Pros and amateurs - in SL© modeling

I've been in SL© since 2009 and I got very interested in the fashion scene, especially how SL models performed.

It's in this blog's archives, everything I've observed, the many shows I've watched,  some difficulties along the way at first, when I only took photos and didn't realize that some 'models' mistakes' , like prim editing were on my end. My viewer showed them looking 'weird' - I later learned people call that weirdness as 'ruthed avatars'.

Long time has passed and I'm ready to leave SL.

My main focus was always on modeling and their performance on SL runways.

To some new models, I'd like to ask? Are you familiar with the following names?

Dea Mills
Poptart Lilliehook
Kay Fairey
Mavi Beck
Dahlia Joubert
Jesika Contepomi
Kryptonia Paperdoll
Vixie Rayna
July Raymaker
Seashell Dench

Some of them you may know, others you have no idea who they are or were.
Several generations of new female avatars have started working as 'models' since I discovered SL in 2009 and they have no idea who some of the above people were and what they represented in SL's history of modeling with extreme quality, representing fashion as many of us see it in RL, portrayed in SL .

I'm about to retire from blogging, mainly because in all these years, what I have written here, my words,  my photos and lately my videos, haven't produced any effect in improving new models' performance in SL.

There will always be avatars looking for 5 minutes' fame, so they join all sorts of pageant contests. This will go on forever.

There will always be 'models' posing like crazy , with no idea whatsoever of what elegance means in a SL avatar, just like they don't in RL , through their own real bodies,

Elegance is wearing a gown for them.  Not true.
Fashion, ah that's a completely different thing, as is art.

One of the new generation models is sinontherocks. She was trained at Avenue Academy and now she owns Feroshsl [I hope I'm spelling it right ].

They had a runway show some time ago that was really pleasant and good to watch, because of the chosen models who actually walked.
Apparently, sinontherocks decided to give them the tag of 'supermodels'. I totally disagree with this for a specific reason.

If somebody gives somebody a 'supermodel' tag , that means they are professional models, I assume. Meaning, they are good at what they do. So, basically, they are models. They are supposed to be good. Period.

The rest, even with a model tag over their heads, that doesn't mean they are really modeling. It all comes up about how they perform on a runway. They can be in all sorts of 'model' contests, that doesn't make them professional models.  They just want to be known in SL, which says a lot about their poor real lives.

I also mixed in the video you're about to see, another runway show with some avatars who obviously think that posing with a gown, without any elegance is a good job.

Eventually,  it will be terrible for the client they are representing.

Nobody will want to buy those gowns, just because of a few female avatars calling themselves models, organizing some kind of 'fashion show' , walk and pose. They are not models, trust me on that!
In SL, designers and creators should really pay a lot of attention to whom they hire as models or model agencies to represent them on the runway.

Comparing the two runway events will show you why it makes no sense giving professional models the tag of 'supermodels'.  There are models and there are those who aren't. That's pretty much it.

In the group of female avatars wearing gowns - I can't call them models, because they aren't -  there is one that almost got to be MVW this year. Understandable, indeed.

This only speaks of the quality of MVW Organization and the panel of judges who looked at those girls,  through a period of several weeks.  I won't say her name, because she isn't a model at all.  She is absolutely terrible at posing, walking, she has a regular pretty avatar. Nothing special about her.

How low can the modeling scene get,  when a beauty pageant almost selects a regular pretty face to be the winner of a beauty pageant?

Anyway, moving on to wishing you all a New Year full of professionalism and fun, responsability in your jobs as models.

Some things will never change in SL, I can see that now.

At least, I hope new and aspiring models get proper training,  new 'modeling schools', are popping up  like crazy in SL, lately.  Watch out for the training you chose as a model. There is only ONE model's academy these days, that can teach models the right way. Remember , I said MODELS, not pageant girls. It's totally different.
If you don't know which one it is, find it.

So, this is probably going to be my last post.
Through all these years, I've seen that whatever I post is not worth it. It improved nothing, it made no change in SL modeling scene.

The same atrocious female avatars keep thinking this is a game.  It's not. Creators and designers spend hours and days of their real life time to present something, that is going to be showcased in SL.

A hint?  SL models, if you think fashion is all about you. you have it the wrong way. It's about the clients you represent. It's about designers, collections, creations.

If you don't feel this, if you don't see this, then pageantry is really your thing. But don't say you are a SL model, cause you are not.

In this video, I added the names of several models that deserve their names published.  Others, like I said,  they are just pretty avatars in gowns, giving terrible examples of how a SL model's performance should be on the runway.

