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Looking back over the last 44 years of her fabulous career, Twiggy, the world’s first boldface supermodel and now 60 years old, says “It was just so weird. I was this funny little kid from working-class London. It could have gone horribly wrong.”

Twiggy’s rise to the modeling world was phenomenal. She grew up to a carpenter dad and factory worker mom. She was also considered short for modeling at the height of 5′6″. Worst, she was waif – no boobs and no hips unlike the fuller-figure models that were popular during her time.

“Whether you’re thin, fat, small, dark, blond, redhead, you wanna be something else. I wanted a fairy godmother to make me look like Marilyn Monroe. I had no boobs, no hips, and I wanted it desperately.

“I didn’t plan to be a model. I thought the world had gone stark raving mad. I was used to being teased at school for being so skinny and I thought I was really funny looking, but I was obsessed with clothes.”

But while working in a hair salon as an assistant on Saturdays, she had the opportunity to model for the salon in a series of photos that featured androgynous hair looks. The pictures were spotted by a salon client who wrote for the Daily Express, which then had her across two pages of the publication. It was the beginning of her modeling career. Soon enough, she conquered London and America and later changed the world of fashion as the iconic Twiggy – the supermodel with the waif figure, long legs, boyish bob, and huge eyes painted with tiny lower lashes – her twigs.

After four years, Twiggy retired from modeling and moved on to stage, films, TV and singing (where she won two Golden Globes and a Tony nomination). Opting to move on to other careers in the entertainment and fashion industry, she would joke, “You can’t be a clothes hanger for your entire life.”

But despite the short-lived modeling career, the ultra-skinny look that Twiggy started had remained dominant in fashion.

“It was debated when I hit the headlines and I always came out and said that I was very healthy, which I was, and always ate, which I do. I love my food. I just come from a lineage. My dad was very slim, so it’s kind of in the genes really.

“They ask for these girls. It’s gotta stop. I don’t know how you go about it, so the debate goes on. The agencies have to protect these girls.”

What made Twiggy a lasting icon even for today’s generation (and “until her dying day and beyond,” in the words of film director and writer Ken Russell) were her teen innocence and solid parental supervision. These important aspects of her life have separated her from those who have succumbed to the destructive aspects of her era like drugs and sexual exploitations of young models.

“My dad was always a very strong presence in my life. He instilled a kind of being down to earth, being sensible, especially when this whole thing happened to me.”

Fashion apparently loves scandal. Weeks after reports of Terry Richardson’s sexual misconduct on shoots have surfaced, the photographer is back on the road with his high-fashion photography for Vogue.

Terry Richardson is collaborating on a shoot with Carine Roitfeld and Lara Stone for Vogue Paris. He has also shot Doutzen Kroes on a Miami beach for Vogue America. Seemingly telling the world that he cannot be brought down by allegations of harassing his models on shoots, he has posted some of them on his website Terry Richardson’s Diary.

Terry Richardson has not commented on the allegations pointed out at him, except for a short note that he has also posted on his blog last March 20th:

“I just want to take a moment to say I’m really hurt by the recent and false allegations of insensitivity and misconduct. I feel fortunate to work with so many extraordinary people each and every day. I’ve always been considerate and respectful of the people I photograph and I view what I do as a real collaboration between myself and the people in front of the camera. To everyone who has embraced and supported me and my work, I am so grateful. Thank you, it means a lot.”

The prediction that no one who regularly employs Terry Richardson would care enough to not hire him after the scandal is now unfolding. With the support of powerful fashion figures like Marc Jacobs and Anna Wintour, his career in fashion photography is likely to remain undeterred.

On the other hand, the publicity that it has drawn will make the photographer more careful of his actions. Hopefully, everybody will take some time to be grateful for the talent given to them and put these to good use.

French ELLE magazine devotes its April issue to plus-size models and plus-size fashion.

The  issue is called “Spécial Rondes.” It has 32 pages entirely talking about plus-size fashion, plus-size beauty tips, and plus-size models like Tara Lynn who appears on the cover and is featured on roughly twenty-page spread inside the magazine.

The French plus-size model has posed with and without clothes on, as photographed by David Oldham. With other plus-size models like Big Beauty and Johann Dray, their appearance on the influential glossy magazine is said to prove that “French women do get fat, but they do so in style!”

Despite that ELLE France receives wide praise (and wide publicity) for focusing on plus-size models for the first time, some critics have also asked why plus-size models usually have to appear naked in one shot or two when they make it to such glossy magazine. For all we know, they are not there for glamour photography – they are high-fashion plus-size models and they should appear on fashion magazines showing plus-size women how to dress.

Plus-Size

The first French agency to represent plus-size models is hiring for representation. Think you have what it takes to be a plus-size model for the French market? Read the details on New Faces Casting Calls now!

