Hey Good Looking!

I grew up with a mom who loved looking pretty. To this day, she won't leave the house unless she spent at least one hour getting ready, from head to toe. Her daily routine still amazes me. Wash this, rinse that, tone here, brush that, pluck those, shave this, wax that, moisturize here and put sunscreen there. And that's just prep. Then you're ready for the makeup.

I'm exhausted even thinking about it. But growing up with that turned me off to long prep times. I like looking pretty, but I like being comfortable more. Most of the time I'll just spray on sunscreen (yep, too lazy to rub in the lotion) and swipe some lip gloss, throw on some jeans and a tank top and I'm out the door.

To be fair, I was also in college. That was the college pretty standard. Mother Nature gave us all our youthful beauty, so we college girls didn't have to do much.

Then I started auditioning. My first few auditions said "casual dress", so I took casual to mean jeans, a cute top and some flats and simple makeup. I mean I usually go out for high school/college student roles. That's what they wear, right? That's what I wore in high school/college.

Wrong.

So wrong.

I didn't notice the faux pas right away. I noticed that most girls came in very fashionably dressed, yes, but it took me awhile to put 2 and 2 together. I started noticing when I looked more cute and when I spent more time on my outfits and makeup, I started getting more callbacks.

Then the day came. The day I went in to meet with a theatrical agent. That theatrical agent. The horrible, atrocious, I-wish-I-could-forget-it meeting. In addition to pointing out my many flaws, he also mentioned my outfit. I thought I came in cute: skinny jeans, flats, long lacy cami with a cute cover-up over it. I had my hair down with a headband and my makeup on.

He called me a tomboy. He said I should come in dressing nicer, that I should look like I was about to go on a date, not like what I was wearing.

Ouch.

Then my manager (who set up that meeting and is friends with that agent) asked me to dress up and do my hair and makeup the next time I came into his office.

Double ouch. At least he was nice enough to make sure this request came awhile after the horrible agent meeting, so I didn't feel too bad about myself.

But it WAS a wake up call.

Now, no matter where I go or who I'm meeting with, I make sure I look like I belong in a magazine. I layer and accessorize. I wear leggings and tight jeans and dresses like the best of them. I now actually own cropped jackets and jeggings (yep and they're actually pretty comfy). I now know that casual NEVER means just casual.

And you know what? I do feel more confident. I have yet to see if it helps my booking rate, but I arrive at my meetings and auditions knowing that I look my best and no one will EVER criticize me again on looking dowdy.


Then I realized my mom was right all along. Those hour long prep sessions are necessary, if you're a young 20-something actress. I hate I-told-you-so's.