Modelling in Seoul: Week 2
- Mar 15
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 27
Week 2 in Seoul has been utilised to its max capacity. I’ve been to many more castings, some good, some bad, and have somehow done a few more jobs all back to back! Feeling very much like Kate Moss.
Potentially that is an exaggeration but you get the gist, things are going well and I’m now truly settled into my new Korean life. I’ve located my local supermarket, found my favourite coffee shop, and actually like my roommates (high-key they are both hilarious).
I’ve acclimatised to the funky tasting water, the weird obsession with French culture (every other shop here is French named), and I’ve even grown accepting of the overwhelming amount of plastic surgery available here.
Not only that but I’m actually booked and busy! I mean not to toot my own horn or anything but what can I say? Koreans clearly love the pale, dirty blonde, underslept look that I’ve got about me. Just wait until Aoife arrives and then they’ve got a matching set.
A few casting anecdotes from the week for you:
(because this week was truly a treat from a hilarity point → )
On Monday a (different) dog licked my toes and then tried to bite my finger when I stroked it - very much in need of some anger management classes.
On Tuesday me and Parker went to a casting for a company called ‘Different Emotional Wearable Look’, and it was different, and emotional for sure! First of all they had us change in a broom cupboard together, and someone walked in halfway through while we were butt naked… but it didn’t stop there, when in their clothes i was asked to step inside the office to show the entire team and the ringleader looked up, took one look at me, and went, ‘OH NO!’ while aggressively shaking her head.
And the casting stories didn’t stop there on Tuesday because we also got driven basically to the North Korean border by our agent on the way to the last casting of the day. After driving for almost an hour we ended up on the outskirts of Seoul, in this picturesque town and we both were thinking this better have been worth the drive - spoiler alert it wasn’t.
They didn’t even look at me because it was clear they had requested only Parker. Great organisational skills! However they tried Parker in a few things and asked her to pose, while this was happening someone was doing some drilling above us and the noise from it was SO loud and off putting I actually almost died from holding in my laughter.
Wednesday we started off in such a Boujee part of Seoul, so I was just in full tourist mode staring in wonderment. The first casting was in THE most perfect office i’ve ever seen, it was a showroom x coffee shop downstairs and then an office x meeting space upstairs.
The stylist was so cute I wanted to squish her, and then on the way out I attempted to buy a coffee from the shop and they ended up taking our orders and giving it for free! What cuties.
Got slightly more humbling as the day went on as the following casting had me in a swimming costume - of which I was not well prepared for. Bear in mind the 3 other girls also got asked to change and they were fully covered.
So that was... interesting, but I’m hopeful they liked me because it was super cute and I could do with a swimming costume for my interrail trip this summer #freebie?
Oh my god and totally unrelated but I almost forgot… I managed to find a potato in the supermarket. That’s literally unheard of in Asia. I was audibly, visually, and physically gagged. I couldn't even process what I was seeing for a good two minutes. So I of course picked up a few.
Just thought I’d share this seemingly meaningless detail with you because you definitely care.
Moving onto my jobs of the week…
Thursday 12th March: MODEST MOOD
This job was actually so chilled, arguably too chilled because I kept being told I didn’t look relaxed enough. So much so that the stylist kept coming over to push in my sternum to make my shoulders hunch. I felt like the hunchback of Notre Dame for the day but at least the client was happy!
The hair and makeup was done by the stylist, and I started to slightly question her judgement when she wacked out a greige coloured lipstick and used it as contour, as well as making me look somehow slightly sunburnt and also somehow very pale - but again as long as they were happy that’s all that matters.
The first of 40 looks went not very well because apparently I naturally pose very feminine, bear in mind I was dressed in a floral skirt and lace top, however, they wanted me to pose more ‘cool’. So that I did, or perhaps not because again my sternum got a right old shove.
About two hours in we were a quarter done and the pace needed to quicken so I genuinely reached flow state, and started banging out poses left, right and centre - or as they’d say in the e-commerce world I now live in - front, 45° , side and back.
We wrapped with about thirty-seconds to spare and I got an eye opening chat about Korean botox with my agent on the hour long drive home. What a day.
Friday 13th March: LENIL
Job number two of the week was eventful, funny, and beyond freezing. Korean weather is no joke and it is severely bipolar. The shoot was outside of the city, in a nearby smaller city called Seongnam, and of all places they had chosen a house that was actively being renovated… which meant there was of course no heating, water, or electricity.
Because of this it was somehow colder within the house than it was outside! And what better weather than -2 to be shooting Springwear. I was frolicking (or moving like a very frozen, stiff human) in all kinds of skirts, dresses, shorts, sandals and flip flops and everything seemed to be made of linen which was just fabulous.
Aside from the fact I had to blow-dry my toes in between changing looks it was such a sweet day. The brand owners were a married couple and although they spoke no English we managed to have a brief conversation over lunch about their trip to London last November where apparently there was NO RAIN for their entire trip? Unheard of.
What made this job so lovely was how overjoyed they were by just my presence. There were 21 looks in total and the entire team were very happy with my continually improving poses to display them - as was my translator so she better not bitch about them this week!
We wrapped up on time and within 2 minutes we were out of there, and onto the hour long drive back into the city - not fun, but at least I get to see the city out of the window and as I did I started to have a little movie scene moment where I began feeling immensely grateful to be here and to be not only booked and busy but also be enjoying my time!
Extra-Curriculars: Weekend Antics
The weekend ended up very unplanned again but we managed to head to the famous DongMyo flea market today (Saturday 14th March) and it was eventful to say the least...
I went hoping to find a cool vintage watch and possibly a bag if I was lucky - but ended up buying only one item at the very first stall we stumbled upon, a red Ralph Lauren bomber jacket that I bought from the sweetest Korean man (who loved us and gave us free rings!)
In comparison to the Tokyo flea market it was remarkably disorganised and I felt quite uncomfortable if I’m honest. The demographic was 99% Korean and we got treated one of two vastly contradictory ways. Either we were loved and admired - mainly by pervy men of course! Or we were VERY disliked, I’m talking being shoved, shouted at and spat at! WOW.
Now it is certainly a privilege but I have never experienced racism before so for me this was completely new. I felt humiliated and dehumanised the entire day, which obviously wasn’t nice, however I do now appreciate how racism can be so deep rooted into society and feel I will now be even more so aware of it within everyday society.
Other than that we were also deeply disturbed by seeing a dead rodent of some kind in one of the vintage bags!!! I still feel dirty even describing it but basically to set the story for you we were walking down a side street full of stalls and came across a studded, leather, vintage bag - upon opening it I realised it was filled with a dead rodent.
So I obviously screamed, threw it and ran away immediately. I’m typing this five hours later and I still feel semi-nauseous.
We thankfully stumbled upon Dongmyo shrine on the walk back to the main road and I managed to take some photos and take in something cultural after almost vomiting from the rat fiasco. (pics above!)
The weeks are whizzing by, and I can’t even compute how I’m now moving into week 3! I’m slightly tired and still missing home, especially because this weekend is UK Mother’s Day so I’m upset I won’t be there for that but I’m so so so lucky and feeling very grateful for this experience.
Ok it’s getting soppy so I must stop. See you next Saturday… and of course IG eats first so follow us over there to see what I get up to in real time.
IG: @itswithlovemimi
TikTok: @mimipiqua
With love,
Mimi x
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