Dear fashion models…

You all are tall, young, gorgeous and you are every designer’s dream face. This is how you feel. Except you’re not. Especially not all of you. After having attended fashion shows in Pakistan for over a decade, all from the front row for excellent visual, I have some feedback. Some of it is my own and some has been handed down from designers, photographers and makeup artists who have had the pleasure of working with you…

1. Stop smiling on the catwalk. You’re not in a congeniality contest and most of you are here to make a certain outfit look good, which means you need to let the clothes (as opposed to you, yourself) to be centre-stage. Also, you want to look cool and composed, not a leopard on the prowl.

2. When wearing clothes you’re not comfortable in, practice. Practice until you are comfortable. Turning up for rehearsals would be a good idea. I’m especially referring to models that don’t know how to carry traditional clothing like the gharara or the sari. As witnessed at the PLBW, several models clenched their ghararas, lehngas and skirts when they walked. That is NOT how to walk in a gharara! Look at Mehreen Syed; she glides.

Clenching your outfit and holding it up is not the way to walk in bridal couture.

3. Shoes are an important part of your look and so…

a. If designers are not providing footwear (which they should), then your shoes need to be appropriate and gold cork wedges are not appropriate for bridals. Also, unsightly toe-hangovers are, well … extremely unsightly.

b. Foot care and grooming is important so it would be nice to indulge in a pedicure every now and then.

Beautiful model, totally wrong shoes.

4. Leave your lips alone. My cosmetologist tells me that too many of you are coming in for lip fillers, cheekbone enhancements and skin lightening treatments.  And the artificiality shows. Especially when you go overboard, as one of you (we noticed) did when you decided to wear ‘apple-buns’ for a protruding buttock. You know who you are. We do too.

5. Why not invest in some good, catwalk underwear? You may not have the body tone that you started out with a decade (or more) ago and so going bra-less may not be an option BUT there is such an option as strapless, backless, etc. And no, transparent straps are not invisible. Those of you in short cholis or blouses, make sure your bra doesn’t do a peekaboo above your rib cage.

6. Last but not least, if you do wish to pursue a career in fashion modeling, then stay away from maasi-roles on television. Fashion is all about the image and once we’ve seen you washing clothes on TV, you’re probably going to find it easier to sell washing powder than style. By all means take on glamorous roles a la’ Gisele Bundchen in Devil Wears Prada and Taxi.