Apparently modelling is still the number one dream job for most young girls. For conformation of this, you only needed to go down to the fashion show at the NEC last week to see hundreds of over dressed (and over hopeful) girls trying all sorts to get the attention of modelling agency scouts.

Wondering if it was worth all the hassle and looking for an excuse to chat to a model, Loay El Hady got the attention of one beau who was willing to tell us a little more.

Miss Argentina (identity changed, and for the record she’s not the real Miss Argentina, but she should be!) is a 24 year old from Nottinghamshire who’s been modelling since she was 18.

------

So how did you first get into modelling?
My mum saw a ‘face of the year’ competition in a high street store and she filled in a form and sent in a picture on my behalf.

A few weeks later I got a call from a modelling agency who said I hadn’t won the competition but that they’d like me on their books and they arranged for me to do some test shots.

Sounds rather easy…
That’s about as good as it got for a while. In fact the first shoot was so bad I nearly dropped the idea altogether.

The agent recommended a photographer that she said would make me feel really comfortable and that he was really professional…

(I felt a Trisha moment coming on so I stated the obvious).

But it didn’t turn out to be like that, did it?
Not at all. To start with I was nervous, so I brought my boyfriend with me for support, but the photographer seemed to resent him just for being there. He kept making filthy comments saying ‘You stay here while I have my way with your girlfriend back there’ and ‘while I use your girlfriend keep yourself busy with these, lets call it a swap’ and gave him a load of porno mags!

Men…
And he kept coming in on me while I was changing outfits, asking me to do underwear shots even though I’d specifically said at the beginning, to the agent and to him, that I wouldn’t do that. He asked me about 20 times, really pressuring me to do it. But that’s one reason I was really glad my boyfriend was there. I told him what was going on and he said I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to do.

See, we’re not all bad. How did the photographs turn out?
They couldn’t have been worse because I was so uncomfortable. And that day cost me £100 for the shots and £40 for the make up artist.

So how come you didn’t just give up straight away?
Well, I wasn’t going to give up because of one idiot, so my agent set up some test shots with other photographers and those photographs turned out miles better.

And then the jobs rolled in and you lived happily ever after…
No, I didn’t get my first job for about six months, and paying for travelling to castings and other test shots in between left me out of pocket by about £800.

But you’re sill doing it now so when did your luck change?
I took a year out after my A levels, changed agencies to one in London, and moved down there for a year, that’s when things started to pick up and I was free to concentrate on that full time so I could go to loads more castings. But it's not exactly guaranteed work so I went back to university and now I only do it part time.

What did you study?
I just finished my pre reg year so I’m a fully trained pharmacist.

(So much for models being stupid, I didn’t even know what a pre reg was).

So just out of interest, how high up in the modelling world are you? Would I have seen you in anything major?
Well, I’ve done quite a few runways for some famous designers... (she looked me up and down)... but fashion doesn’t seem like your thing, so you probably wouldn’t have seen them. I was in a catalogue you may have seen but most of my work recently has been at store diners.

Store diners?
It’s where an exclusive small shop invites its best customers to dinner to view their new lines and we walk around in the clothes during their meals.

(I figured this must have led to a lot of food stained clothes, as it’d be hard enough remembering how to breathe staring at Miss Argentina let alone eat).

Anything else?
I’ve done some extra work for TV, but that’s not as well paid as the rest of it.

How much do you get?
It varies from job to job.

Okay, but roughly…
I’d say for the modelling… no less than £60 and all my expenses are paid.

£60 a day isn’t bad, but I used to have a job selling…
(Interrupting) £60 an hour and that includes travelling time.

Wow… you must be loaded…
I do okay.

You must spoil your boyfriend something rotten!
I’m not seeing anyone at the moment…

------

Sensing an opportunity to ‘get in there my son’, I tried to engage in witty banter but I only managed to stick my rather large feet into my oversized mouth as my next sentence, which I won’t dare repeat in full, included the words ‘rhino’ ‘bare back’ ‘behind’ and ‘temple’ in no particular order.

Miss Argentina was confused and then amused as I tried to back track into an explanation, eventually thanking her and leaving the NEC to head back to Nottingham.

I headed to the nearest Argos, to pick up a copy of their additions catalogue, in the vein hope that Miss Argentina had changed her mind about the underwear modelling. Men… indeed.