Diary of a model

Lily spends her days as a model, rushing from shoot to show and on to yet another casting. On Amayzine, she tells you all about what her life is really like. Under a different name, of course, but that means she can share all the juicy details. This week: living in a model apartment.

There are often the worst horror stories circulating about model apartments. On paper, it’s a good concept. The agency has several apartments in the city that they rent out to their models at a low price. Besides the low amount per night, you often sleep with other girls from your agency, so you immediately have housemates and maybe even friends in a new city.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case. I have only slept in a model apartment once, and then I decided that I prefer to rent an Airbnb, alone, or with a friend.

The apartment

In the show Models in Paris, the girls slept in a beautiful apartment in Paris. Well organized, of course, but I can guarantee you that normal model apartments look a bit different. Everyone has their own room? Definitely not. Often you share a room with at least four girls. The small bedroom consists of two (or more) bunk beds. Everyone lives out of a suitcase, so the floor is cluttered with a huge pile of clothes, suitcases, laundry, and shoes.

In the kitchen, there is a permanent pile of dishes, as no one feels like cleaning up after the other. Often there is still food from the previous residents, but since no one knows what belongs to whom, nothing gets thrown away. Many girls only stay a few nights in such an apartment, some stay for months. It’s so chaotic that you can never know if the owner of that half pack of oatmeal has already left or is watching a series in her bunk bed. The living or dining room (if there is one) is often hardly used. Most girls retreat with earbuds in their rooms or eat out.

The bathroom is perhaps the dirtiest place of all. Just think of the hair from all the residents (and former residents) in the shower drain. I think that says enough.

The housemates

Sometimes you get lucky and have very nice housemates. Then you can cook together, but preferably go out to eat together and explore the city. I know plenty of girls who have made friends in such an apartment. And of course, it’s a lot less lonely to live with people when you arrive in a new city, but more often it’s the case that the girls in such an apartment live past each other. Everyone has a very different rhythm. Some girls lie on the couch all day because they have no work or castings. Some girls have a call time at six in the morning and set their alarm for half past four, while someone else just had a day off and could finally sleep in. You can imagine that this can lead to frustration, arguments, and jealousy. Additionally, there are countless stories about stolen clothes, food, curling irons, makeup, or even money. Never trust a model in need.

Crazy situations

So you never know what kind of girls you’ll end up with. When I slept in a model apartment, I shared my room with a Russian and a Polish girl. The Russian girl had pushed our beds together because she thought it would be cozier. So much for personal space. I didn’t really want to sleep so close to her, so after the first night, I pushed my bed back to the other side of the room. First of all, because I didn’t know her, and secondly, because she had a habit of eating cornflakes in bed. Trust me: starting your morning by sweeping cornflake remnants out of your bed and picking crumbs out of your hair is no fun. The Polish girl, on the other hand, never ate. She was on the phone with her boyfriend back home day and night. Polish, to me, doesn’t sound like a sweet lullaby to fall asleep to. Luckily, I worked a lot and was hardly home. By the way, they didn’t appreciate that; they had been without shoots for two months.

The strangest story I’ve heard so far is that a girl woke up in the middle of the night from a strange noise. She turned on her bedside lamp and was shocked to see her housemate, drunk, peeing next to her bed. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about this, but the next morning the wild pee-er had just thrown a blanket over it. Tidiness is next to godliness?

XX Kisses from Lily