The Cherry Velvet Plus Shoot!

     "Tits out, tummy in, buns out!" This is what I learned from Shimona Henry, photographer extraordinaire on the set of a Cherry Velvet Plus photo shoot.  Being a plus sized woman herself, she knows the tilts and angles that lengthen necks, smooth chins and emphasize curves.

     But, I am getting ahead of myself. I was on set because I was asked to model by the talented designer, Diane Kennedy, after liking what she saw on the blog. I was excited and flattered, naturally. 

     I have read that many fashion models don't eat on the days leading up to a shoot. I didn't follow suit, as just an hour before I was in the studio, I was in a diner dribbling egg yolk and hollandaise sauce on my shirt from the benedict I was enjoying. You know you are working with good, supportive people when they don't tell you to "tone" or "tighten" or "slim down" before the shoot. 

    After lunch, I made my way over to the East Vanity Parlour, a bustling salon on Main Street, for some victory rolls and hair curling. What in the heck is a victory roll, you may ask? In essence, victory rolls are a hair rolls that are curled and pinned to the top of one's head. They hail from the Second World War when women wanted a fashionable style that kept hair out of their faces whilst working in munitions factories. With the right tools, hairspray and pins and know-how, victory rolls can be quick and easy. I saw model, Ellie Mayday bang them off in a few minutes. Because I am all thumbs and tend to burn myself when faced with an iron, I had them done for me by Sophie. She has four Cats, so she and I got along well. 

   

They started by just curling my hair with an iron, and began to back comb. 

And pin! And voila, they were done!

My hair was kept pinned up the back, so that I didn't lose my curls while waiting for my shot in front of the camera. 

I made it to the Pin-up Perfection Studio and was greeted by a rack filled with beautiful clothes!

I got to watch Elly Mayday work the camera! She is such a pro. She made some very awkward poses look effortless and flirty whilst wearing 6 inch heels. 

Here is a shot of Shimona's rack and the back of Logan's head. Logan is working on a video for the Cherry Velvet website. 

It was finally my turn to get in front of the camera!

I got to wear all sorts of pretty dresses with flowers in my hair and shoes that deviated from my usual repertoire of flats with orthotics. Read: heels!

You can find the above dress, here. 

Damnit, I love this dress! And now it is mine!

And it is found here!

In the interest of keeping the shoot moving , I took a few quick selfies. However, I will share the actual pictures once the finished photos are released. 

For working at the shoot, as if that wasn't exciting enough, I was given two Cherry Velvet dresses that are just lovely! I will do an outfit post in the next few weeks. Maybe I will try a victory roll!

My thanks to everyone involved: Diane Kennedy for cherry picking me, to Danielle Keil for keeping me informed, to the East Vanity Parlour for doing my 'do, to Elly Mayday for showing me the ropes and to Shimona Henry for the amazing direction. 

Stay tuned for the results!