Will I ever have my happy ending?  Sigh!  For the longest time, I have always been a “bridesmodel”: from editorials to magazine covers to runway shows and even to music videos.  Ever heard of the saying “always a bridesmaid, never a bride”?  Well, I am what you would call “always a bridesmodel” but will hopefully be a bride one day.  Haha!  As I look back and recall my modeling jobs for the past years, if there is one role that a model would play, it is always me as a bride.  Do you want proof?  Let me show you.

The images above are my magazine covers from different publications.  Even my first ever magazine cover in New York (The Knot Magazine) is about wedding as well.   My first ever music video is a bride to the singer, Richard Poon.  Click here to watch.  Below are some of my magazine editorials of, yes you guessed it, wedding magazines:

Beauty editorials, found below:

And runway shows:

The photos here are but a trifle of the numerous photos I have as a bride model.  I kept asking myself, “Why am I always a bride?”  Actually, I have heard that there are actually some models that would not want to model a wedding dress because for fear that they would jinx their own wedding and will never marry.  Some even has the principle that they will only wear a wedding dress on the day of their wedding.  Wow, I never knew models could be so superstitious.  But alas, poor little me.  I have been modeling wedding dresses, gowns, lent my face for bridal makeup, and even acted in a music video as a bride, will I be doomed to forever be a bridesmodel and never a real bride?  Well, I hope not.

I should just take it as a complement that I am always booked to be a bride.  This simply means that I am a “dream” bride.  Haha!  If there is a term like that.  Actually, wearing several wedding gowns for these modeling jobs have its advantages.  I found out which gowns I absolutely abhor.

The following are the things I absolutely hate about wedding gowns:

1. Tube gowns

- Frankly, I do not understand why 90% of brides choose tube gowns.  For me, it’s so unimaginative.  And also the fact that I think I look utterly ridiculous in tube gowns because of my skinny and broad shoulders.  So tube gowns are out.

2.   Pure white dresses

- Yes, pure white is nice but it is so cliche and not to mention old-fashioned.  When I get married, I’ll probably choose off-white, beige, ecru, even lavender is nice.  But I’m sure my mind will change as to what color.

3. Petticoats

- I absolutely detest petticoats, especially the big voluminous ones.  I also do not quite understand why brides would choose to give themselves a hard time during their wedding day.  Walking around in those big gowns is no joke.  I cannot count the number of times I had an accident with one of those things.  It snags on edges, doorways and wood panels.  Moreover, I cannot calculate the path wherein I’m walking because of the huge skirt, causing me to bump into things, people, etc. Believe me, it’s hard to have a big skirt on your wedding gown.

4. Lace and itchy materials

- I don’t hate lace in general but I hate it when it’s very itchy.  Usually, the wedding gowns I wear are made of lace or this itchy fabric which I don’t know the name of.  That’s what I find in common with wedding gowns, most of the materials used are itchy, which would make a bride very uncomfortable.

5. Veils

- If I had the choice, I would rather not wear a veil.  But I know that in our culture and religion, veils are important.  So if ever, I might just opt for the modern veil in which it’s this teeny tiny veil that covers only your face.  But, as I have also said.  This might change.  I have not thought of it that much yet.

6. Big and heavy gowns

- The same with number 3.  If I were to have my wedding, why would I want to limit my movement and allow myself to suffer in silence because my big and heavy gown is dragging me down. I want to be as comfortable as possible.

In general, due to the number of times I have worn wedding gowns, I have eventually realized the things that I might need when I become a real bride.  If I hadn’t worn those dresses; I wouldn’t have found out the things that would make me uncomfy on my wedding day.  So it does have it perks.  I just hope that I haven’t jinxed my own wedding due to the number of times I was a “bridesmodel”.  As another superstition goes, your man shouldn’t see you in your wedding gown.  Well, too late for that now!

New year; new entry.  I have been postponing and postponing for ages  to write a new entry.  This time I definitely had the time to update my site.  I have to start the year right by not procrastinating.  New year’s resolution: STOP PROCRASTINATING!

So anyway, I shall finally post the pictures I got off the net for the AVON campaign I did in New York.  I had shot this more than a year ago during the autumn season nearing winter, but it only came out during spring of 2011.  So imagine the cold and I was only wearing almost see-through summery clothes.  Good thing I shot in Los Angeles, at least there wasn’t any snow.  To read the entry I wrote about the experience I had while shooting, click here.

Below were some of the shots I was lucky enough to find online.  And believe me, it was not easy finding these.  I have to give myself a pat on the back.  I personally think that I did a job well done.   Happy new year to all! Cheers! xoxo!

The retail brand Plains and Prints collaborated with the Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP) for their newest denim campaign. I am very honored to be part of this collaboration and for representing PMAP. I have been with PMAP since 2006. That’s how long I’ve been modeling already. Gasp! The horror! Haha! I was very excited to see my face along EDSA guadalupe. The billboard is massive. It is way way way bigger than my Ayala billboards. Below is our billboard:

I am the girl wearing the wide leg pants.  I also saw pictures of us as store displays and on the paper bags and hang tags as well.  This is the first time that I’m actually on a paper bag.  Kinda cool!

