Moving to Model Mayhem

Hey there, I've just submitted for a Model Mayhem account, so hopefully you can find me there soon  @ http://www.modelmayhem.com/3188673

If you're from model mayham, please check out the samples on this blog for my past work.

Thanks, and I hope to hear from you!

-John

Project Hosiery: Aristoc fashion tights

Jana is back after a month's absence for the next installment of Project Hosiery! This post's featured product is Aristoc diamond fashion tights.

Aristoc is another British company. I imagine there are so many European, and in particular British, companies that make hosiery because they seem to be worn more often over there. I'm sure that fashion icons like Kate Middleton have helped this trend as well: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2139534/Kate-Middleton-style-Flesh-toned-tights-sales-soar-500-thanks-Duchess-Cambridge.html

Jana chose to pair this flashy pair of tights with a shiny sleeveless top and shorts.

Jana modeling Aristoc diamond tights (raw photo)

Retouched

Jana was a major fan of this product. She rated them highly for comfort, appearance, support, and durability. She said that they offered the strength of tights while also having the appearance of high fashion nylons.

As far as likeliness to purchase, she did admit that she's never owned a pair of fashion tights before, mostly because she never took the time to see what was available. This product appears to have changed her mind, however, and she also said that she's going to have to do some online shopping an rethink adding some fashion tights to her wardrobe.

Prices for Aristoc hosiery range from $8 to $30, but given their quality some of them are probably worth the investment. Jana loved this pair so much that she wore them home after the photo shoot!

Fashion hosiery has a high turnover, so Aristoc doesn't make this specific style anymore For more information about Aristoc brand hosiery, visit their website:
http://www.prettypolly.co.uk/Aristoc

Potluck Fashion: Angela

Angela's back for another installment of potluck fashion that features a lot work done cleaning up the background. Once again, the image size wasn't very big, but I was still able to do some work on. So if you want to participate but are hesitating because you don't think your photos are high res enough, here's an example to show you it doesn't always matter!

Angela modeling for Potluck Fashion (raw photo)

Retouched

Katie

Here's another post of Katie with a basic retouch and a color isolation.

raw photo

Retouch

Color isolation

Diana

Here was a quick edit I did for a model named Diana.

Say hello to Diana (raw photo)

Retouched

I didn't do too much to this photo, just a quick clean up of the background and the lace on the dress.

Potluck Fashion: Ashley

Here's another post featuring Ashley, who I'm still trying to get a hold of for more work!

Ashley modeling again for Potluck Fashion

Retouched

Project Hosiery: Pretty Polly Italia

The installment for project hosiery is Pretty Polly Italia. This product is another from the UK and is a 10 denier (quite sheer) variety.

Stephanie in Pretty Polly Italia in off-black (raw photo)

Retouched

Stephanie was a big fan of this product. Comfort, appearance, support, and durability were all rated highly, and she said that they would be a great pair to wear to work. I'm sure the office-themed wardrobe helped!

At $4.25 a pair, these are also quite affordable. Perhaps the only downside is that they're aren't sold in most US stores and are only available online. This was cited by multiple models as a hurdle to purchasing the product, but they also said that it would be worth stocking up on a high quality product in order to get free shipping.

For more information about this product, check them out at this third party vendor:
http://www.mytights.com/us/pretty-polly-italia-10d-gloss-tights.html

Katie

Here's another photo I did for Katie. Once again, I did a standard retouch and a color isolation.

Katie working out (raw photo)

Standard retouch

Color isolation

I imagine a sports bra that just says the name of a rodent might seem weird. But for those of you not familiar with the University of Minnesota, the Gophers is their team name.

There will be plenty more of Katie to come!

Potluck Fashion: Rachel

Rachel's back for another post about Potluck Fashion!

Rachel models for Potluck Fashion (raw photo from Dupris Photography - https://www.facebook.com/DuprisPhotography)

Retouched

I'd like to note that Rachel has recently been signed with a modeling agency, and she was kind enough to inform me that she had submitted some of the photos I had edited for her when she applied. It's great news for Rachel, but probably not as great of news for me since I won't be working with her as often. Oh well, congrats to her!

I still have more photos from Rachel, so expect to see more of her again.

Project Hosiery: Charnos Elegance

It's been a couple weeks, so I thought I'd share a couple more posts. I've spent the down time trying to recruit some more models, so if you're reading this blog and interested, please contact me at superech15@yahoo.com!

