You know I mentioned that I had recently lost my job, well a few days after, the male and I decided that we were definitely going to be separating. We just werent making a good team. Soon after, I saw that Monif C was going to be in Houston this past weekend so I decided the best way to get through a breakup/job loss/complete life start-over was to drive the four hours to go shop her collection and hole up in a hotel room for two days with champagne, Storage Wars and room service. I posted this on my personal Facebook page Sunday:
In today's episode of "What has Elle Gotten Herself Into": I'm going through some life changes right now (aka, practically starting completely over) and am a bit restless. I saw my favorite designer was coming to Houston so I bought a ticket, booked a room and drove down for the weekend to shop the collection. Well I arrived and it turns out it was a model search too so I had to audition in order to get to the "clothes experience"! I was like, well... I really want that dress. So I walked and posed in front of one of the top plus size designers just so I could buy the dress I wanted. It will forever be my favorite dress. Here is to starting over and stepping out of comfort zones for amazing dresses.
Thats essentially how it happened, I just wanted to elaborate on it a bit.
I saw that they were doing a model search and I wasnt interested in that part at all- I was literally driving four hours to shop and drink. I looked everywhere to see how the day was going to unfold and couldnt find times or an itinerary so I decided to show up early so I didnt miss out on what I wanted to buy. To my surprise, when I arrived the modeling part was from 9-12 and you had to audition to get to the "shopping experience". I'm sure I could have talked my way around it but some of the girls (who are always super nice at these events) used the line, "youre already here... might at as well. Just for the experience!" That line always works on me! Just for the experience! I mean, how many times in life do you wander into a modeling audition? Add it to the list of things I've done.
There were so many beautiful women, and I would argue on any day that its almost harder to be a plus model at that level than a straight size. You have to have a very specific body type that usually doesnt come with being plus size and a gorgeous face. Some of the women were a little more judgy feeling than others but, I mean- who doesnt want to win when thats your career aspiration? How it worked was that we all stood outside the relatively small event space and they set up the judges table inside- three judges including Monif- with the DJ on the opposite side. The brought three girls in at a time, and one girl would walk, pose and then walk again- then the next girl and the next. Then you'd move over to the shopping area of the event. I obviously had no idea what I was doing and just floundered around but some of those girls were fierce! I almost felt bad about wasting their time- but then again don't keep me from shopping! I'll do anything! They were kind about it and Monif smiled and laughed with me.
Once everyone had gone, they picked 5 women that would put on some items from their collection and do it again. Then they picked their winner. The winner would be in an email blast from Monif C that goes out to about 300,000 women. Not to toot my own here, but I was in the Dia&Co email blast that one time... granted smaller scale and not a model but I'm counting that as a win. After that I believe they were going to do meet and greet with Monif and cocktails. I ducked out around 11- it was very model-centric and I had gotten done what I went for. I could have waited to meet Monif C, but I felt like the world was calling me to go out and explore.
I was very glad I got there early though when it came to what was on the racks to shop. There were four small racks with very limited options in a 3- had I gotten there any later the dress I wanted would have been gone. Obviously I didnt expect a full store since her boutique is in NYC but it was a touch smaller than I anticipated. Guess that means I just need to go to NYC and check out the full selection! (P. S. there were clutches and ...damn. All cute).
It was a gorgeous day so I put the top down and drove around Houston exploring for a while- which is literally one of my favorite things to do. I stopped out for lunch, then went back to the room to relax and get ready to go out that night. There was a bar next to the hotel that I wanted to check out since I was doing independent woman things. I drank a bottle of champange while watching a Storage Wars marathon, then had dinner and was deciding on what to wear out so I ordered another bottle through room service. Obviously by that point I was already intoxicated so instead of going out, I just went to sleep and skipped drinking in a bar- it seemed like a lot of work at that point.
Moral of the story is that modeling auditions arent too bad if they are like this one. If youre at all interested in it- go check it out! If for nothing else, "just for the experience!". I however do not exactly condone drinking bottles of champagne in one sitting or driving four hours from home alone if youre not ready for those experiences. I'm in a "travel alone because its empowering" mood lately but it took some work to get to this point. I think its definitely something you should do in your life and as long as youre responsible, youre usually safe.
Oh and I will be doing an outfit post with the dress and clutch I bought while I was there- so get ready for that!
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