Below is the new denim collection of Plains and Prints.  You don’t have to spend a fortune just for a pair of jeans coz I just checked how much mine costs, it is just P1295, a very reasonable price.  So grab yourself a pair now before it runs out.

I shot an Ayala Mall Billboard sometime in February and it was used from March to May of this year. I fear that my face has been overused too much by this ad. Goodbye to SM and Robinsons possibly booking me since I have done so much Ayala ads. First it was greenbelt print ad, then the TVC and now their billboard. Not that I’m complaining. Thank you to the Ayala client for booking me. I have seen my face everywhere that people started to get sick of me, especially during the Ayala Mall series of fashion shows. Most of my model friends where like “I am so sick of your face.” They see me on the billboard, AVPs, print ads, tarpaulins, and yes, even on their model backstage IDs and food stubs. That was why I’m like “Did I even get enough compensation for my face to be used this much?” That time, I was just so happy I was booked and I didn’t really bother about the media coverage and all collateral. I remember one time when Melissa Frye, a co-model, told me that as she entered the parking lot and saw my face AGAIN, for the nth time, plastered on the monitor she jokingly greeted me, “Good morning, Ana!” to the amusement of the other models in her car.

Below are my billboards for Ayala Mall Style Origin Campaign:

While I was in one of the fashion shows in Alabang Town Center, a girl named Twinkle looked for me and told me she was a fan.  She even personalized and laminated my backstage IDs with my name on it instead of the word “model”.  She also told me that I was her favorite model and ask me for an autograph.  She was so sweet.  So I gamely signed ALL of her IDs with my picture on it.  I just grabbed the shot from Facebook.  And she even dedicated an album on her Facebook entitled, “My Ana Sideco Collection”.  How touching!

I love Ayala.  I wish the client won’t get so sick of my face so I can still do more jobs with them.

Don’t believe the title of this article, we’re not really off duty, we’re actually ON DUTY (if there’s a term like that).  Models Off Duty is the title of the February editorial for Mega Magazine.  The shoot was fun fun fun!  I was happy to learn that I was working with my close friends in the industry, Jasmine Maierhofer and Michelle Panemanglor.  It was non-stop gossiping and chismis haha!  That was because I have been away for so long that I have missed chatting with these two.

This shoot was shot in University of Santo Tomas.  It was my first time there and I really admired their campus.  It was really nice.  I can just imagine how it looked like 400 years ago.  Just looking at the facade of the building makes me wish that my school, De La Salle University, is like that too.

Anyway, below is our editorial.  Enjoy!  Mwah!

Months ago, I shot a jewelry catalogue for this brand in New York.  It was by Cynthia Gale and her designs are made by using sterling silver.  The pieces were very nice.  It made me want to hoard her stuff, but knowing me, I know that it’s just one of those “compulsive buying” days. Haha!  So I had to stop myself from buying anything.  I did a pretty good job though.  I ended the day without spending.  Too bad for the other model though, maybe she can’t resist that’s why she bought a few pieces.  It’s just a matter of will power.  Haha!

Anyway, can you see how perfect the position of the jewelries are?  Most specially the bracelets?  The secret?  TAPE!  Yes, you read that right, it’s just tape.  Since my teeny tiny wrist can’t hold up the bracelets and the bangles, they had to use tape to attach the dang things to my wrist so it will look perfect on camera.  And it worked!  Just examine how perfect the bracelets are.  Ah!  Fashion and it’s secrets. Hihi!

Anyhow, here is a peek of my shoot.

As I have said in the previous entry, I was booked to do a cover shoot in Philadelphia. The magazine is called Stitches and it already came out. The company was nice enough to send me not ONE but FOUR copies of my magazine. Haha! Usually, magazine companies rarely send the models the copy of the magazine where they are featured in it. The model has to buy it off newsstands and pay for it herself. So unglamorous, huh? So I was really grateful that Stitches Magazine actually sent me copies to my home address.

Below are the shots that came out:

The clothes are made by student designers. The second to the last photo is actually made out of chicken wire and egg carton paper mache. It was extremely hard to put on and it needed three girls to help me put it on. The skirt is heavy and since it’s chicken wire, I had to be extremely careful putting it on because it can scratch your skin. It was actually poking me a bit if I move too much. The top part keeps tearing apart since it’s paper mache and it’s flimsy. But overall, I was able to do my job. It was a long day but it was worth it.

Major Model Management, my agency in New York, emailed me my newest pictures today.  I am so excited how it came out that I immediately decided to write about it.  Hehe!   The photographer is Norman Chow.  He specializes in beauty shoots.  You can check out his work here www.normanchowphotography.com.  I love the lighting and the makeup and how my pictures came out.

