HIGH LIFE / A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Life in the Fashion Lane : Brea Mall Panel Gives Young Adults a Glimpse Into World of Modeling
At a time when some people are accused of having an “attitude,” 24 young people on the Brea Mall Fashion Panel are using it to their advantage.
“They do have to have an attitude,” said Joni Rittner, the panel’s fashion consultant, “because that’s what modeling is. It’s a feeling you have.”
The Fashion Panel is composed of 19 women and five men between the ages of 15 and 24 who serve a 10-month term as representatives of the Brea Mall.
The panel members, selected from nearly 50 applicants, met Monday for the first time to prepare for the mall’s “Back to School” fashion show Aug. 19.
“The mall has fashion shows in the center court for all the stores, and we hired Joni as a fashion consultant to help prepare this one,” said Kim Oylear, who is the assistant marketing director for the mall and the Fashion Panel coordinator.
“However, only a small amount of what the panel does consists of the shows. About 80% of their time goes into mannequin modeling and also charity work.”
Mannequin modeling consists of modeling clothes in a window or outside a store, and holding a single pose, as a mannequin would, for as long as 40 minutes.
“Mannequin modeling is fun,” said John James, a second-year panel member, “because later, people will come up to you and say, ‘I saw you in a store window!’ and I’ll say, ‘Yeah, I guess you did.’ ”
James, 20, is a junior at Cal State Fullerton. He joined the Fashion Panel last year with his sister Tricia, 17, who will be a senior at Mater Dei High School.
“I’d been thinking about modeling,” Tricia said, “and I told John about it.”
Said her brother, “I figured it would be fun, so I agreed to try out.”
“I don’t know whether I’m going to continue (modeling), but this is a good introduction,” Tricia added. “I’ve gone to agencies, and all they want is your money. Here, you get a taste of modeling by doing shows and mannequin modeling.”
There is no fee to belong to the panel, but, as the saying goes, time is money.
“The panel members put in about 10 hours a month, two of which are spent in a monthly meeting, but the other eight vary,” Oylear said.
“Meetings can cover anything from hair to makeup to putting together a portfolio, and we usually have a guest speaker.”
The only real cost the models incur, then, is in the time they contribute.
“They do a lot of volunteer work with the community,” Oylear said. “At Halloween, they help pass out candy in the mall. At Christmas, they help the Salvation Army charity drive, and they can help with charity fashion shows, such as the ones put on by the (California) Angels and their wives,” she said.
Right now, though, the members are getting ready for the “Back to School” show. Their first week of preparation included four three-hour meetings to learn the basics of runway modeling and to set up routines.
“I’m going to divide you up into groups,” Rittner told the participants on the second night. “And you are going to like each other. That’s an order,” she added, jokingly.
Tricia James said panel members do become friends but said that the main thing she got out of the panel last year was experience.
“Of course, you get to know a lot of people,” she said. “I’ve met people I wouldn’t have otherwise. And the knowledge I’ve gained . . . that’s what really helped.”
Experience and, more important, exposure appear to be what this year’s models hope to gain.
“I’d like to achieve a better viewpoint in modeling and get to know the responsibilities involved in modeling and dressing models for shows,” said Mark Thomas, 15, a sophomore at Walnut High School.
He learned about the Fashion Panel from his grandmother, who found an article about it in a local paper. “She knows I’m interested in the field,” said Thomas, who has taken drama and acting classes.
Many of his fellow panelists have also enrolled in classes to prepare for their careers.
Melissa Parker, 15 and a freshman at El Dorado High, has participated in drama. She hopes to become an actress.
“I want to learn everything there is to know about modeling, and I want to continue in the field for a while,” she said. “Hopefully, someone will see me and I’ll get into acting.”
Like Parker, Colene Purrington, 17, a senior at Sunny Hills High, is pursuing a modeling career as a steppingstone to acting.
“I love drama, singing and dancing. I love the theater,” Purrington said. “I feel really comfortable right there on center stage, and I love making people happy. It’s something I want to do for the rest of my life.”
Though she was not on last year’s panel, Purrington has had modeling experience at her place of work--Windsor Fashions at Brea Mall.
“They started to do mannequin modeling, and that’s how I got started,” Purrington said.
And while her goal may be to make people laugh, when she is a mannequin model, the roles are usually reversed.
“People constantly want to make you laugh,” she said. “They’ll touch you, tell jokes or say you have a run in your nylons. So it’s almost like a game against them, to not laugh or move.”
Other panel members, such as Marcella Manzanedo, also have had some experience in modeling.
“I tried out for Facefinders,” said the 16-year-old Savanna High senior. “You send in your picture, and if they like the way you look, they’ll call you in to model your own clothes for them. If they like you after that, they’ll have you model their clothes.
“I was too nervous,” she said, adding that since she has joined the Fashion Panel, “I’m not embarrassed anymore. That’s the one thing: You can’t be nervous, or you won’t get anywhere.”
Courtney Cates also joined the panel hoping to overcome her nervousness.
“I guess I joined to become more graceful,” said the 16-year-old Sunny Hills junior. “I play sports--soccer and tennis--and my mom says I walk like a jock, which isn’t very flattering for a girl.
“It was kind of by accident that I heard about the Fashion Panel. I’ve always wanted to see what it would be like to be a model. And now I have the chance.”
