Five Tips for Wearing Hair Jewellery

Hair jewellery is back! This is going to be one of the biggest hair trends of autumn 2016, taking the ‘natural hair’ thing that’s so popular right now to new levels. We blame Game of Thrones – its wild popularity has made everyone want to wrap necklaces through their hair!

This trend is so versatile. Whether you want to drape chains around loose curls or attach an earring to an up-do, there are a tonne of creative ways to wear hair jewellery. LUXE Models reveals five tips for wearing hair jewellery this autumn.

Store bought or homemade?

Why buy hair jewellery, when you have perfectly good pieces at home? You might want to raid your drawers and use your normal jewellery as hair decorations. But if you want something more avante guarde, head to the high street. The UK Fashion Spot notes that hair jewellery designs have become more sophisticated over the past decade, so you can find some really cool, quirky pieces!

Remember the basics

This trend may lend itself to creativity, but you should still keep the basic rules of style in mind. Do the tones of your hair and jewellery please each other? Does the jewellery match the rest of your outfit? Is the piece too heavy for your hair? By asking these questions, you’ll be able to find the right hair jewellery-look for any occasion, from a day at the office to a night on the town!

Follow the celebs

Do you want to be really on trend? Scour the fashion mags and find out how your favourite celebrities are working hair jewellery this season. Some of the most famous women in the world, from Kim Kardashian to Taylor Swift, have been pictured rocking this style in 2016. Use a celebrity fashion finder app like Craves to figure out where you can buy the pieces your favourite celebrity wore last week!

Wait until it's dry

Wets locks are the enemy of hair jewellery, hair blog Naturally Curly reveals. Always wait until your hair is dry before you put on your pieces. Otherwise, your hair could dry around the accessory, making it much harder to remove at night. On that subject, you should always remove your hair jewellery before bed, so if you toss and turn in the night, you don’t encounter any problems the next day.

Secure jewellery tightly!

Modern life is pretty hectic. If you’re not careful, your jewellery will get tangled up in your hair, due to the rigours of daily life, making it almost impossible to take out. It is essential that you secure you jewellery tightly and we’d suggest that you go with bobby pins, so it always stays in place.

Be creative

Let your imagination run free when choosing hair jewellery and as long as you don’t cross the fashion police, you should end up with a really edgy look that’s perfect for autumn 2016! 

What Type of Photos Should You Send to a Modelling Agency?

As an aspiring model, the pictures you use to put together your portfolio are vital. Top modelling agencies use these snaps to figure out whether you’re right for their roster, so your portfolio needs to be amazing. So, what type of photos should you send to a modelling agency?

Include a headshot

As a bare minimum, modelling agencies will expect you to submit at least one head shot. Without this essential snap, they won’t be able to assess your full potential as a model. But we’d advise you to send two head shots – one smiling and one not – to really grab the attention of top modelling agencies.

Submit a body shot

Modelling agencies will also expect you to submit at least one body shot. If they have this snap, they’ll be able to determine whether you have the right look for the modelling work they do. Again, we’d suggest you include at least two pictures – a front and a back shot. This will ensure that top modelling agencies can view your modelling potential from all possible angles!

Keep it simple

When you send pictures to modelling agencies, they want to see your natural beauty. We’d advise you to keep your hair and makeup simple, while ensuring you appear well groomed. This will present you as a blank canvas to modelling agencies, which they can utilise to serve their purposes.

Consider your clothing

Your portfolio pictures are your chance to shine. By all means submit snaps that depict you wearing a range of fashions, to illustrate your versatility as a model. But don’t venture into the realm of bad taste. Modelling agencies don’t often react well to pictures where models choose to wear items like fur. These pieces are seen as controversial by today’s fashion industry!

Ensure they’re focused

There’s nothing worse than a blurry photo. More to the point, if you send an out-of-focus picture to a top modelling agency, they’ll just place it aside. How can they assess your potential as a model if they can’t even see you? Make sure that any pictures you send to an agency are clear and in-focus.

Use your common sense

Engage your common sense before you submit your portfolio to an agency. They don’t want to be barraged by inappropriate portraits. Don’t send nude pictures to a modelling agency; you’ll appear extremely unprofessional. Also, refrain from including group shots in your portfolio. If your pictures include other people, it’ll make it harder for agents to pick you out of the crowd!

Think about going professional

It may be in your best interest to send professionally photographed portraits to top modelling agencies. LUXE Models has a brilliant creative team that can provide you with a really productive photoshoot. If you prepare for your photoshoot with LUXE Models beforehand, you could have the modelling photographs you need to really impress a top modelling agency!

