When Wilhelmina plus model Penelope Benson got to stop by our studio we couldn’t decide what we loved more – her personal style, her eyes or how amazingly sweet she is! Perfectly rocking some high/low style mastery, Penelope combined a sporty tee with a lady-like floral pencil skirt. Capping it all off were a pair of drool-worthy heels and some killer curves!

Name: Penelope Benson
Agency: Wilhelmina W Curve
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Favorite Designer: Isabel Marant! Alaia! Celine!
City You Love to Visit: Paris, Rome, and New york of course!
Musr Have Spring Trend: Denim, Light, dark, white, skirts, shorts, jeans, etc. etc.
Favorite Fashion Magazine: LOVE Mag, Vogue Paris

Hi MP readers! My name is Nefferth, the creative mind behind Mode Plus, a personal style blog where I do fashion the Emotionista way. Fashion is about personal interpretation and creativity. I truly believe that a woman can wear whatever she wants as long as she believes in herself. I always say: “wear your clothes, don’t let your clothes wear you”. And this motto goes beyond any size, shape or form you may be. Embrace what you have in this moment and let’s get some outfits done these coming months!

I love the 1940′s and my inner fashion child is urging me to try out the shorter version of the retro playsuit. The last time I actually wore a playsuit, I think I was in my pre-teens. Spring has arrived and summer is around the corner. A perfect opportunity to try out this fashion adventure avec the playsuit.

According to this article, the playsuit emerged in the 1940′s. Back in the day, it was worn for sporting activities. A fashionable way for a lady to dress up her top and shorts after playing tennis or badminton. Since the 1940′s, we have seen the playsuit reappear in various prints and material. Recall the 1970′s polyester bold colors and prints? And what about the 1980′s version: pleated front? Whatever version came by, I can’t deny it’s appeal. Not shorts, not a dress just inbetween.

In this post I will show you one playsuit and three looks. Because each person is different, I will let you choose which look you’ll rock for work, weekend or party.

Next post I’ll introduce you another playsuit in a fresh minty color. Stay tuned ….. Nefferth

Look 1

Grey Cardigan, Earrings | H&M

Bowler Hat | Monki

Playsuit | Vinsectro

Grey Loafers | Bertie Shoes

Burgundy Plus Size Tights | We Love Colors

Look 2

Scarf as Headband | Forever 21

Pink Collar | DIY

Look 3

Biker Jacket | Episode

Red Clutch, Panter/Silver Ring | H&M

Necklace | Primark

Skull Earrings | One Euro Shop

Evans – Flower Print Swimsuit

Lane Bryant One Piece Retro Swimsuit

The grunge look from the 90′s is hot and will be a big trend this coming fall. Singer/actress Selena Gomez gets in on the look now with a cute, relaxed outfit that translates perfect for your curves. One part hipster and one part girl-next door, this look can easily get “messy” so make sure you keep it simple and stick to a fun mani and a colorful scarf when accessorizing. This look is perfect for those transitional days when its warm and cool, and you’ll be ready for movie-night or errands with the girls!

Shop the Look

Zappos – Steve Madden Troopa Boot
eloquii – Short Sleeve Crochet Sweater use promo code MADISONPLUS20 and SAVE 20%
Saks – James Jeans, High-Waisted Pencil Jeans
Torrid – Twist Tees Ivory Foxy Cami
Shopbop – Theodora & Callum Gypsy Fringe Scarf
Sephora – Glee Collection Nail Color

Image from People.com.

Swim Suits For All Mesh V-Neck Dress

“I am grateful to Noreen Flanagan, Editor of Elle Canada, for inviting me to share my research in such an intelligent and much admired fashion publication.”

Ben also shared some additional exciting news:

“The next phase of my research will focus on men’s consumer response to diverse male models in fashion advertising.”

We can’t wait to read more from Ben’s research! Read the full Elle Canada article here and be sure to show support by telling us what you think. Your voice is important! Join the talk at Twitter using hash-tag #diversityINfashion and leave us comments here and on our Facebook Wall.

