On Tuesday I had the pleasure of being a part of Aveda Columbus' Earth Jam 2015 Fashion Show. It was so much fun! It was also the first time I've ever done any modeling or anything like that.
To say the least, I was terrified.
The casting was a couple of weeks ago and when I went I had no idea what I was getting myself into. People were talking about dying and cutting hair and that was not something I wanted to sign up for, but it wasn't something I wanted to chicken out on either. I decided to take the chance and just see where this thing would go.
Before this year I'd never heard of Earth Jam even though it's been an annual event here in Columbus for a long time. The purpose is to raise money for charities by putting on an event for Columbus' fashion community (which is surprisingly large in my opinion). This year the theme was 'Artistry: Celebrating the art of film through fashion and beauty.' There were about 8 different movies represented throughout the show.
The day that the models got to talk to the movie groups was intimidating. There were people there who knew Aveda people and each other and then there was me. I didn't know anyone. The groups presented their ideas and we got to talk to them about where we could possibly fit into their show. I honestly thought I wouldn't fit anywhere.
It turns out that I was a great fit for The Great Gatsby (my first choice, no big deal). The second I walked up to them they wanted me to be their wig model. I was thrilled because 1. no hair dying and 2. I was in!
Little did I know...
This was my wig:
This behemoth beehive on my head is a wig that was meticulously (I hope) attached to my head. This was not what I was expecting. The wig was about the size of a small child and I will not lie, it was painful. Everything about it from putting it on to taking it off was not a thrill.
I found out I'm allergic to synthetic hair because when my hair was braided the first day my scalp broke out. I cried a bit when my scalp was most likely being punctured with bobby pins when it was being attached to my hair. And it was the ultimate test of poise and balance to keep it from toppling every time I moved.
Nevertheless, I rocked it (hopefully)! I managed to not fall and wear it on stage in heels. If you're not impressed that's okay, I am enough for all of us.
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| Crummy picture of me on stage courtesy of my roommate. |
The other movies had wigs too! This is reassuring because I wasn't the only one in pain or being extra impressive. We all bonded over our suddenly massive heads and extra height.
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| Poison Ivy from Batman |
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| Beauty School Dropout from Grease |
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Effie Trinket from Hunger Games
We discovered wigs stick together if you get too close... |
Remember when I said I had to get my hair braided?
This is what it looked like after 12 hours and A LOT of texturizing cream when it was finally free.
This was such a new and amazing experience for me and I'll definitely be back next year if I'm still in Columbus. Everyone I worked with was so amazing and we all made an amazing show. I'll update this post with more/better photos if anyone posts others soon. I wish I had more 'before' pictures, but I didn't save those from snapchat, oops. Next time I'll be on that.
Check out Aveda here as they are wonderful.
And try something new!
- Jess
French Friday: ananas - pineapple (this is my favorite French word)
