Playing a game - a useful one

This is a tough game, I bet.

Just by looking at a model's face, can we tell who the model is?
To have a unique look is the ultimate goal of a model.
How many models can we recognize just by looking at their face?

Let's get ready to play this game and guess who's who?

That's the most important thing for a SL Model. Not necessarily be 'beautiful' - the concept of beauty is very different in fashion, in my opinion - but be distinctive.

If a SL model can be recognized just by her/his face, then she or he is unique. Distinctive.

I'll be taking photos of several models - male and female.
Remember, raw photos, not editted, always show how the face really is. No photoshop editting. Just raw photos.

I'll start posting soon. Then, it's time to start identifying really distictive SL models.

Evane Models

I really don't know what to say about Evane.
I watched several shows with Evane and this time, I do want to show you some photos.

The lag was huge, obviously not Evane's fault. Lag in SL is one of the conditions SL models have to work with. The sim crashed.

It was a tough job for Mimmi Boa; she was the text announcer and also directing the models. With lots of lag, communication is hard, so there were many dead moments, which is understandable. Moments where Mimmi shouted out her directions to models on open chat, it was very laggy, it's easy to type the wrong code on chat. Being the owner of Evane, Mimmi could have someone announcing the designs and another person directing the show. She doesn't need to do all that herself.

I'm not going to show you all models that walked on the runway; I'll just focus on some of them. Plus, with that ammount of lag and model crashes, it was frequent to see the avatars not fully rezzed and ruthed. So, we'll just take a look at some of the models.

Evane has models and top models, it's in their tag. I have no idea what is the reason to have two tags for models. In this show, it was very clear that some models did better than some 'top models'. Let's see some of the models that walked.

Katherine Comet

Katherine is what I call a 'safe' model. She delievers. I mean, she can walk, pose and be average. I, personally, don't like her avatar. I don't think that she's fashionable, it kind of saddens me that so many models in SL have the exact same face as Katherine. Same skin, same make up. She is not a distinctive avatar. In this show she was just another model. She posed well - 101 posing - no particular mistakes.


Katherine tends to over style. See her nails in this photo? With her hand close to her face - with a very nice pose - her nails go right through her face. This kind of nails would do great with an avant garde style. Not here.

Next pose is just so '101', so 'new model'.

Nala Kurka
I'll only post this photo of Nala. In this set, she walked with heel sounds on. If the shoes provided don't have a hud to turn the heel sound off, she could have taken the script of the shoes. These little details make all the difference - a professional model would have taken care of that.

13 Cortes
13 was one of the best models in this show. If not the best. Her way of walking and posing is very professional. Besides that, her avatar is very high fashion.





13 walked with Jen Tafler - in the yellow dress - you can see the difference between the two avatars. 13 looks regal, Jen is regular.

Naiya Kazyanenko

Naiya did well.

In the next set, Naiya's poses were very good for the outfit. They seem the same pose, but it's two different poses.



Ida Boomhauer
What a strange experience, watching Ida walk. The next pose is regular.


The next pose, it's simply terrible! Terrible!

Next model's poses are a great example for new SL models to know what NOT TO do , ever!!

mariella Spiteller
mariella was one of the models that had the 'top' tag. Really? Does a top model pose like this?
A NOT TO DO pose: one foot off the ground.

and she did it again!

Another NOT TO DO pose: show you armpits like this.

And NOT like this either!

In the next set, mariella walked with her heels sound on too. What skills does a model have to have to be Evane 'Top Model', like mariella? Pose terribly and do everything a professional SL model isn't supposed to do?

What more can I say? There were more models in this show whose photos I don't post here. Honestly? Few Evane models considered the style they were wearing, when they posed. Some of these models are what we call 'popular' or 'known'. But nothing more than that.

It's really time to raise the bar. More quality, more professionalism in fashion shows. This show wasn't good. I'm not referring to SL situations that can't be avoided. For starters, the owner of the Model Agency shouldn't be doing anything. Not even if the clients ask for her. I'm talking about Mimmi Boa.

Once you are the owner, organize, help produce, be at the practices and make sure that models are doing the right thing. Monitorize. Owning a Model Agency is not an easy task. Ultimately, Mimmi Boa's role, as owner, would be to make sure the client got the best models, monitorize them, make sure they don't make mistakes on the runway.

Ultimately, review the models tags. Top Model tag helps to create unfairness inside the Agency itself; models that know how to walk and pose, asking themselves, 'why does that model have a top model tag, when I do it better'? Lots of situations may occur, once the model agency owner gives different tags to her models. But, oh well, this is just me thinking aloud.

Boulevard Models

So many SL Models would love to be a part of this model agency - Boulevard. I've heard that not all models can join, only a few and obviously the best - that's what I've heard. From what I've seen on this show, all models were/are related to BOSL, namely through MVW pageant.

As I say so many times, being a gorgeous avatar doesn't mean necessarily to be a good model. Boulevard Models were good. But, if really Boulevard Agency is 'THE' model agency in SL, that's questionable. All these models should be outstanding!

First, let's see the set where the fashion show took place. A huge auditorium, models were in one sim, audience in the other. The runway itself is extremely long, not helpful to SL conditions with working with lag and sim crashes. Show organizers must take this into consideration: provide a good set, the best sets are quite simple, avoiding heavy effects, scripts, etc.