Images by Ben Barry Agency, Models (top to botom): Kathryn, Nelia and Helen.
Collage by INGRID BAARS, Elle Canada 

Anna Scholz – Silk Maxi Dress
Old Navy – Open Front Blouse
Saks – Nicholas Kirkwood Tropical-Print Pumps
New Look – Inspire  Tropical Print Mini Skirt
Nordstrom – Kenneth Cole ‘Placed Peony’ Top
Macys – Baby Phat High Low Maxi Dress
ASOS CURVE – Tropical Print Pencil Skirt
ASOS CURVE – Exclusive Jumpsuit In Tropical Print
Dorothy Perkins – Tropical Maxi Dress
Ashley Stewart – Web Exclusive: Tummy Control Swim Dress

This year we have a special message from a dear friend, new mother, Wilhelmina model and curvy crusader – Sage Salzar!

Nordstrom – Presley Skye Silk Dress
(sizes currently available are large & extra large or size 12/14 and 16) 

In the beginning, working as a model can be very emotionally arduous and costly. Your first day at work, you can get called for a $5,000 jeans casting, you dance your butt off for the client in front of a camera, and you never hear back from them again. Or do you? Castings occur everyday for full-time models. That means that most of the castings that you go on, you’re competing with all of the other models that fit the client’s criteria. 

As much as you want to dwell on if you’ve gotten the job or not, you have to pack up and go to the next casting, travel to your next photo shoot, and schedule your next test photo shoot (a photo shoot at your own expense to keep clients updated with your look). A model’s lifestyle involves wearing a lot of hats and being able to switch them on and off at the drop of a pin. 

Before you get started as a model, you must begin by having someone take digital pictures of you and then you can submit them to agencies that you are interested in. If you are in high school or college and do not plan on leaving the area your live in, I suggest you apply to a local modeling agency that books jobs around your home; a quick Google search should help you locate a reputable agency. However, if you’re ready for a full-time job, I suggest you send your digitals to as many international agencies as possible. If you’re serious, I also suggest you attend agency’s open-call days; they usually have the time and place advertised on their website. This is a time where you physically go in to the agency’s office and meet with the agents in person—also a good time to bring your digitals as well as any of your strongest pictures (less is more, especially when you start off). Another option to becoming discovered is to attend a weekend scouting seminars for models and actors who sign up and pay a fee to attend a conference run by companies like ProScout, who have discovered many of today’s full-time models and actors. 

Alright! So an agency has called you back and wants to represent you and they want you to pay them for representation. That’s an automatic red-flag. An agency-model relationship is a two-way street and should be treated as such in a business relationship. The only thing a model should pay for up front is a portfolio book and the images from test shoots that go inside of them. Typically, a personal agency portfolio book runs around $50 and a professional test shoot with a photographer will cost around $400-600 for several looks. 

It’s the beginning of your modeling career, and your mother has told you that you’re the next Estee Lauder girl, right? That sounds familiar. Well, keep the hope and realize it may take a bit longer to achieve your goals; supermodels take time to develop.

When I started modeling, I thought the day I signed with a big agency in NYC, I needed to give up my career to become a model. In fact, I was encouraged by my NYC agent to continue my career (outside of modeling) and wait to see how clients react to my images, after she had submitted me for jobs. Sure enough, the client’s interest grew and throughout my first months, I would get more and more castings and callbacks than the months before. The client’s were continuously watching my look develop and within my first year of modeling, with my persistence and testing every few months, I was booking international catalog work. 

To offer you my best advice in becoming a model, I would encourage you to look at successful models that have a similar look as you, and groom yourself accordingly. Of course, it is good to embrace your character traits that give you personality or set you apart; I am just encouraging you trim your beautiful long hair to an acceptable length, keep a natural manicure and pedicure, and clean skin at all times. Grooming is extremely important so when you do go to a casting, you feel comfortable in your natural skin with little to no makeup on. 

When I started out as a model, my hair was six inches too long. I loved my hair and thought it was going to help me book hair jobs. Alas, the nature of the business is that plus size women have yet to book a lot of beauty and hair jobs—this will change! When my agent asked me to cut my hair, I obligingly did so thinking it was not such a swift move, however, I ended up booking some of my biggest clients yet! 

Let me reiterate what I’ve said, modeling can be extremely costly and trying if you’re not patient and willing to invest into the beginning of your career. However, if clients take to your look, it can be a whirlwind of excitement, traveling and working with the most interesting people you’ve ever met. If you’re ready and wanting, I wish you the best of luck in your tenacious endeavors and hope to see you one day gracing the pages of my fashion magazines! 

