Answering a Reader Question #627

Danielle Wrote:

 Hey..my name is Danielle,im 20 and I always dreamed of being a fashion model but I have really bad stretch marks on my stomach and I have a 5 year old daughter with no kind help from nobody and I want to do this soo bad so I can give my daughter everything I didn't have! Any advice??

Hi, Danielle!

The best advice I can give you is to simply go for it. The worst an agency can say is "no."

Work on treating your stretch marks as best as you can (consult with a dermatologist to see what they recommend or try quality products for severe stretch marks...they won't make the marks disappear but can help lighten or fade the appearance). Once you feel you've done everything you can with the stretch marks and feel confident, start looking into agencies.

Look up the websites of agencies within a 2 hour's drive from where you live and see what the requirements are for submitting yourself. Virtually all agencies these days ask for non professional, digital snapshots so you don't have to worry about paying a photographer or trying to put together a professional portfolio or headshots. So that's a cost effective approach that will work in your favor.

In these snapshots you can choose to either wear a swimsuit or a solid colored, fitted t-shirt/tank top and dark skinny jeans. You don't have to show your stretch marks right away if you don't want to but if you get called for an interview or asked to attend a casting call, you will have to tell them about it eventually.

Fashion models do show skin, including the stomach, but I believe it would be in your best interest to still submit yourself and see what feedback you get. That's the only way to find out which ones will pass on you and which ones like you enough to try and work around it.

If the stretch marks become a hindrance and don't make fashion modeling possible, there's always the option of doing commercial/print modeling, which doesn't involve showing a lot of skin. Booking this type of work through a print agency pays very well, too. If you don't have any luck with fashion agencies, go to plan B and submit yourself to print agencies and see what happens. Many agencies have both print and fashion divisions so if they don't feel you'd be a good fit for fashion, they can certainly consider you for print work instead.

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