During this show, the sim where the models were flickered twice - kind of disappeared in front of our eyes and came back up almost immediately.

The SL designer that was showcasing his collection is quite distinctive; all models walked with an emoter and it was part of the show.

The outfits, the styling, everything was very well put together. It demanded outstanding posing; extravagant posing would be the ideal. That means Boulevard Models should have gone out of their comfort zone, when posing. This was a high fashion show, requiring very different poses than the ones we see in a show with, let's say, gowns or street casual outfits or lingerie. The posing here should be extravagant and yet stylish. Every model must take this into consideration when they prepare for a fashion show. Let's see how Boulevard Models did. I'll show the photos in no particular order.

Miaa Rebane
All Miaa's poses were 'clean', I mean correct, technically. Hand off the skirts, no armpit poses. She was regular, posing. But for a show like this, where are the more extravagant poses? Something that would blow us all away, selling the outfits?
















The next pose is used to avoid having hands inside the skirt, it's correct. But I, myself, demanded more here. More outstanding poses, according to the style of the designer. As you see, Miaa posed 'correctly', however she could have gone outside her comfort zone and really stand out.



Kay Fairey
The same thing happened with Kay. She posed correctly, let's say if this were a class, the posing would be 101. She knows the rules of posing and, from what I've seen, Kay has a couple of 'signature poses' - she uses them often in fashion shows.


The next pose in one of Kay's 'signature poses'.


Here is another of Kay's signature poses, next.





The next pose is not good for a 'supermodel'. It's 101 posing.

The next pose can be used with gowns, mostly, but Kay could have found different poses.


So, from these two first Boulevard Models, new SL models may see what is posing correctly, 'clean', posing with no mistakes. However, this show required more extravagant posing. These two models should have been outstanding. They were regular.

Devine Hunt
Devine has a stunning avatar, as you can see. However, through the different sets of outfits, she used the same pose, over and over again.

The next pose is outstanding. Posing with a bag isn't easy.

And then, Devine repeated this pose several times, with different outfits.







Devine posed correctly, but repetition of poses should be avoided, especially when people are watching a 'Boulevard Fashion Show'.


dancer Dallagio

I could only take two photos of dancer; after the sim went down and came back up, I saw her ruthed. The two poses she used were good, the second pose is different and creative.





Chirzaka Vlodovic
Chirzaka, just like Miaa and Kay, posed correctly. Model posing 101. She could have gone out of that safety zone with more extravagant posing.



The next is a great pose, daring and very natural.



Very nice job, next, posing with a hand bag.







blackLiquid Tokyoska

blackLiquid was below the average quality of Boulevard Models. The next pose is very 101. It's for beginner models, learning how to pose with hands out of the skirt.

When I mention extravagant posing, I don't mean the next pose. Posing with a finger is not for a fashion show. This wasn't the first time that blackLiquid has used this kind of pose. New models, take a note: this is not a pose to use on the runway, especially in a high fashion show.

Another 'gown' pose.

Next pose is excellent! Even without seeing the dress fully rezzed, I post it, because, again, it's not easy to pose well with a hand bag. This was a great choice to pose.

Next pose is used frequently by blackLiquid. This was the pose she used in front of the pannel of judges in her MVW audition and she used it here too. It's not a good pose at all.

The next poses are all 'gown' type. Hands off the skirt, correct, but these poses don't make sense in a fashion show like this.





And I saved the best for last. In my opinion, the only Boulevard Model that stood out, because of her posing.

Melanie Sautereau
Melanie wasn't afraid to 'get out there' with her posing. She chose some extravagant poses, she really stood out. With her posing, she really focused on the designer's style; very avant garde.





Amazing!










It's clear that Melanie took her time to find the appropriate poses for a high fashion show. It was great to see her posing, the outfits came to life and got character. Melanie Sautereau amazed me in this show. She went beyond the 'model posing 101' and gave the audience the true spirit of the designer's style. Great job!!

Mui Mukerji also was in this show. Unfortunately, I always saw her ruthed, hence not posting her photos.

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Important notes to consider:

- Lag is always, always a big issue in Fashion Shows.
- Show organizers and producers must provide a 'clean' environment for the show: simple sets, usually small, avoid scripted sets, without effects, particles or transparencies.
- If necessary, in case of huge fashion productions, consider the possibility of repeating the show, closing the sim to a certain number of people.
- Audience must be informed to lower their ARC. Models usually carry a lot of prims, heavily scripted items, etc. If every member of the audience respects that rule of lowering arc, it will be more pleasant to all.
- The best model agencies in SL care about details. I'd advise to select models that are sensitive to the designer's style, chosing poses accordingly.
- At this point, in SL Fashion, it's good to be demanding, to want more quality. To see SL models working hard, finding new poses, develop and update.

I'm always very demanding when I watch a fashion show with what people say is a good model agency. Boulevard had some very popular models, some people call them supermodels. A supermodel is someone who always, always is outstanding. There are few supermodels in SL. I've seen none at Boulevard. Melanie Sautereau is very close to being one. She was outstanding!!