Top Hollywood actors who are doing voice-over works for animated films abound. With lots of animation studios capitalizing on kids, more famous actors are also hired to transcend star-power into the film.

But of all the famous actors who have done voice-over works for animation films, there are few who have had breakthrough success. And these stars are regarded as the A-list voice-over actors of animation.

Forbes has ranked these actors from comparison of the film’s box-office earnings to the actor’s media presence tied to it. This is done by looking at the animated films released since 1980 that have earned at least $50 million domestically then compiling the list of every actor who has given life to a top-billed character in at least one of the movies.

Here’s the top 10 list of animation’s A-list actors:

1. Eddie Murphy

He is the voice of “Donkey” in the Shrek franchise, but his voice-over career has long been established since giving life to the character of “Mushu” in Disney’s Mulan. His remarkable success in the voice-over work, however, is still through Shrek films that are among the five top-grossing animated films since 1980.

2. Mike Myers

As the voice of the lovable green ogre in the Shrek films, Mike Myers has contributed to the films’ earning of around $2.2 billion at the worldwide box office. He has also made voice-over work for The Cat in the Hat. Meanwhile, the fourth and last Shrek movie, “Shrek Forever After,” will hit theaters this summer and Mike Myers has been able to demand upward of $10 million.

3. Cameron Diaz

She is “Princess Fiona” in the Shrek films and she is the third highest actor in terms of press clippings. Playing the ogre’s love interest, Cameron Diaz is also recognized for exuding girl power through voice-over. She has been paid $10 million for the upcoming “Shrek Forever After” movie,  just like Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy.

4. Owen Wilson

He is the voice of race car “Lightning McQueen” in Pixar’s Cars. The project has earned him the fifth spot for media mentions and the sixth spot for total gross income. The movie has pulled in $244 million at the box office and a reported $5 billion in merchandising and DVD revenue.

5. Tim Allen

He is “Buzz Lightyear” in Pixar’s Toy Story, the first computer-generated feature film which has earned $192 million from its released in 1995. Tim Allen has also appeared in Toy Story 2 and in Cars as “Buzz Lightyear Car.” He will again play “Buzz Lightyear” in Toy Story 3 next year.

6. Tom Hanks

He has given voice to the animated cowboy sidekick in the Toy Story franchise. He is also the voice of “Woody Car” in Cars. His voice-over skill has been recognized since Warner Bros.’ The Polar Express, where he plays “Hero Boy,” “Santa Clause,” and “Scrooge.” Tom Hanks’ animation films have an average box-office earnings of $213 million. He is ranked fourth in media mentions.

7. Robin Williams

He is one of the A-list actors who pioneered voice-over work for animation films, playing the “Genie” in Disney’s classic Aladdin. The film has earned $217 million at the box office. Although Robin Williams has refused to play the blue-hued character in its second installment because of misunderstanding with the company, he has reprized the role in its third sequel, King of Thieves.

8. Ellen DeGeneres

Of course, she is “Dory” in Disney’s Finding Nemo. The film is the second highest earning animated film released since 1980, but Ellen DeGeneres has not made it to the top 10 list in terms of media mentions.

9. Jack Black

He has given voice to “Po” in DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda, who has become the top-grossing character in the animation house last year. Jack Black has also played “Lenny” in 2004’s Shark Tale and “Zeke” in 2002’s Ice Age.

10. Ben Stiller

He is the lion “Alex” in 2005’s Madagascar. The film has earned $193 million at the box office, prompting the 2008 sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which has earned $180 million.

voice-over

Casting Director Ruth Lambert explains that the hiring of A-list actors as voice-overs for animated films is a way for production companies to get better distribution and better financing especially in the international market. She adds, “As a casting director, I’d like to hire the best person for the job. A lot of times we end up hiring people not because they are right for the part but for what they can provide.”

But why would A-list actors hide behind animated characters?

It is presumably because the job is no-brainer for them. Compared to the stressful routine that they have to go through in real-life film shoots, voice-over work is less restrictive with sessions recorded from virtually anywhere and can be scheduled around other projects. And because voice-over jobs have become a trend for big stars, the payouts have also risen. If an actor has a stake in the box-office or DVD performance, earnings will also continue as long as the film remains popular.

Hand model Gemma Howorth is today’s supermodel of body parts modeling. With a command rate of up to £2,000 a day, her impressive resume includes serving as hand-double for Kate Moss, Lily Cole, Lizzie Jagger, Natalie Imbruglia, and Rose Byrne.

Aside from being a hand-double to supermodels, she has also held bottles of Kylie’s perfume and has worn expensive jewellery during Vogue shoots. Glamour aside, her hands  have appeared in advertisements for soaps and creams and for supermarket brands like Dettol, Ariel and Cadburys.

