Can I be a model at 5'6?

[Anonymous]

[Adaeva]

The Fashion Model

"Editorial fashion models" work in New York City (in this country) for the simple reason that very, very little editorial fashion work is booked out of anywhere else. There are exceptions, of course: Miami in winter (but often using New York models), and sometimes Los Angeles or Chicago, but these are just that: exceptions. If you want to be a fashion model, you go to New York. There are lots of opportunities abroad as well (Paris, London, Milan, Tokyo. . .), but only one real one in the US.

For women, if you want to be seen on the cover of a national fashion magazine, to sign a lucrative national ad contract, to become a "supermodel", or even to be a "fashion model", you need the following when you start:

1. Be between 15-19 years old.
2. Be between 5'9" and 6' tall.
3. Be thin. Really, really thin. Something like 105-115 pounds, except for Plus models, who can be dress sizes 10-20 or so, depending on the market.
4. Don't have especially large breasts (34C is generally the upper bound of acceptable), lots of stretch marks, tattoos, piercings or highly tanned skin. Dark skin is fine, lots of tan is not fine.
5. Be beautiful. Not necessarily pretty, but beautiful. An interesting, beautiful face is at least as good for a fashion model as is an "all American" look.
6. Have the right personality for it: a strong commitment to modeling (not just an interest in it), an ability to take rejection (something most beautiful girls aren't good at), a thick skin, not a lot of modesty (nobody cares what you don't want someone to see, we have a fashion show to put on. . .) and a lot of self confidence.
7. Be willing to relocate to a major market, with New York City strongly preferred.
8. Be willing to travel to strange locations with no friends there to support you, little money, little help, lots of opportunity for both good and bad things to happen to you.

If you have all of that, you are a very, very rare person, and you have one chance in a hundred of becoming an editorial fashion model. No more than that. If you are anything else, you need to think about some other kind of modeling.

[Princess_shruti]

Yes dear you can definalty be a model with the height you mentioned.

happy modeling.. :) :)

[NathanDavis]

a model for some things, yes... probably not a runway model though

[lawhawk]

What kind of model? There are lots of different kinds.

[SlickRick24]

A model can be any height. Height does not make someone more or less beautiful

[Adaeva]

You are not hiring so what you think doesn't matter. It is what the market wants and the market for models doesn't want short girls. Not now, not ever.

[SlickRick24]

The modeling industry hires a diverse array of people anywhere from plus size models to even models who have Down syndrome. I think times are changing in the sense that people want to see someone who is more comparable to themselves not the airbrushed perfect models we are used to seeing. I don’t see being short as a problem and 5’6” isn’t that short I say go for it!

[Adaeva]

@SlickRick24 You have zero knowledge but you want argue.

Height requirements in fashion are driven by two factors: sample size and preference. Designers and fashion photographers prefer taller models. Dresses for runway shows and editorial and advertising photography are cut to a “sample size” that reflects that preference. Once the clothes are put together it’s a lot easier to hire a model to fit than to redo the clothes for a shorter model.

The requirements for being a major market fashion model are not absolute – they are just (very strong) preferences. Everyone in the industry knows that Kate Moss and Laetitia Casta, among others, don’t fit the “standards,” and yet they have been very successful. So why shouldn’t you say to yourself “Hey, what about them? I’m only 5’7” tall, but so are some other fashion models I could name. That means I have a chance to make it, right?” Yes, it does. But we have to distinguish between “possible” and “reasonably likely.”

Let’s look at some numbers. A study done in 2002 showed that among top editorial fashion agencies in Los Angeles and New York, 81% of their “editorial fashion” models were 5’9” and above; 15% were between 5’8” and 5’9”, and only 4% were below 5’8” tall.

[Adaeva]

@ SlickRick24 "Petites"

As a rule, any agency or management company that advertises that they accept "petite" models is a scam. It's just one more marketing ploy that allows them to expand their potential base of victims. "Petite" fashion modeling is almost non-existent except at the very lowest levels of the industry, which pay very little.

When it does exist, "petite" fashion models aren't what most people might expect. In the fashion world, "petite" means "under 5'9" tall", and most of them are 5'7" to 5'8" tall. Sometimes shorter models get jobs as fit models, or in mall fashion shows, but there is very little opportunity in fashion modeling for "petites".

[PatriceONeal]

You're good. Height really only matters to people if you're a man.

[jjj101010]

Possibly, depends of what kind of modelling u want to do

[Pyrofox]

Probs not runway but there's plenty of others.

[TwoToTooTutu2]

Yes.