This is my favorite picture out of them all.  I looooove my nose here.  And I love the way how my hand covers my eye.  It’s really different from the other shoots I have done.

Can you guess which is my favorite part in this photo?  Yes, you guessed it right.  It’s the lips.  I adore my lips here.  The color is really popping out and this is the kind of red lipstick that I want to have in my makeup kit.  However, even if I do have this lipstick shade, I can never apply it as good as this photo here.  I have such a hard time applying red lipstick perfectly that sometimes I just stick to my pink one.  Haha!  For all those who are not in the know, red lipstick is the hardest shade to apply to anyone’s face.  Because if you can’t apply it right, you have the chance of looking like a vamp or worse, a drag queen.

I like this picture too.  But I prefer the first two.  When I look at this picture, I imagine I’m in those spa brochures. 

Lastly, my fashion picture.  Hmmm…I’m not too sure about this one.  I think I had more shots better than this one.  I like the pose and the body but I’m not really loving my face here.

There  you have it folks.  I’m just realizing how weird it is that I’m commenting on my own photographs.  I must’ve been really excited.  Till my next post.  Ciao!

I love Avon!  Not because I adore their products, but because of the several times I’ve worked with them.  My first Avon job was the one in New York and I also wrote an entry for that entitled “Avon Campaign 18″.  In that post, I mentioned that I was booked to fly back to the Philippines to do the Avon Asia campaign.  This shoot kept on being postponed.  The dates kept on changing which drove me crazy.  Because I was coming in from New York, I had to know the specific dates since I already bought my ticket.  Originally, I booked my ticket for April 6th but then since I also got booked to do the Avon in New York, I had to rebook the ticket to April 7th instead since I’m shooting on the 6th.  Just because of one day, I had to pay a rebooking fee of $370.  Ugh!  I hated that.  Anyway, the campaign finally came out and this is how it looks:

I love how it came out.  My agent told me that it took a long time for the client to approve the final layout of the product.  The layouts the advertising agency did kept on being disapproved.  Usually in a shoot, we have what we call a peg or a picture that the direction of a shoot will follow.  It could range from the styling, the hair and makeup or the treatment of the photos, etc.  Usually I follow a peg that they got off a magazine or from the internet with a different model.  In the years that I have modeled, I have never been the peg of myself, except for this shoot.  Stumped, the advertising agency used an old photo of me and “photoshopped” me with the product.  Then they passed it to the clients.  I forgot to mention that the clients were from Shanghai and were extremely picky.  When the clients saw the tentative layout, it was finally approved.  In the end, upon arriving at the shoot, I saw my face as my own peg.  It was kinda weird and funny but in a good way.  Below is my old headshot that they used as peg:

As you can see, the styling, makeup and hair is exactly the same haha! It wasn’t hard for me to imitate my own face.  In the end, everything worked out fine.  I really love Avon now.  I am officially an Avon Lady!

Meg Magazine in the Philippines contacted me months ago to write an article about being a model in New York City.  When the creative director Teej Nepomuceno messaged me, he asked me if I’m interested to do an article.  Since I love writing anyway, I agreed to do it.  He said it’s like NYC diaries wherein they would showcase the lives of four Filipinos living in New York as a model, photographer, stylist and designer.  I’m not really sure if Meg Magazine was able to keep its word and do an article on each person since I do not have the copy of the magazine with me.  I just know that they printed my article together with my pictures and I am classified as the model.  My article came out in the issue of Meg Magazine September 2010.  It was titled “Fashion Dairies: A Glimpse into the International Fashion Scene Through the Eyes of Insiders”.

I wrote quite a lengthy article because I had so much stories to tell.  I informed them though that if my article is too long, they have the authority to shorten it.  And they did.  The following is the article that came out in Meg Magazine:

“During a US vacation in 2009, I went to New York and brought my portoflio to agency open calls.  Luckily Major Model Management was interested in representing me and even sponsored my work visa. Upon arriving in the fashion capital of the world, I had initial bouts of insecurity.  I felt that I was too short and skinny compared to the other girls, but my apprehension quickly vanished when I started booking jobs, realizing my advantage in a Caucasian-dominated market.  In a mass of blonde, blue-eyed girls, I stand out with my jet-black hair and Asian features.  Here I am considered exotic and unique.  Modeling in New York is very fast-paced, from castings to shoots to shows—it is treated as a 9-5 job with overtime to boot.  Time is everything here.  You cannot be late or you could lose a job.  I’ve done a fashion show with a call time of 5:30 PM and show time at 7 PM with no rehearsal.  I’ve walked down the runway with only mascara, blush and lipgloss on my face, a far cry from the shows I do in Manila with long hours of rehearsals, hair and makeup.  Making it in New York has always been a dream—ambition, passion and guts are three simple things that I’ve got to make my dream come true.”

Below is the actual article wherein I made my brother buy the magazine, scan my article and email it to me. Haha!  I was just so excited how it came out.  You can click on the image to see the pictures and captions of me while modeling and living in New York.