Gemma Howorth, 25, has blemish-free hands with very long nail beds and incredibly slender fingers – the ideal woman’s hands that we see on art masterpieces. Because she makes a living from the special features of her hands, it is also natural that she takes special care of it. She moisturizes her hands 30 times a day. When sunbathing during holidays, she wears white cotton gloves with factor 60 to avoid getting a tan or breaking a nail. (Breaking a nail would mean few weeks out of work.) She has also insured her hands for £1million at Lloyds of London. And she makes sure that her husband do the washing.

“It’s never been a steady income. But it can be very good money. I did a Kate Moss commercial for Rimmel and that was amazing. Just seeing her in action was incredible. She is such a professional and got the job done first time. It was very flattering to stand in for her hands. Some people think ‘what’s wrong with my hands’ but Kate was a professional.”

Gemma Howorth also shares that hand modeling is not an easy job. Acting as hand-double for someone usually requires long hours of standing in odd positions, not to mention the stalking eyes of the security personnel.

“I was on a shoot with Rose Byrne for Max Factor and I had to lie on top of her for about three hours. I had to put my arm and hand to look like it was part of her body and I had my little finger in her mouth,” she recalls.

Another time when she was doing a shoot for Tatler and working with models sprayed in gold paint, she had her head in the girl’s chest and was sitting between her legs. Once, a bodyguard also followed her even to the toilet during a photo shoot because she was wearing millions of pounds worth of jewellery.

Despite the long hours of work in awkward positions and working with sometimes demanding face models, hand modeling can be a rewarding job. At Body London, the body parts modeling agency that Gemma Howorth has founded, hand and body models can earn between £200 and £2,000 a day.

As the super(hand)model, Gemma Howorth shares her tips for those who would like to become a great hand model:

“Hand models need to have patience, and obviously to have great-looking hands and nails. They also need to be able to work under immense pressure and to hit the mark. They also need an easy-going personality. I have turned down people who have nice hands but who have a bad attitude.

“Girls should have long nail beds, with a good length from the tip of the nail to the cuticle. They need nice, straight, long fingers, an even skin tone with hands that are not too chubby or slim. I would also look at the healthiness of the nails, their shape. It is very hard to find a top hand. I see about 30 models or more on a day.

“For guys, they should have quite hairless hands and arms. Their skin should be blemish free and their nail beds should be even. It’s very rare to find a good male hand model.”

Before she became “Angelina Jolie,” there was just a 15-year-old girl posing for her very first modeling shoot…

As seen through the lens of photographer Harry Langdon, images of the teenage Angelina Jolie include headshots and casual fashion shots where she posed for a variety of early 90s looks like leopard-print dress, cutoff denim shorts paired with combat boots, white crop top, and a swimsuit. All of these shots will be auctioned in California on Friday, with an expected sales of around $400 to $600.

Looking at how the young Angelina Jolie has mugged for the camera is like getting a glimpse of her early life before she became a prominent figure in Hollywood. She’s the estranged daughter of actor Jon Voight alright but back then, she’s just a kid whose fate has yet to be determined by the changing times.

It’s amazing to think how this young girl with big, bright eyes and plump lips (not a trend during those times) would someday become the face of elite advertising campaigns, be hailed as the most beautiful woman of the entertainment industry, and be celebrated for her humanitarian works.

Rightfully. Goddesses are made, not born.

Meet Katrina Hodge. One day, you’ll see her modeling skimpy lingerie for La Senza. The next day, she’s all-smile in front of a thousand audience as beauty pageant contestant. But on a regular day, she’s wearing combat boots and Kevlar 24-7 – she is also a soldier in the British army.

Fans call her “Combat Barbie.” Back in Iraq, she has detained and disarmed a suspected rebel fighter with bare hands. Now, she’s on a different mission: banning swimsuit competitions.

Katrina Hodge has recently convinced the organizers of Miss England beauty pageant to drop the men-attracting swimsuit portion. She has participated in the same beauty contest last year.

The show’s organizers has made the change as proof of their always evolving contest. Instead of swimsuits, pageant contestants will participate in a sports challenge to be overseen by Combat Barbie.

“I think it’s nerve-racking enough to girls to get up on a stage and speak, let alone in a swimsuit,” says the tough beauty to England’s Daily Telegraph.

Swimsuit portion is said to be an irrelevant criterion in beauty contests since winners are rarely asked to appear in public events wearing swimsuits.

But banning swimsuits in beauty competitions? This seems to be a tougher-than-Iraq fight for Combat Barbie.

Ava Sambora, the 12-year-old daughter of Bon Jovi’s lead guitarist Richie Sambora and actress Heather Locklear, makes her catwalk debut in the White Trash Beautiful show, which has kicked off L.A. Fashion Week. She is definitely the new kid on the (modeling) block.

