[SiennaInLondon]

How can you get away with lying? What identification do they ask you for?

[funkalicious]

I believe that as long as you look oyung and have the right look/body they will still sign you.

[fouroclock]

I guess they could start a Casablancas-free "training phase," and ten they go out in the real world when they're eighteen.

[it's happening]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartarse Goodness! Nowadays models are getting younger and younger......so young that I wonder if they need a parent to accompany them to live in NYC (for those young foreigners who get signed). 14 yrs seem to be the starting age , then you get 17 yr olds. and so on. And it looks like girls that reach their 20s starts to mature faster, that's why agencies are looking to much younger girls than ever before. Designers too.... prefer pubescent girls , just as long as they are tall (required height). And size 2. However, there are some girls who reached their 20's that still get jobs. They are the lucky ones but the select few.

It's so gross to here pubescent and fashion in the same sentence. Who really is this suppose to appeal to, and sell to?
If i met a guy who liked this look, i'd call him a pedophile.
What else can you call it? What wealthy woman, fashion's main consumer, would be comfy seeing a child in couture? Yuck, just yuck.

Oh, and i disagree with you on that other point.
a woman's body in general isn't expected to change that much from 15 to 20. Medically it isn't even expected nor has it been widely proven to change, and people here should know that because i constantly see members telling others that girls are done growing by 16.
So i wonder where clients are getting the idea that it does change so rapidly. The only thing that is true is that girls are starting puberty earlier than before, around age 7 than 11, and it's not being attributed to human genetics but because of artificial hormones in foods and petrochemicals in the food supply mimicking hormones. Even then, it's still believed that they stop puberty around 15. So fashion clients don't make sense on selecting this age group over a group only 5 years older than they.

All i can make sense of on this concept is that they are choosing them because models this age are psychologically more easy to influence. But yea, as far as body goes, that's complete BS that 15 to 20 causes such a rapid change. 10 to 15 causes rapid change, but 15 to 20 is nothing. I know girls in their late 20's that have the body of a pre-adolescent girl, which isn't hard to picture considering most women in the US are only 5'4 and below. And I still fit into clothes i had when i was 12.

And there are more models in their 20s then in their teens that are successful....keep in mind the ages Moss and Harlow and Evengelista were when they got successful (both over 18).
i've been told by photog's that have worked with successful models that lying about the age is more common than lying about anything.

[it's happening]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sashatheelf the only reason i'd say its problem is because it ofen takes so long to build your book in the first place, which is why so many girls start so young. .

that's the only truthful answer i was given as to why age should ever be important: so they can try out strategies.
It gives them more time to develop your image and test you, which gives the agents more options to earn money from you thus making them very interested in working with you from an early starting point. Your looks really should not be changing that much (there's no scientific reason as to why they would, not even one's skin texture, with skin being such a good indicator of aging) from your late teens to early 20's.

Age doesn't determine if you'll be able to work or not, it determines if you are going to be able to give the industry enough time to test you. Most people settle down by the time they're 30, it's not like they become less attractive when they get older, they just become less interested in these type of affairs and feel the need to start a family.

[zionforsell]

Age doesn't matter. Nothing matters except your look and your attitude. I am 17 and look like a 12 years old. They can out on makeup and make me look like 8!!! As long as you have the look they want, you are good too go! Agency are willing to lie to get you jobs. They can lie about your measurements, your height, your eye and hair color, your age, even where you came from. Seriously, no one cares about those stuff as long as you are fabulous for work! My cousin wears contact lense and it became her eyes's color on her card. They even invented a bio for her. No, age doesn't matter!

[fashionistangeL]

thats good.. thanks for sharing!!!

[o0ceania]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zionforsell Age doesn't matter. Nothing matters except your look and your attitude. I am 17 and look like a 12 years old. They can out on makeup and make me look like 8!!! As long as you have the look they want, you are good too go! Agency are willing to lie to get you jobs. They can lie about your measurements, your height, your eye and hair color, your age, even where you came from. Seriously, no one cares about those stuff as long as you are fabulous for work! My cousin wears contact lense and it became her eyes's color on her card. They even invented a bio for her. No, age doesn't matter!

This seems to be very true. But, if this is the case, why does a remarkable agency like DNA state this if age isn't an issue? And more importantly why is there no age cut-off for men like their is women? This seems really weird to me.

I don't understand why 21 would even be the cut-off for women either. Why not say 23 or 25 if you're going to say any number? The reason being because many people don't even live their home to work abroad until they're of complete legal age to do so, because 21 is universally legal for everything in any part of the world. Many people don't leave to do anything period until they're 21, so stating that as the last age seems really unrealistic. What do the rest of you think?

Requirements:

Females

Age - 13 to 21
Height - 5' 7" to 6'
Male
Age - 15 and up
5'11" and up

[BetteT]

One of the factors about the age of a model is that by mid 20's their faces start to show signs of aging, fine laugh lines around they eyes, deeper creases between the nose and mouth, etc.. A big issue if they are doing any print work. And print ads and commercial work are a huge part of the market. Runway only happens a few times a year.

With guys ... they are allowed to have laugh lines around their eyes etc. as long as they keep a strong chin line (no jowels) ... so older is OK, as long as they look rugged.

[o0ceania]

^^thanks.

however, you can get those lines and creases in your teens, so your actual age has nothing to do with it. rather, it's how fast your individual stressors that make up your life age you. a teen who smokes and gets sun is going to show more damage than an average clean-living smoke/sun-free 30 year old. i've seen these demonstrations in dermatology material...visible signs of aging occur regardless of your actual age.

just because you're 20 doesn't mean you're automatically going to get these features. in fact you may never get them in your life at all. plastic surgeons have told me some women will never show the visible signs if they do proper care.

it's very frustrating to see the modeling industry refuse to acknowledge these facts about how aging actually works

[Sweet rus]

At 20 faces start to show some signs of aging? haha
It's crazy, 20 yo girl doesn't differ much from 16 yo one

[dg_fan]

to me its a little unhealthy to start modeling so young 16 and up is alright but 13? just too young dont u think?

[BetteT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet rus At 20 faces start to show some signs of aging? haha It's crazy, 20 yo girl doesn't differ much from 16 yo one

I actually said "mid" 20s. Agencies want to start the models young enough to actually develop a career ... a few good years, 8 to 10, if they get lucky.

Ask any makeup artist who works on models' faces ... they can spot the older girls the moment they sit in their chairs. And with todays high resolution digital imaging, everything shows including nostril hair (weird, I know, but I've seen it many times) ... the camera is not nearly as forgiving as it used to be when it was film. In fact, for high def, close up shots, artists today want models to remove all soft peach fuzz facial hair, because it shows up like crazy, too.

True ... aging can be delayed a bit with proper care, but not stopped and any 15 year old will still look younger than a 25 year old, close up.

[dg_fan]

thats true i agree but i just think its wrong for girls who are 13 or younger become a model but i agree with u Bette T

[emma peel]

i find this whole discussion of 20 being too old quite depressing.

perhaps a "career" that is over before most people are still starting out as undergraduates isn't a career at all. at best it's like winning the jackpot (if you already won the sperm lottery and are 6' and skinny), at worst it seems exploitative, petty and demeaning to women who work hard to develop careers without expiration dates.

(which isn't saying that models aren't good at what they do, but how good can they be if they don't have a chance to develop their "talents" beyond the age of twenty?)