decided to create this blog to share my experiences as a new model in Shanghai  over the next 3 months.

But first, let's begin with how I got here in the first place...So it all started last December when I decided to quit my well paid, executive job to pursue my dream of being a model. At the time I really didn't think about the possibility of being rejected by agencies, but February had crept around and after applying to every agency I could think of I still had no bites. I was starting to panic by this point as I was due to turn 22 and I know that's still adolescence in the normal world but in model years you may as well be 50 and nearing retirement.

So I took a few days to commiserate never being 21 again, then sucked it up and was more determined than ever to make sure this career change was a successful one.  I decided to re do my polaroids and submit them to the agencies once more in hopes that I'd get at least one positive reply. About a week went by and I got a response from Scene Model Management, asking me to come in for an interview. As soon as I read the email I was mentally scanning through my closet trying to think of the perfect outfit to wear with some kick ass heels to match.

 I was a bag of nerves before I met with them, what if they didn't like me? It's not like a normal job interview where you have the excuse of not answering their questions the right way and just learning for next time. In these kind of interviews you are judged by what you look like, how tall you are, do you have good bone structure? things that you can't exactly "learn for next time".

Well it turns out I was nervous for nothing. The agency was very friendly and welcoming, they even offered me a contract on the spot which I did not hesitate to accept. Within a week they had organised a test shoot in order to start up my portfolio and appear on the website. Now I wasn't sure as to how this industry worked but things weren't moving as quickly as I'd hoped. I had only gone on one go see over the course of a month and I was starting to wonder if quiting my full time job was the best idea.. that was until I received a message from my agent asking if I could come by the office in the next hour to meet with a Scout from Asia. At this time I was assisting with a warehouse sale for New Zealand clothing label Trelise Cooper and did not think that I could get away. Sitting there stewing over it I mentioned this dilemma to my best friend Hollie whom I was working with. She made a big fuss saying I couldn't miss out on this opportunity which resulted in our boss overhearing her and insisting I go.

 So with that I was off, I jumped into my car and raced down to the office. Dressed in flat shoes and jeans, hair and makeup only just acceptable with no book or comp card in hand I turn up to the agency. As soon as I arrived I felt completely inadequate, the other girls from the agency were in high heels, pretty dresses, hair and makeup done perfectly with portfolios in hand. The scout was meeting each model one on one so when it came to my turn I walked up sheepishly with nothing to offer but myself and sat down. I explained I did not have a book or a card as I was new so he just stared at my face instead asking me to move my head from left to right so he could get a good look at my bone structure. He kept telling me to relax my face, I guess there's just something about a stranger staring at me and judging me from close distance that makes me a little uncomfortable.  I then had to walk for him, and as I didn't come with heels one of the other girls offered me hers and although they were a size too big I gratefully accepted. Now I don't know about you but it's not easy walking in heels that are too big for you  and you can imagine what it looked like.

I was sure that I had blown any chance of landing a contract, by my walk resembling that of a child taking it's first steps. So I left the agency convinced I did not make a good impression on the scout and that I wouldn't be offered a contract but still grateful for the experience...

Guess I was wrong!

Stay tuned, as in 2 weeks I will be jetting off to Shanghai for a 3 month contract with JaStar Models where I plan to be Made in China.