Second Photoshoot ~ Story Time

Hello! Here we are again with another part of the story :D I'm so sorry for not posting this before, but between my tinies bdays and making the dress for Venezia, I had no choice. Coco's dress is the one I made for her bday on 2016, as I was never happy with the photos I took of it, and thought it deserved a second chance.

I have several anecdotes about Venezia's dress too, but I will split this on two posts. Here is the story, and there will be another post with outfits photos, a little tale about my inspiration, and so on. I will do it that way, so I can link the second post to my sewing portfolio.

Anyways! This time the text was almost 3 pages... I wanted to write a little more, but I didn't want to annoy people, so I left it for another "chapter". Hopefully, it will be out soon, but my perfectionist self reads each text around three times, which slows me down.

Chapter 3: The Second Photoshoot

Today’s photo session was bigger and, apparently, more important than the previous one, as there were twice as many employees as on the lingerie photoshoot. The place was swarm with people, from photographers, stylists to a couple of fashion reporters, all scattered and occupying the places free of equipment. As soon as she arrived, Venezia had been introduced to two makeup artists, one stylist and two seamstresses that would exclusively work with her. She was in awe, as she had never worked with so many people at the same time.

In a moment, while waiting for the seamstresses to finish fitting on her dress, she heard someone calling her name, and turned to see the source. Reneé Favre stood up among the other people in the room due to her tall and slender figure; as always, her polite and studied smile was fixed on her face. Venezia returned the gesture and walked to her, noticing the assistant at her side, concentrated on the table she hold on her hands while balancing two big purses on her right shoulder.

“Venezia!” the manager said again, offering her hand. “It is so good to see you!”

“Ms. Favre, nice to see you too” the young model replied, shaking her hand.

“I’ve been told you have been introduced to your team” Renée continued, and then added, without waiting for Venezia’s answer. “Come, I want you to meet the other model”.

She turned away, as If everyone had to move at her pace, and directed herself to a small group of people, a few steps away from where they originally stood. Soon, all of them turned away, and left Renée talking with a young woman. Venezia recognized her as soon as she saw her, and froze. She was only starting on the fashion industry, how could she work with someone like her? It wasn’t any model, but the most famous of MOMO Dolls or, as the fashion press called her, the face of MOMO. She had a high amount of contracts with perfume brands, makeup brands, and had also walked for Chanel, Versace and Victoria’s Secret, among many other brands. She was gorgeous, and Venezia swallowed hard due to the uncanny feeling of thinking herself as inferior. The other model was tall, slender but with the right amount of curves, her fair skin spotless and perfect, and with long light brown hair that framed a flawless oval face. Striking icy blue eyes turned to see her, but no expression appeared on her face.

Both the manager and the girl walked to Venezia, and she was only able to make some steps, before Renée’s voice took her back to reality.

“Venezia, this is Coco” then turned to the other woman “Coco, she is Venezia. This is her second photoshoot, but I’m sure you will have no issue”. Both models nodded to each other, politely, although Venezia heard the preferential tone Renée had used when talking to Coco.

“It is an honor to meet you” Venezia finally said to the other model. Her eyes met for a second, and suddenly she felt that the room was too small, and the air too dense, because she wasn’t sure if she had just offended the other model, or said something inappropriate.

“Nice to meet you too” Coco answered, her features softening a little.

“I have to leave now, but I hope to see the photos very soon” Favre interrupted, and walked away, with her assistant following, mumbling the details of her next meeting on their schedule. However, Venezia completely missed the look that the older woman gave Coco, just for a second, before leaving.

For a couple seconds, Coco watched them go away, and an uncomfortable silence settled between her and Venezia. She was aware she would have to work with a newbie model, but… this woman was gorgeous. Perfect dark skin, curvy hips, amazing wavy hair as black as the night, and the most stunning hazel eyes Coco had ever seen. She could easily get lost in them, and thought that Venezia would easily get contracts for makeup brands. Any color would look stunningly good with those eyes and skin.

For a moment, she even felt panic of just meeting a possible replacement, but forced herself to not think of it. It was of no use. If MOMO wanted to replace her, they would do it, and the doubts would only hinder her performance at the photoshoot, and she couldn’t let that happen.

“Have you found the dressing room?” she finally asked, attempting to break the stiffness that had somehow built around them.

“No! Actually, I haven’t…” Venezia stuttered, mentally shaming herself for it. She had never expected having to work with a renowned model, and now she was scared… she had to be good enough, she had to put all of her effort to not fail this test. She couldn’t describe how much she wanted a stable contract with a known brand to further her career, and she was determined to get it.

“Come, they are here” Coco answered, indicating with her hand to the far right of the room. They walked in silence, but the uneasiness bothered her. She remembered her first photoshoot, scared as a kitty and without knowing what to do, hoping to not shame her mother’s name, as she has been told countless times, until Kajsa started talking to her, being friendly and accessible despise being -at that time- MOMO’s main model. Maybe it was her time to fulfill her role. “So, this is your second session with MOMO, right?” she asked, hoping to sound casual and start a conversation.

