| Learning How To Walk Keep in mind that you are working the runway on behalf of the designer! If you remember that one fact, you should be okay. You must display their fashion with the utmost dignity and convey the feeling they are attempting to achieve. Runway modeling is really more of a hands-on experience. Nothing can help you more than bearing witness to the feat being done correctly firsthand. If it is possible for you to attend a runway show, it would be most beneficial to video tape the performances and watch them over and over. Practice does in fact make perfect! There are a few things that you may not see or realize by observation. One of the most important and obvious areas of concentration is your posture. Always ensure that you are standing straight up with your shoulders back. This is where your confidence will come in handy. Taking long strides but still maintaining a natural appearance is the key in actually walking. Typically, men take steps at about a one and a half foot interval. This should be increased to about two and a half to three feet, depending on your height. I would recommend going to about two or two and a half feet if you are under six foot tall. Otherwise, if you are taller, be sure to step at about three foot intervals. A helpful practicing tool is to create a straight line in your garage, backyard, or if possible, your living room. Do this using duct tape, or anything that you can think of, marked with the appropriate walking distances. Then just walk, easier said than done, I know! Let's move up to your arms. A lot of times, it is difficult to know exactly what you should do with them while you are concentrating so hard on walking strongly. Do not forcefully swing your arms, they should hang and move naturally. Make sure that you are not using female models as your guide. The way that they are trained to step, causes only their lower arm, from the elbow down to move, whereas men tend to move more of their entire arm. Shoulders! The only thing I can tell you about your shoulders, is don't move them! It might take a little practice, but while you are working on everything else, keep track of them. When walking normally, everyone generally moves their shoulders, you should not on the runway. What happens to my hands? This is more important than you might think! Never make a fist or even start to make one. If a photograph is taken of you while you are walking, it will appear that you have no fingers, very awkward! They should not be completely mechanical looking, but your hands should remain open. Okay, so you're standing up straight, with your shoulders back and motionless, hands open, and arms swaying naturally, but not too much. I know it seems like a lot, but trust me, it will look phenomenal! Unless, your chin is pointed straight up, or too far down. It is necessary to have it tilted downward slightly, the reason for this is because the photographers will be seated below the runway level. Depending on where you are modeling, if it is not a raised runway, do not tilt down, it is more of a judgement call on your part. Finally, what should you look at? Find a point on the back of the wall straight ahead and stare. Try not to appear creepy, just kind of stare into the distance. Most likely, unless the lighting is in the floor, there will be bright lights, possibly against the back wall. If this is the case, do not stare directly at them. This can cause vision problems and you do not want to fall off of a runway, trust me! You may or may not be able to live it down. Just kidding! The most important thing to keep in mind is that you should be having fun! It is definitely the easiest money you can make, you get to wear amazing clothes that in most cases, no one has ever seen. Make them look good and everyone will want them, which is the goal! Your first time, you will be incredibly nervous, the only time you should be worried, is if you are not nervous! |
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