~ Emily
A Model Life 

Stay tuned for more insight, tips and behind-the-scenes fun from Emily! You can also visit Emily at her website www.MLEstyle.com.

How cute is this look? The MP studio firmly believes all women can wear stripes and this gorgeous city girl is showing you how to do it! Featured in the Manfattan Project, her amazing street style captured our eye immediately. Paired with denim and fun accessories, this is a comfortable and stylish outfit for running around town. Love it? Shop our hand-picked look below!

Shop the Look

Old Navy - Collarless Denim Jacket
Old Navy - Jersey Chevron-Stripe Dress
Old Navy – Mixed-Pleated Wedges
eloquii – Double Circle Pendant - use promo code MADISON20 and SAVE 20%
ASOS – Classic Oversized Sunglasses
Shopbop – Botkier – Leon Hobo

The day started with a long line of applicants (girls were lining up as early as 6:30 am), all waiting to see the Ford+ agents. First stop was the lobby in Tribeca’s super-glam Skyline Studios, where applicants signed in, received their number, and filed into another line to be measured. Measured? Yes. It was no joke, ladies – at this casting, you had to meet or exceed the required height minimum, no exceptions – and not just the height you tell people you are! An assistant was at the ready with the *official* Ford measuring stick. (The stick is about 12 feet tall and, according to legend, it’s the original Eileen Ford measuring stick, over 60 years old and having measured everyone from Lauren Hutton to the star-studded class of 90’s supermodels, and beyond!)  If a model met the height requirement, she was placed into the group of applicants invited to come to the penthouse, meet an agent and, hopefully, get a call-back.

As you exited the elevator at the penthouse level, you were ushered into the casting room where the scene was set:  long tables facing outwards out where several Ford+ agents sat, along with Beniamino Marini from vogue.it, visiting Ford+ models, and a few other industry tastemakers. Each hopeful applicant spoke with one agent, showing off their book or images and answering any questions. Madison Plus had the exclusive privilege to observe and absorb all these exciting, high-style moments (we even captured a few on Instagram, so our fans could check out the action in real-time – see our snapshots featured throughout this post!)  Applicants who were asked to return received a pink sheet of paper, had their picture taken, and then were asked to wash off all makeup.  (A word to the wise: When they ask you to arrive “au naturale,” they mean it!)

The Ford+ agents saw 120 applicants out of hundreds who lined up. Of that group, 19 got called back. Break time! During the break, the Ford+ team and Beniamino took some photos to capture the scene, lunch was served, and we all got the chance to check out images taken of the 19 call-backs.

Models  Inga Eiriksdottir, Georgina Burke, Marquita Pring, Myla Dalbesio, Amber Tolliver, Jessica Collins, Wendy Brooks, Chloe Marshall, Tate Cutler, and newer faces Kaela Humphries and Sophie Sheppard, all stopped by at various times throughout the day – just to say hello and give the applicants their advice and words of wisdom. Very classy ladies.

Congratulations, you got called back!  …Now what? For this nerve-wracking part of the process, all 19 applicants lined up outside the casting room and were brought in one by one to interview with all the agents at once. If your height was close to the minimum, you were measured again and in some cases your other bodily measurements were re-taken. Then you were interviewed and asked to speak about yourself. We found it quite refreshing to hear the Ford+ team ask questions about nutrition, making sure applicants were at a natural weight and not forcing any changes either way on their bodies.

At this point each would-be model was given honest constructive criticism and professional advice. If not right for Ford, the applicants were given some recommendations on where they could look to continue their career in modeling. All the girls we saw were so gracious; it seemed like everyone really valued the experience.

Now, onto those new faces that made the cut!  Meet (Clockwise from left) Christina Andrews, Christine Hauer, Lauren Chan & Sara Marchiori. Congratulations ladies! It was such an honor to watch dreams coming true, tears being shed, and lots of laughs as four ladies’ lives changed that afternoon!

A special thank you to Ford Models, Gary Dakin, Jaclyn Sarka, David Lott, and Maia Holmes as well as Beniamino Marini from Vogue.it, Italian Vanity Fair writer Simona Siri, and celebrity hair stylist Francky L’Official.

Read more at Ford Models and vogue.it.

Instagram images by Kari Hansbarger
Finalist images by Ford Models 

Be sure to stop by our Fancy Footwork Pinterest board and “like” your favorites!! 

