Did You Want to Train to Be a Model... Or Just Look Like One?

May 29, 2008

I'm sure many of us remember flipping through teen magazines and coming across Barbizon ads in the back. They inevitably featured a pretty girl and an ad tagline inviting you to "train to be a model... or just look like one!"

As a brace-faced, spiral-permed pre-teen I knew, just knew that with the right training, I would be the next Cindy Crawford. I wheedled my parents into attending a Barbizon "modeling seminar," which was really a sales pitch to enroll would-be models in expensive courses. Did you share this dream?

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47 Comments

ayuninur 4 years 51 weeks

No, I had no interest.

ayuninur 4 years 51 weeks

No, I had no interest.

keiraz 4 years 51 weeks

aah the dreamss...and oh, jaimeleah, she was a size 6 and they say a plus size?wht d*ck heads are they??? this size is supposedly in the SMALL category!!

keiraz 4 years 51 weeks

aah the dreamss... and oh, jaimeleah, she was a size 6 and they say a plus size? wht d*ck heads are they??? this size is supposedly in the SMALL category!!

JaimeLeah526 4 years 51 weeks

I was never interested. I did go with my friend one time and realized it was a scam when they told her she could be a model. The girl had burns all over her chest and on her chin. They also told her she'd be a plus sized model when she was a 6.

inertia 4 years 51 weeks

I never even considered it. I'm half Asian and petite. Back in the late '80s when I was young enough, it was blatantly obvious that I didn't have a chance. Things have changed a lot since then and if I was a teenager now I might consider giving it a try on a small scale, but back then it wasn't even worth dreaming about it.

LadyLibertine 4 years 51 weeks

mind over beauty any day.

LadyLibertine 4 years 51 weeks

mind over beauty any day.

italianblonde 4 years 51 weeks

I just wanted to look like one, but I never went to Barbizon for help. I think one of my friends did though...yeah, nothing too great she said.

glofriend 4 years 51 weeks

My daughter begged to go. Several other girls in town were modeling, so we enrolled her in a Barbizon class. She actually did quite well, as long as she looked like she was 8! She quit when she got tired of auditions. BTW, the other girls are still modeling, and one went to Broadway as an Annie! Guess it depends on the time and place!

i am awesomeness 4 years 51 weeks

Yup I did. But I really wanted to be an actress. My mom actually brought me to an agent when I was little, but my parents thought they were awfully sketchy so the whole plan was just scrapped. And then there was the fact that my mom didn't really know Manhattan, which is essential for auditions and whatnot. I still want to be an actress though and I wouldn't mind doing print modeling. There's no way I could be a runway model, I'm about 8 inches too short lmao

chiquita29 4 years 51 weeks

I remember those. I wanted to look like one. Glad I didn't fall for the scam!

sophia_HL 4 years 51 weeks

When I started modeling, my agency had me pay for my photos and some training, but I made all the money back after working a few jobs. I wish that I could have more training on how to walk though. My agency always wanted me to do runway, because I look better in person than in photos, but I was never that great at it.

msmoney23 4 years 51 weeks

wow all of your stories are really amazing! Thanks for telling them, there are alot scams people don't know about...including me.

msmoney23 4 years 51 weeks

wow all of your stories are really amazing! Thanks for telling them, there are alot scams people don't know about...including me.

msmoney23 4 years 51 weeks

wow all of your stories are really amazing! Thanks for telling them, there are alot scams people don't know about...including me.

aimeeb 4 years 51 weeks

When I was about 10 I went to "modeling" school with a friend of mine. Dear lord... We learned to do a "new york" turn. :oy:

aimeeb 4 years 51 weeks

When I was about 10 I went to "modeling" school with a friend of mine. Dear lord...We learned to do a "new york" turn. :oy:

AllaWallaBalla 4 years 51 weeks

For the record, this was in the 90's and years before anyone knew who Efren Ramirez was.

AllaWallaBalla 4 years 51 weeks

Oh man, my parents got scammed into enrolling me in "Beverly Hills Studios" because I wanted to act. It was THE biggest scam ever. They had unemployed actors posing as acting instructors (you know Efren Ramirez from Napoleon Dynamite? He was one of my so-called "teachers"!). I guess my parents just wanted to give me self-esteem so badly that they felt into the trap. I still have an immense sense of guilt for being responsible for the fact that they blew a huge wad of cash on this crap.

KathleenxCouture 4 years 51 weeks

Speaking of Barbazon though, they still call me from time to time - six years later - and tell me they get recommendations from others to me and want me to sign up with the agency haha of course I would have...six years ago LOL

KathleenxCouture 4 years 51 weeks

I did this. I was 13 and my best friend and I got picked to go through this school. 2,000 dollars later...I was just another poor scammed kid with dreams of being a model that never happened. Of course I always go on Fordmodels.com and still contemplate sending in pictures but I don't know how modeling would fit in my life right now.I have since then done some modeling here and there for local things like some clothing companies and runway for local shops and whatnot (I live in the suburbs of chicago) and people come up to me all the time and tell me that I would be a perfect model which at 5'9" and 125 LBS I can understand that people see a model in me but I'm just glad that I was able to experience as much as I have in modeling so far and am kind of happy I never did go on to the big stuff...I would've missed a lot of opportunities that I had as a kid.Anyways, I'm glad though that I went to Barbazon. They did teach some pretty great people, makeup, and etiquette skills that have come in handy for me throughout my teenage life and as I approach my twenties (I'm 19).

KathleenxCouture 4 years 51 weeks

I did this. I was 13 and my best friend and I got picked to go through this school. 2,000 dollars later...I was just another poor scammed kid with dreams of being a model that never happened. Of course I always go on Fordmodels.com and still contemplate sending in pictures but I don't know how modeling would fit in my life right now. I have since then done some modeling here and there for local things like some clothing companies and runway for local shops and whatnot (I live in the suburbs of chicago) and people come up to me all the time and tell me that I would be a perfect model which at 5'9" and 125 LBS I can understand that people see a model in me but I'm just glad that I was able to experience as much as I have in modeling so far and am kind of happy I never did go on to the big stuff...I would've missed a lot of opportunities that I had as a kid. Anyways, I'm glad though that I went to Barbazon. They did teach some pretty great people, makeup, and etiquette skills that have come in handy for me throughout my teenage life and as I approach my twenties (I'm 19).

rachi99 4 years 51 weeks

Wasn't my thing when I was younger - I was a bit of a tomboy - and it still isn't. Now I love hair & makeup, but it's as much in the spirit of fun as anything else. Hey, bailaoragaditana - I wanted to be an archaeologist too! (Part of me still does.)

ThePerfectScore 4 years 51 weeks

As a child I went to John Casablancas modeling and career center... the founder of elite models.. it was a fun time! I was so good at runway that they allowed me to teach the adult class! I was 8 at the time..

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