I bid you all farewell. Maybe one day, we will all meet. Or not!
I'm moving to other ventures.








6 comments:

Landaree Levee said...

If you’re abandoning this blog (never mind SL altogether) because you feel you haven’t influenced the SL models community all you wanted, it’s perhaps because your idea that you *could* do so was flawed to begin with.

It’s not even a question of whether you had the audience to reach enough people, the authority to be reckoned with, the knowledge to give only good advice, and the ability (and will to use it) to offer it with a moderate tone that wouldn’t induce hostility (and therefore deafness) on most of those you wanted to teach to. It’s debatable to which degree you had any of those, but even if it had been the greatest, you *still* shouldn’t expect your teachings to be automatically accepted. It doesn’t work that way. People will listen, or they won’t, but dispensing aggressive pontification and then eventually going away in a huff if it’s not heeded by everyone like the Oracle, tells me that while you may have had something to say, you didn’t think enough about how to deliver it properly.

Think of your advice as a gift you want to give. If you hurl it at people, they’re understandably going to use their hands to cover their heads in case it hits them there... and by doing so, they obviously won’t be able to take it, no matter how awesome the gift was (or you *think* it was).

Fifth Avenue said...

Appreciated for your comment Landaree.

I have absolutely no authority in telling models how to do it better, but I do have a pair of eyes, and so do you. And so does everybody else in SL modeling scene. We all can see who is good at their jobs and who's not.

My opinions, how harsh they might be, are based on a simple premise - what do we , the audience, the public , what do we see on runway shows out there.

I have stated my opinions and I've been doing so for FIVE years in SL. That means I've seen it all!

Lately things have taken a turn to the worse in SL modeling. This is the main reason that made me think carefully, if I wanted to literally waste my time, watching and recording fashion shows that have been - I have to say - less than average.

I had no expectations that things would change because of my blog.

The way my opinions are stated aren't meant to be 'petting people in the back' , no matter how much they mess up in their jobs, or to somehow promote their will to do better, in a more - what some people would say - positive way.

We're not talking about or to children, here.

If they do a bad job, they do a bad job and I'll say it the way I feel it.

It's a huge disrespect to all designers and creators in SL, for a model to even think that fashion and modeling is about themselves. It's NOT! Never was.

I simply refused, along the years, to have a more 'positive approach' to all the wrong modeling way of working.

My question has always been - if some SL models can do it right, then all SL models can. It's a matter of having the focus on the right place - models represent designers and should dignify them. People watching fashion shows will buy (OR NOT) a certain outfit, because of the way it was showcased on the runway, by... SL models. The exact same thing happens in RL.

I had no intention of influencing an entire community of SL modeling, but at least show my blog followers, from the eyes of an audience member , how things look, hence the photos earlier in my blog and then my videos. SL models seeing themselves from an outer perspective. That would give them a different approach in their jobs.

Hostility. Well, if a SL model can't take a critique - negatively expressed - , they are in the wrong job.

As a blogger, my posts and my opinions come across as hostile, I get it.

If SL models can't take it, they should change jobs. How many good SL models, performing on the runway at their best nowadays, got several rejections in their professional second lives? And had people literally screaming at them? Insulting them? Making them feel they are worthless? I'm betting almost all SL models have had an experience like that.

Some take it and deal with it, others won't.

This job is not for the weak, for the emotionally unstable - yes, I'm talking about SL, reflecting RL feelings.

This job is not for those who really believe that modeling and fashion is about themselves. It's one of the toughest jobs, both in SL and RL.


They are exposed, open to all kind of critiques. How they deal with those critiques defines who they are professionally.

Here is why I chose not to promote a, let's say, more 'positive approach', but a tough one, when their work isn't done properly.

I don't give advices.

I watch, observe and then say - from my own perspective - how I felt about it. If it's good, I'd say it's good. If it's bad, I'll say it, too.

My *gift* through these 5 years of blogging and watching SL models, was to offer them an outer perspective, somebody who watched what was being done.

It would be the same thing if I were a theater critique, or ballet dancing critique.
And we all can see quality when we see it.

I just expressed it for 5 years, and now, enough is enough!

Again, much appreciated for your input on this. Happy New Year Landaree.

Unknown said...