See more from Terry’sTwoCents at his blog or Tumblr.

Welcome to our premiere installation of StyleBoomer!  We are Judith Ann Graham, of Beauty by Judy and Catherine Schuller, the The Curvy Confidante.  We are image and style experts who specialize in women over 40 and full-figured fashionistas.  We know there are loads of fashion blogs relating to 20 something’s, but only a handful addressing the baby boomer crowd.  That’s why we came up with StyleBoomer, the fashion advice blog for the cash queens of the US economy who are often misled or mystified in their quest for age-appropriate fashion options.  We say, “Turn the page on age!”

Even during our own shopping trips we have felt baffled, browbeaten, downtrodden and dismayed – and we are the experts!   So don’t fret!!  It’s high heel time we share our expertise with you, the savvy, sophisticated Madison Plus reader.  We are going to guide and inspire you with style solutions that will make you look and feel fabulous because we tell it like it is.  We have shopped, rummaged, wrestled, wrangled and scoured through scores of stores and countless collections to help make your fashion decisions practical and flattering.  We are here to give you the advice and permission tailor-made for the StyleBoomer!

Color is Key
So let’s get started with the spring trend temptations beginning with color! For several seasons fashion has been a muted, milky pastel palette of blush, beiges and boredom.  But not this season!  It is all about juicy, vibrant, punchy, Baskin Robbins’ colors that look great – particularly on us StyleBoomers. Here’s how to do it with ease.  Instead of only wearing tango tangerine (Pantone’s “must-have” color) or Lynda Carter’s yellow jacket/dress channeling her ”Big Bird” look, try small doses of color, not one tone head-to-toe. Mantra: Break it up, babe!

Embraceable Hue
You can easily incorporate color blocking into your signature statement for spring.  This trend is most memorable when worn with deliberate determination.  Not for the faint hearted this!! Two ways to do color-blocking – either interpreted in Mondrian-esque blocking in three or four main colors on a dress or wearing individual solid color items purposefully paired together in interesting combinations.  Think of a bright purple pant, orange top and bright tailored fuschia jacket.  Keep the clothing silhouettes classic in cut with the bold use of color being the modern twist.  Add a few big, gold bangles and hoop earrings and work in a neutral ladylike handbag to pull it all together.  Colorful accents work too …Black & white can be the basic canvas in solid or a print, but pop the contrast with a vibrant accent in bright daffodil, blue, orange or a splash of kelly green for plenty of punch.  And never underestimate the power of a scarf …worn in a bright color it can camouflage the neck area and add a radiant glow to your face.  Add a new lipstick color that is voluptuously vibrant to revitalize that same old makeup palette you’ve relied on for decades.

Someday Your Prints Will Come
And the time for this trend is now. Prints and tints are everywhere.  OK, but StyleBoomers beware!  Watch out for those “Little House on the Prairie” ditzy, dainty prints that look dowdy on us.  Instead, check out the bolder, art deco inspired prints or stripes that are sophisticated and chic.  You will find a large mix of patterns that draw attention away from figure flaws and skim nicely over the body.  We especially like the maxi-dresses that are comfortable, airy and light.  With a little cardigan — divine!!! Hmm, maxi dresses feel like a nightgown?   Try a printed top, jacket or skirt, or if you have longer legs go for a patterned pant.  The choices are endless though you will need to experiment to ensure the look’s fresh and not clownish.  Work with a good style expert at stores such as Chico’s or Talbots – two of our favorites.  If wearing prints is not your thing, opt to incorporate prints and colors with accessories.  Shoes, handbags and jewelry are a delicious mix of beads, sparkles, fringes, and studs that will perk up last year’s closet classics.

Nail It
And fashionable fingertips with unexpected hues are daring and show your trend savvy style. Get out of your comfort zone with all the offbeat nail shades this spring — it’s not just about the risky black fingernail color any longer.  A bottle of nail polish in a “should I(?) shade” is under $10 and an easy, affordable way to show the world you are keeping up …hey, ditch those mild-mannered manicures, you’re a StyleBoomer!  Little changes beget bigger ones, as they always say.

So, go for the gusto, gals….!  Give yourself permission, we do! Play with color and top the trend chart stepping out in StyleBoomer style!

Catherine Schuller, The Curvy Confidante
Judith Ann Graham, Beauty by Judy