The next installment of Project Hosiery is Charnos Elegance, modeled by Stephanie. Charnos is a British lingerie company that's been around since 1958. This specific product is 10 denier and has a shiny appearance.

Stephanie in Charnos Elegance (raw photo)

Retouched

Comfort and durability were rated high for this product. This was a fairly light product as it's advertised as a summer clothing item, so support was understandably low.

As far as appearance, Stephanie did comment on the amount of shine coming off of the hosiery. While she personally liked it, she did have to admit that she imagines it makes this product more suitable for formal occasions, whereas a product with a more matte appearance would work better for everyday and/or office wear.

Overall, the product was rated highly, and at about $10 a pair they're a bargain for the quality.

For more information on Charnos and Charnos Elegance, check out their website:
http://www.charnos.co.uk/product/elegance-10-denier-ultra-sheer-tights-goldentan

Potluck Fashion: Maria

I'm posting a flurry of photos to play catch up for being gone for a week. Although looking at my blog stats and the lack of a single comment, it looks like there's no one to miss me yet :)

If you are reading this and enjoy my blog, please let me some comments!

Here's another (and probably the last) photo from Maria. She had a special request for me to do a color isolation on this photo like I did for the last one she sent me.

Maria modeling for Potluck Fashion (raw photo)

Retouched (color isolation)

Project Hosiery: Hue Backseam

The next installment of Project Hosiery is of a brand that's already been covered in the French Lace line, Hue. The product in this post is Hue Backseams.

Jana channels her inner ballroom dancer in Hue Backseams (raw photo)

Retouched

According to Hue and other makers of backseam hosiery, the seam both lengthens and narrows the appearance of the leg. They're also a bold statement and make an outfit look more formal, especially in the off-black color modeled by Jana.

Making a statement

Though she couldn't see herself wearing this product for everyday events, the model was a fan of them. Comfort and appearance both scored high, as did support since this particular product has a control top.

Durability was average, although Jana did say they seemed a little fragile. Overall, she liked this product and could see herself wearing it for a dance competition or for a Halloween costume, but as said before they were a bit too bold for everyday wear.

For more information about Hue Backseamed hosiery, check out their page:
http://www.hue.com/Hosiery/Sheer-Hosiery/HUE-Backseam-Control-Top-Pantyhose.aspx

Jessica

Here's another photo from Jessica with a couple of retouches. The first retouch is just a standard one, but for the second one I pulled the midtones back, and I think the result looks pretty sweet.

Jessica on the beach (raw photo)

First retouch (standard)

Second retouch (supressed midtones)

Potluck Fashion: Rachel

Here's another photo from Rachel. Her submissions have been pretty good quality in general, so the touchups I've done have been pretty subtle. Hopefully you can tell that a good amount work still went into them!

raw photo (Photographer: Dupris Photography - https://www.facebook.com/DuprisPhotography)

Retouched

Project Hosiery: Hanes Solutions

Kristina is back for another installment of Project Hosiery. The product in this post is Hanes Solutions. I've already featured the thigh high version of this project in a previous post featuring Stephanie.

Kristina modeling Hanes Solution in tan (raw photo)

Retouched

Once again, Hanes Solutions is typically found at common department stores like Target for around $8 a pair. The model was please with the product, giving it high rating for appearance, support, and durability.

As far as comfort, Kristina said that while they were comfortable, she was definitely aware that she was wearing them (compared to the Calvin Klein pair she modeled, which she praised for being so comfortable she could barely tell they were on). Nevertheless, she said that it was still likely that she would purchase the product.

Overall, my impression of Hanes versus other department store products is that they are usually rated the same as other products that are available for half the price. It could have been model-bias, but it seems that they may be a little overpriced.

Hanes Solutions isn't listed on the corporate site, but I did find them on Target online:
http://www.target.com/p/hanes-solutions-women-s-silky-sheer-control-top-pantyhose-assorted-colors/-/A-14174656

Kayla

Kayla is an example of one of the models I had wanted to work with, but plans fell through the cracks due to scheduling conflicts. I really liked the sample photo I did for her though, so I decided to share it!

Kayla (raw photo)

Retouched

Potluck Fashion: Ashley

As I mentioned in my last post about Ashley, I am planning to do more work with her. While waiting for another batch of photos from her, I thought I would share another of hers I worked on for this blog.