The young Hollywood daughter graces the clothing line of his father and designer Nikki Lund. Gliding down the runway with the confidence she inherits from celebrity parents, Ava Sambora models edgy yet feminine looks completed with Bon Jovi-inspired accessories. All the while, the rock band’s “Livin on a Prayer” is playing on the background.

Asked if the rocker’s daughter shows nervousness before the show, Nikki Lund says “No, she’s a diva! She’s ready to rock it, she’s amazing!”

Proud mama Heather Locklear has been seen snapping photos of her daughter on the front row of the fashion show. “I’m very, very proud of her. I’m very excited, and I’m here to support her. And the minute she’s done I’m going to grab her and wipe off her makeup and get her into her pjs,” the actress tells PEOPLE magazine.

Meanwhile, proud papa Richie Sambora has last minute scheduling conflict and could not make it to the show. It’s his clothing line partner Nikki Lund who sends him photos of his calkwaking daughter the whole time. “He’s so excited about this, it’s his baby!” says the designer.

A new study has revealed that ads and catalogs featuring plus-size model actually don’t sell!

Demonstrating a link between model sizes in advertisements and the self-esteem of consumers looking at the ads, the study shows that ads with plus-size models are unlikely to work with their intended costumers. That is according to the researchers from Arizona State University, University of Cologne in Germany, and Erasmus University in the Netherlands:

“We believe it is unlikely that many brands will gain market share by using heavy models in their ads. We found that overweight consumers demonstrated lower self-esteem – and therefore probably less enthusiasm about buying products – after exposure to any size models in ads (versus ads with no models). Also, normal-weight consumers experienced lower self-esteem after exposure to moderately heavy models, such as those in Dove soap’s ‘Real Women’ campaign, than after exposure to moderately thin models.”

In the experiments, hundreds of female students were categorized as thin, normal, and heavy based on their heights and weights. Looking at all types of models, thin women are said to get a boost in self-esteem because they identified more with the idealized, thinner models. Heavy women, on the other hand, suffer poor self-esteem because they closely identified with overweight models. Normal-sized women have more shifts in self-esteem, depending on what types of images they saw – feeling good with moderately thin models and worrying about their weight when they see overweight models.

“We show it is not just the size of the models in the ads, but also the relative distance between the consumer’s size and the model’s size that affects self-esteem,” explains Naomi Mandel, marketing associate professor in the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU.

The kicker? Ads with plus-size models don’t sell, except for gyms and diet pills. A woman with normal body size tends to worry over her weight when she sees images of overweight models so she would try the new diet pill or gym membership being advertised. Similarly, plus-size models are more effective for anti-obesity public service announcements.

Now who plus-size women would want to model if all they get to promote are diet pills and anti-obesity campaigns? Good thing the study based its findings on students. Changing to a more mature demographic (possibly interested in buying Dove products) and we are more likely to get a different result. After all, the history-long struggle for women empowerment cannot be interpreted by one research undertaking.

Plus-Size Models

Read Also:
Even Plus-Size Models Damage Women’s Self-Esteem

She’s whom Justin Timberlake calls the most fashionable person in the world – the one who can slip her body into a barrel and make it look fashionable.

Well, Kate Moss‘ latest campaign is not with barrels but it’s a bit closer to that. The supermodel brings forth her charm in a series of sultry poses wearing a bodycon dress made from recycled mosquito nets.

Designed by William Tempest for Sports Relief 2010, the one-off piece mosquito dress is stylishly sculptured and corseted with individual panels sewn together for a mosaic effect. It will be auctioned to raise funds for the malaria-awareness campaign in Africa.

Out to promote the cause, Kate Moss says:

“I was shocked to hear that one child dies from malaria in Africa every 30 seconds, that’s why I was happy to be involved in this important project for Sport Relief. William Tempest’s dress, which incorporates recycled malaria nets is absolutely gorgeous, I loved wearing it and working with William. It’s a great way of raising awareness of the seriousness of malaria, a disease which is both preventable and treatable. Donating just £5 can pay for a net which helps protect from potentially fatal mosquito bites that spread malaria.”

For his part, William Tempest shares:

“I’m really proud and excited to have designed a dress for Sport Relief with the serious message of highlighting the power of the humble mosquito net as a lifesaving tool against malaria. To help raise awareness about malaria I designed a structured dress which incorporates layers of a malaria net in panels. Kate looks amazing in the dress and I hope its auction will raise lots of money and bring awareness to such a great cause.”

Along with the blue-designed mosquito net dress, William Tempest has also designed the insecticide-treated mosquito nets that will be given to the relief cause. It is said to be one of the easiest and most cost-effective methods of preventing the spread of malaria, especially in congested places of Africa.