“Yes! Yes… I’m a newbie, you could say” said Venezia, surprised at the question but also relieved and hoping to not sound too jumpy. She sincerely had thought she had offended the woman, but although her voice was friendly her facial expression had not changed at all. ‘Maybe she has a reason…´ she though, considering that it probably was to keep creeps away. “I haven’t seen the outfits, yet…” she added, without knowing what to say.

“Oh, they are amazing!” Coco said, with a tint of excitement on her voice, just when they arrived at the dressing rooms. Two stylists approached them right as they crossed the door, and their talk was interrupted. Both of them sat in different chairs, in a room too small for Venezia’s tastes. It was long but narrow, and the chairs looked towards a wall covered in a seamless mirror, only interrupted by a shelf at elbow height, where many tools, makeup and hair products rested. The door was at their back, and the noise of voices was impossible to hide.

“It is a new collection” Coco said, resuming their chat and looking to the dark skinned woman through the mirror, as if they had never been interrupted. She also completely disregarded the stylist, who was busy working with her hip-length straight hair that refused to hold any hairpin in place for more than a couple seconds. Coco was probably used to them, by now, Venezia though. “Something between tuxedos and dresses”.

That drew Venezia’s attention. She always had a preference for clothes usually thought of as more male-appropriate, and now she was intrigued. A tuxedo turned dress? She had to see that.

“That means you like my ideas, Coco?” interrupted a playful yet childish voice. Venezia looked at her reflection on the mirror. The voice was from a woman who had just entered the room, holding two dressed stuffed in plastic bags that were almost her size. She was too short, thick and dark skinned with rounded face and wide nose. Her eyes were big but as dark as onyx. “Don’t mind her, once she starts talking about clothing she doesn’t stop” She added, turning towards Venezia. “I’m Lily, by the way, nice to meet you”.

“Nice to meet you too” she answered, slightly puzzled at the familiarity on her voice when she addressed Coco. Apparently they have worked together before, because she was able to hear what appeared to be a joke between them. Also, Coco’s gaze relaxed a bit when looking to Lily, going from absolute ice to mere snow-driven.

They didn’t have time to continue talking, as the makeup artist started to work, and then Lily gave each of them their outfits, and ushered to change. They had a small place with curtains to get dressed, and Venezia studied the dress while putting it on. It was tight, with elbow length sleeves with shirt cuffs, and the cleavage resembled a pole king collar shirt, decorated with small black buttons. Venezia had never seen a similar design, and was in awe. It was unique, and for once, it was exactly her size.

Finally, the photo session started. The dress was so tight that Venezia couldn’t almost move her legs, and wandered how Coco managed to pose so naturally, as her one-sleeved dress was also fitted. She breathed and relaxed. She had to do this right. Minutes went by as they stood close to each other, moving slowly and following the photographer’s instructions, while several fans made their hair flow. Apparently, he was pleased.

“Get close! Closer!” he said, and Venezia looked at Coco. Even with high heels she was shorter than Venezia, and definitely thinner what, at some point, made the dark skinned model feel bad. “Closer, please!” the photographer called again, and Coco moved effortlessly and hooked her arm with Venezia. She quickly understood what she wanted, and turned around, so that their backs met, her arms intertwined and heads slightly touching. “Perfect!” claimed the photographer. Flashes lightened around them and, for a while, she felt as if time was rushing.

“Venezia, can turn around?” she did so, putting her hands on Coco’s shoulders, while the other model leaned her head backwards. “Perfect!” Seconds passed by, and Venezia could swear that ‘perfect’ and ‘there, there’ where the only two words that the man knew. Coco moved again, turning and embracing Venezia.

“That is what I’m talking about! That chemistry!” the photographer said once again, proving that he effectively had more words. “Perfect!” ‘No, he doesn’t’, though Venezia. But he was pleased, and she could only hope the photos turned out as good as those dresses.

And this was all for today! I am so sorry not sorry for the wall of text, but each time I start writing about this two, I get so hooked up! I never thought it would happen, honestly. What do you think of the photos? I had no clue of what to do, so I used photos of two models as references. These are the ones I used: here, here, here and here.

I like "sewing with a reason": to make an outfit for a photostory, although I also want to sew somethings out of pure curiosity -I want to make The Beast and The Beauty cosplays for both of them (Venezia and Coco, respectively)... well, if I shared my plans you'll laugh, it is so ridiculously long that I even have a big project idea for once I have five dolls (two more ladies and a guy)... which would probably happen years from now xD

Also, I'd love to get some furniture props for these girls, although hubby keeps asking me "where am I going to put them?" My answer: "Over there!" *points to husband's side of the hobby closet*. Anyways! Thanks for reading, and I'm open to suggestions!