Luxe Models on the Controversial Thigh Gap Trend

The thigh gap has, over the years, become an internet phenomenon. Hundreds, thousands of dedicated thigh gap supporters have saturated sites like Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest with photographs, blogs and memes of thigh gaps. For anyone who doesn’t have a clue what we mean by “thigh gap”: it’s a hollow cavity at the top of the inner thighs when you stand with your feet together. Largely it indicates a drastically underweight frame and there’s many a website offering girls “tips” on how to starve themselves to achieve these cavernous spaces betwixt their legs. At Luxe Models we’re all about maintaining fit, healthy bodies and think it’s about time this dangerous trend comes to an end.

For young girls, the internet is a pressure-filled hive swimming with pictures of “how they should look”. Plus-sized model Robyn Lawley of Australia has spoken out this week about her fears for teens that may end up starving themselves to achieve legs so thin they don’t touch at the top. She is hugely disturbed by websites that promote the thigh gap as “thinspiration” to encourage visitors to reduce their calorie intake in order to slim down to this unrealistic size.

24-year-old Robyn is a size 12 and has worked for Vogue and Elle France amongst others, and is the first plus-sized model to be shot in a Ralph Lauren campaign. She says this is a very worrying image for teens to be exposed to and was alarmed when an image of her posing in lingerie was used on a pro-thigh gap Facebook page. The photograph, in which Robyn leans forward slightly, creating a natural parting at the top of her legs, garnered 900 comments and many of them were far from positive.

In an article written for the Daily Beast, Robyn says that she was described as “too hefty” to be featured on the site, and notes that the word “pig” was bandied about far too often in reference to her gorgeous figure. She also says that far from aiming to achieve a thigh gap, she’s been working hard to make her thighs bigger and stronger so that she can enjoy longer workouts.

She feels that true acceptance comes from within rather than comments on a Facebook feed or a ridiculous website where eating disorders are openly encouraged. Women and especially young girls have enough pressure laid on them without having to feel like they’re not beautiful because they don’t have a large wedge of air where the flesh of their legs should be.

And Robyn has seen it from both sides. She began her career as a standard-sized model but felt it wasn’t worth the effort of trying to maintain a size 8. From the looks of her Tumblr page, Robyn is a passionate foodie who certainly wouldn’t dream of starving her body of vital nutrients. We reckon she’s absolutely gorgeous and a real inspiration for any aspiring models. But that’s not to say that naturally slim women ought to feel bad about their shapes either!

If you’re hoping to enter the world of modelling, it’s very important to understand the value of loving yourself through and through and being very confident about your body image. At Luxe Models we can offer advice and tell you which area of modelling you’re best suited to. Check out our website for more details!

What to expect from your first modelling shoot

Luxe models knows that modelling is a tricky business. A certain set of skills must be owned by a model in order to succeed. The difficulty of working well with a camera is massively underestimated; the best make it look easy, but any model knows it requires a certain talent that not many possess. If you are gearing up for your first modelling shoot, make sure you bear in mind that communication with your photographer is key. Listen to them avidly and you’ll be on the right path. Expect to be taken outside of your comfort zone and always stay confident. Even though it can be nerve racking, remember that you have been booked by them and that they want you.

 Firstly, it is a good idea to get to grips with... your own face! This sounds bizarre, but facial expression is (obviously) very important in modelling. It can be underestimated how much effort it takes to get the exact look the photographer/director wants to go for. Get to know your face in a mirror or in front of a camera with a friend. Practice the way in which you can hold your face to create different expressions. Obviously, we all know the general rules of smiling and frowning (!), but it’s a good idea to master a sultry look, a candid look, a thoughtful look etc. Expect your photographer to ask you to give certain expressions and looks; be prepared to be diverse. 

 Ok, so we’ve covered the face, now it’s time to think about the body. The way in which you hold your body is definitely something you should practice. Your photographer will want you to hold all kinds of different positions. What’s more, you will be surprised at how much effort it takes to look natural. Get used to moving your body in ways you wouldn’t usually do in day to day life. Bend your arms, twist your torso, discover how to make different shapes and what kind of positions flatter certain clothes best.

Finally, all models should expect to be able to work with props. Of course, there will be shoots where you don’t have to use props, but there will be many where you’re expected to work with all manner of things, from food, to sports equipment, to make up, to animals! Practice with anything and everything; use a mirror to get an idea of what you look like when eating, toss a ball and pose at the same time, try draping yourself across a sofa in a few different positions. It really helps if you look comfortable with different props, so practicing is a great way to show your photographer that you’re able to work with anything. 

Luxe Models wishes you the best of luck with your first shoot!

Until next time!