Answering a Reader Question #688

Julia Wrote:

 Hi Dania! First of all great blog! I am a 21 year old (most guess around 17 when I'm all natural though) Swedish girl who are 5"7 tall. My entire life I've been told I should really try to become a model and that I don't look like "the others" (this applies to both friends, relatives, strangers and professionals). I have also been scouted on the streets by a few photographers. The reason why I've never started is mainly because I've never thought it possible with my height and also because of the industry it self. Now being a little bit older I've started to change my mind, but am now instead afraid that it's getting too late for me. What do you think?

Hey, Julia!

Thanks for the compliment! :-)

At 5'7" it is going to be hard for you to get signed to most traditional fashion agencies, especially since many of them also set pretty strict age requirements. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least still try and see if you could be that exception to the rule.

I would recommend visiting the websites of the agencies in your area and seeing what the age and height requirements are. If you don't meet those requirements, then don't submit but if you come across any that you do qualify for, then send in snapshots or attend an open call and see what happens.

5'7" actually makes you ideal for commercial/print modeling so if the fashion agencies don't work out for you, definitely look into submitting to print agencies and I have no doubt that you'll have a good shot at getting a modeling career started in that niche.

As an added perk, print modeling doesn't have a strict age requirement so being 21 wouldn't be an issue for you at all and, in fact, print models lead much longer careers than the average fashion/runway model. Just something to think about. :-)

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