Ok, I admit it. I am addicted. I am addicted to this show I just found on A&E channel called “Duck Dynasty.” It’s about this family in Louisiana that has made a boatload of cash from selling of all things, duck calls. I fought it for months, I truly tried to take the high road, who the davil needs another show about rednecks, they seem to make fun of them more than highlight their wonderful qualities. But this one just sort of crept up on me. I can’t help it, words are my favorite drug of choice. I love them, I love their sounds, I love their uses. I was tuned in the other day and the patriarch was talking about his sons living in fancy subdivisions married to “city girls” and how the family was turning Hollywood. Only he didn’t say Hollywood (Hol·ly·wood), he says “going all Hah-leewood” stressing the hah. I had to back it up and re-listen three times, amazing genius! That is now my pronunciation of this word, I’ve been saying it wrong for years! The show is a plethora of new sounds for me, so if I start to say things a little differently around here, try to understand, I am just trying to assimilate myself into my new society. And to fit into my new Hah.leewood persona, I had to don the perfect outfit, Mandala jewelry, and that greatest of all accessory the Diva’s doggy right? As luck would have it Djod Karu of *Diram* showed me some love yesterday and dropped me this gorgeous “Eve” dress in mesh with the matching turban. The outfit can be mixed and matched since it is a seperate skirt and shirt and comes in many colors, I could be wrong but I counted at least 6 colors. The brooch come with the shirt, I’ve just attached one to the turban as well. The gorgeous everyday and cocktail dress will be available March 23rd at the mainstore. Yep, here’s the taxi for you! Taxi:
Monday, I was honored to take part in Mimmi Boa Modeling Academy’s newest modeling class as a guest speaker. I don’t rightly know why they would want a silly Lil Cao there, but when Aunty Mimmi calls, you better runnnnnnn. No, truly, it is an honor, I love Mimmi to pieces and still remember when I was one of her lil hunnies. She taught me 99% of what I know about modeling, and I will be forever grateful to her for her kind (and patient) tutelage of me. I tend to wander away, but she always brought me back to attention. She has a great new class of up and comer’s, it will be interesting to see which models take her teachings to heart and brings it to the next level. Because of the class though, I’ve decided to finish this week with how to differentiate yourself from other models.
Today’s first thought, for new models and aspiring models, never focus so much on your favorite model that you try to “BE” them. Create a unique face that is yours alone. Personally, I think models should pick their country region first, and then create the avatar as he/she would appear in your nationality. An Eastern European woman would look different than a Scandinavian, or an Asian, or an African, Latino, etc. If you need help just google image the “Beautiful women of (country),” sure you might get “those” websites, set your search to safe so you wont be surprised, appalled, frightened, fired because you’re at work… Even with blended cultures, regions don’t lose the markers that make them unique. As an Asian, I am notoriously small, hence the name Lil. When you have the base of your qualities of your face, tweak it to give it uniqueness. I have to say strongly here, sometimes it is the imperfections that make a person truly unique and beautiful.Don’t be afraid to add imperfections, look at it this way, everyone goes for the perfect beauty, so the only way you can make yourself stand out is to have small imperfections and make them a part of you in every single model activity you do, so others will see your face and know its you. Without having to look over your head at your name. This is the single most important part of branding yourself as a model, face recognition.
Take from? Yes, creating your model avatar is the first step and is important to spend time on. Take the time to do it right. Network and get feedback. Don’t be scared to scrap it and start over because in the beginning of your career is the only time you should be tweaking your face. If you always show up looking differently, who will know you by sight? Remember, your brand and goal is face recognition. Create carefully and don’t fall so in love with your face when you are creating it that you become blind to what you are looking at, look at the face not as if it is YOU, look at it objectively like it belongs to someone else, so you can see where you have made mistakes (if you have). Do the hard groundwork now, and hopefully one day, like the Duck Dynasty, you too can go Hah-leewood.
an chailín álainn 