Ashley modeling some formalwear (raw photo)

Retouched

Project Hosiery: DKNY Iridescent Tights

The next installment for project hosiery is a unique color of tights. Made by DKNY, these iridescent tights are a purplish-blue but have a shimmer to them.

Stephanie modeling DKNY iridescent tights (raw photo)

Retouched

This product was quite opaque, and the model gave it top scores for support and durability. Comfort was also rated highly, although Stephanie, who is also a dancer, said the reminded her of dance tights as far as how they felt.

 The appearance of iridescent tights is probably a niche preference, but Stephanie loved them. She said that they made her feel energized and that they would be a great pair to wear to a club.

DKNY offers a variety of colors of tights, and at $14.50 a pair, they are a bit of an investment but will last a long time.

For more information, see DKNY's website:
http://www.dkny.com/accessories/shop-by-category/hosiery/412/opaque-coverage-control-top-tight

Potluck Fashion: Rachel

Here's another photo from Rachel.

raw photo (Photographer: Dupris Photography - https://www.facebook.com/DuprisPhotography)

Retouched version (J Sanders Photography)

The raw photo was pretty dark, so I balanced the contrast and did a pretty routine stray hair removal. I actually kind of liked the dark brick background but opted to get rid of most of it.

Katie

It's back to Minnesota for the next post. I worked with Katie before coming up with the idea for potluck fashion or project hosiery, so my samples from her are just of touchup work. I thought she had some cool photos though, so I wanted to share.

Raw photo

Retouched

Faded/Color isolation version

Project Hosiery: Falke Shelina

The next product for Project Hosiery is from a company with a long history. Falke was founded in Germany all the way back in 1895 as a knitting mill. It wasn't until 1946 however that they entered the legwear industry.

The official name of the featured product is Falke Shelina 12, the number referring to the denier (weight). A low denier, Shelina is branded as a providing a summery, shimmery tone. Hosiery and summer don't necessarily make sense in the United States, but I imagine they go together better in cooler climates.

Jana in Falke Shelina (raw photo)

Retouched

Jana was very please with this product. Shelina comes in a variety of skin tones, the lightest being golden, which the model thought matched her skin very well. Comfort and durability were also rated highly, the latter being a surprise given how thin the material was, even for sheer nylons.

Support was only average, but Jana said the overall likelihood of purchasing the product was high because they felt and appeared like above-average hosiery.

At 10 euros (about $13) a pair, Falke Shelina is a higher priced product, but according to the model it's worth the investment. I found this product, and other non-US brands, through an online reseller called www.MyTights.com.

For more info about the product and brand check out its product page: 
http://www.falke.com/gb/women/fine/tights/falke-shelina-12-den.html

Potluck Fashion: Angela

Angela is an aspiring model from California. She enjoys performing arts as a whole and is looking to break into modeling, dancing, or acting, as long as she can participate in the industry.

The photos she sent me for potluck fashion were lower resolution, but I was still able to clean them up.

Angela models for Potluck Fashion (raw photo)

Retouched

I prefer working with higher resolution photos, but as I said in a previous post, sometimes a lower resolution offers a good challenge. I haven't worked on anything new for Angela for a while but am hoping to in the future (there are one or two other photos I worked on for her I may post later).

Project Hosiery: Hanes Solutions Thigh Highs

So far I've featured both sheer nylons and tights for my posts from Project Hosiery. This next post introduces a new style of hosiery: thigh highs.

Thigh highs use an elastic band at the top of each leg to stay up. This specific product, Hanes Solutions, featured a classic top, but they also come with more a decorative, often lace-top.

Stephanie modeling Hanes Solutions (raw photo)

Retouched

Photo showing the "Classic Top" style

This was Stephanie's first time wearing thigh highs, and she described the comfort to be "a little weird." Overall she found the appearance pleasing, as well as the durability.

Support wasn't rated since there was no way to compare the product to a full pair of nylons, but the model did say she was confident they wouldn't slide down over time. Overall, the likelihood to purchase/wear was mid-range since she wasn't used to them, but she did admit that they could come in handy as they were easy to put on and remove.

While Hanes Solutions appear to have been discontinued, Hanes does offer other lines of thigh high hosiery, and prices range from $8-10 a pair.