I think you're wrong in saying that what you've written about in the past 5 years has had no effect. I've followed your blog for
almost as long as you've been writing it and I've studied your critques and suggestions. I knew that if I ever ended up being mentioned
on your blog (or shown on video) it was NOT going to be accompanied by a description of bad posing. When I first started modeling, thoughts
of you and your blog would come to mind as I'd pick poses for a show. Later, as my confidence and experience grew, common sense took over
when I chose poses instead. But then, that was the whole point, right? Common sense. If this really is going to be your last post then
I want to personally say thank you. Thank you for your help over the years. Thank you for taking the time to give your opinions on
posing and SL modeling and providing all the examples that you did. Thank you for giving me the honor of being in your last blogpost,
and, finally, thank you for having an effect on me.

Sincerely,
Linda Reddevil

Unknown said...

From what I can see, you have a vendetta against a particular model. That makes this a vicious attack as opposed to an informed commentary. Why not just challenge her to a duel or something equally archaic? While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, your lack of finesse in presenting your opinions show that your decision to stop blogging is a good one.

Or to put it another way, get a life.

Fifth Avenue said...

Much appreciated for your comment Linda!

You got it, that was the goal, all along, you said it - common sense and moderation.

I'm fully aware that I'm not 'nice' when stating my opinion, for some.

However the simple fact that you, as a professional long time model in SL, say that my posts have inspired you to do better, it means a lot to me. Many models, I understand now, may feel the same way you do and simply not say anything, or they don't take take their time to comment here.

Many may also say that your comment is nice to me and to my blog , because you were 'positively' mentioned in this post. Well, I say it the way I saw it.

Again, there are pros and there are amateurs. It's the truth, it's been like this for years in SL modeling.

I so appreciate your words, Linda! It means you and probably more professional models see this blog as an inspiration , instead of the words of a 'hater', which I am not and never was.

You seem to see the big picture - this blog targets no one in a negative way. Again, I see what I see, what everybody in SL sees in a fashion show and we all recognize quality when we see it.

I wish you the best in your endeavors, in this upcoming year!

Fifth Avenue said...

Appreciated for your comment Riendra!

You are new to modeling, aren't you? I can tell. Are you a SL model? Have you had some model training in SL with experienced modeling instructors? I don't know you, sorry about that.

If I had a dime every time people say I have 'personal vendettas' against ONE model or ONE agency, I'd have quite a good bunch of dimes set aside. But you are new, I get it.

Same thing when I write positive reviews about an agency or a model, I must be one of them!

You seem upset by my post. Why?

What I wrote can be confirmed by the video footage. The lack of quality , or if you wish, an 'amateurish look' in one 'fashion show' and then something else: professional SL models on the runway. It's all about quality and definitely not about ONE model.

Do you mean I have a personal vendetta against Carley Benazzi or Xandra Sciavo or Sungyoung? Because I name professional models only in the video, the amateurs aren't even mentioned.

I just showed the footage of that 'show' out of frustration about the low quality of some wannabe 'models' in SL.
That lack of quality is so clear in the video that it hurts many of us who have been paying attention to the modeling scene in SL.

Tell me, Riendra, without looking at SL profiles, who was Dea Mills? Who was Poptart Lilliehook? Who is July Raymaker? Mavi Beck? Straight out here. Who are they?

This is how I know you are new to this. You don't know anything about them without taking a peek at their SL profiles, true?

I really cannot write a review with finesse - as you put it - because that same finesse is missing in the amateur event I recorded. There is no elegance, no finesse.

How can I write a review with finesse, when that same finesse isn't there? There is no finesse in that runway set, there is no finesse in the way they present the gowns. Just wearing gowns is not finesse. Wearing gowns posing properly, THAT is finesse.

Wearing them , as a professional model, in such a way that makes all of us go out there and buy that gown. That is a model's job! Can you see why some avatars will never be models?

Your last sentence always makes me - and probably all second lifers - laugh. We all have two lives, child. Calm down, breathe, relax. Maybe one day you'll understand the big picture.

Professional models should have one goal only - represent designers at their best. Models aren't supposed to be famous, in an egotistic way. Do you understand this is NOT personal?

Your comment shows me, and all of us reading this, that you come from a place where there is ONE female avatar who thinks she is probably the next big thing in SL modeling and she is probably in the amateur part of the video I posted. Too bad!

Humbleness is a beautiful thing, attitude is a big part of a model's career in SL and in RL.

Why do people even pay attention to these self- absorbed avatars, 'model wannabees'?

Do you see Riandra? It's not about ONE 'model'. It's about a whole SL mindset, regarding the modeling scene.

How can any good designer even connect with a 'models agency' that - aside from being recently created - is totally misinformed about everything, not knowing how to pose, how to walk, not even hiring a good builder for a fashion set , for crying out loud!

Enjoy both lives and happy 2015, Riendra! And relax. Like I often say, time will tell how long these so called 'models' will be around successfully.