"Middle-aged and elderly female wallet killer",
Fashion icon in Mom's eyes,
How did she come about?
Author: Wang Qinyi
Editor: Xu Ye
Editor: Rui Su
The shutter sounded, and Liang Xiaoqing could pose more than 100 actions in 30 seconds almost without thinking.
Quickly change the camera posture, always maintain elegant orchid fingers, paired with a kind and dignified "mother laugh"... This set of killer skills has laid the foundation for her middle-aged and elderly clothing "model sister" status.
Who hasn't seen her face in their mom/grandma's shopping cart?
Liang Xiaoqing couldn't say what kind of middle-aged and elderly items he hadn't photographed yet. Outerwear, underwear, swimwear, wigs, glasses, etc., "Anyway, if I find me with middle-aged and elderly people, I will shoot."
Therefore, some time ago, when an international brand known for "fashion" and "modernity" found her to shoot advertising blockbusters, she was stunned.
"I thought they were going to send me two pieces of clothing and let me promote them on social platforms, but I didn't expect to shoot a new product advertisement, and finally sent it to the official brand number."
In the filming of that group of commercials, Liang Xiaoqing continued to use the previous shooting mode. But there was one thing different: her hair was no longer curled high, but naturally draped over her shoulders, black and straight.
Many people know that the model who contracted her mother's wardrobe was born in 1992 and has been in the middle-aged and elderly clothing model circle since the age of 18.
How "dignified" is made
Liang Xiaoqing is 1.70 meters tall, has a large skeleton that girls in the north often have, and her face is slightly rounded, not the popular "girl's face" and "paper shoulder", but "can afford to support clothes" and "has a mother-like look".
"You have to be like someone your age, that's the most important thing." Speaking of the shooting demands of the middle-aged and elderly model industry, Liang Xiaoqing said, "To appear dignified and temperamental." ”
It's not easy to grasp.
In order to make a middle-aged and elderly effect, Liang Xiaoqing spends two or three hours on makeup and hair before each shooting. Among them, doing hairstyles is the highlight.
Either tie your hair all up and curl it high, or make a mushroom head of three or seven points. Both hairstyles must first be inserted into the wig bag at the root of the hair, and then the hair is tied one by one in the direction of the hair, sprayed with thick hairspray, and the hair dryer is blown to set.
Liang Xiaoqing is doing hairstyles.
Liang Xiaoqing's hair is all glued together, it feels hard to the touch, how to change clothes will not mess up the hairstyle. But the downside is that her hair becomes very poor, often broken into pieces. She had to greet "all the hair transplants and hair growth water that might be useful" and "still very bald because of family hereditary hair loss."
There is no pretentious narration, Liang Xiaoqing speaks directly and openly, with a kind of beijing candor and humor.
She said that the photos that others saw were not necessarily her, "because everyone was similar"; her biggest expectation when she got old was to "not thank the top", and if she couldn't continue in this line, "most of the reason is that there is no hair and head".
In addition to makeup and hair, the photographic action of middle-aged and elderly clothing models is also exquisite - the fingers should be slightly orchid fingers to look elegant.
When he first entered the industry, Liang Xiaoqing compared the orchid finger, "like a chicken's claw, stiff and hard." Later, she stared at other people's films every day, pondering in the mirror, and slowly became more comfortable.
As for facial expressions, Liang Xiaoqing will show eight teeth when smiling. On the variety stage of a show "Masters in the Folk", she changed 3 sets of clothes in 3 minutes and successfully took 369 photos. None of the 369 photos had blinking and mismanagement — according to the industry, "the yield is extremely high."
"There was no thinking [when shooting], my brain didn't even need to be there, [because] a fixed pattern was formed." Liang Xiaoqing said frankly.
Liang Xiaoqing's shooting has also reached foreign countries, triggering imitation by foreign netizens.
This kind of assembly line shooting has attracted attacks from onlookers. Some questioned why her looks and movements remained unchanged for thousands of years; others wrote to her privately, saying that she was "old" and "ugly" and personally attacked her.
In the face of the former, Liang Xiaoqing tried to understand with goodwill, "They don't know much about the industry, so they are not very friendly", she patiently replied with three words on Weibo - "to make money". If it was the latter, she tried to report the blocking, but after the other party's account was unblocked, she began to send her private messages without hesitation, which she felt incomprehensible.
In daily shooting, Liang Xiaoqing is usually not facing well-known brands, but the "manufacturers" who have to shoot forty or fifty clothes a day, which is "volume shooting", and she is not allowed to have too much space for self-play. She once set a record for taking 400 pieces of clothing a day.
Once, she shot in the morning, walked the catwalk in the afternoon, and continued shooting in the evening, shooting until 6 o'clock the next morning, and went home to sleep upside down, her hair was not removed, because after sleeping for 3 hours, there was a new shooting task.
Liang Xiaoqing in the shooting.
Because the invitation of professional matchers is at an additional cost, in the middle-aged and elderly clothing model industry, in addition to the shop clothing provided by the manufacturer, the others are prepared by the model. Liang Xiaoqing has a large 26-inch suitcase that he carries with him, which is basically only packed once a year.
"I probably shoot several clients a day, and the content is different, so I have to bring everything with me." Liang Xiaoqing counted carefully, "There is a pair of dark and light heels each, a pair of sandals, a pair of slippers with pajamas, long pants, cropped pants, leggings, leggings, leggings, tight pants, dark and light colors each with one, short sleeves, bags are also dark and light colors must be prepared." ”
Accidentally broke into the middle-aged and elderly modeling industry
"Anything I think I can do with all my efforts, then do it seriously; if there is anything I feel I can't do, then 'don't'." I am this kind of person. Liang Xiaoqing said.
When she was in college, in order to earn some pocket money part-time, she spent a month living expenses — 300 yuan to get a model card at a modeling agency. Later, the company informed her to go to the interview, Liang Xiaoqing took 40 bus stops to the interview site, and the other party told her that "the interview is over" without concern. But Liang Xiaoqing clearly remembered that he was definitely not late.
Afterwards, she reacted, "There are girls who are not suitable for modeling on the spot, and they don't care if you can interview or not, they fool you to pay money." ”
Liang Xiaoqing's comparison between work and life.
After that, Liang Xiaoqing did etiquette, worked as an exhibition guide, took free photos for the studio, and also did 100 yuan and 1 hour of photography group modeling.
In 2009, online shopping slowly occupied the broader consumer market, which also spawned the demand for clothing models from e-commerce. But at that time, catwalks, picture albums and TVC (brand advertising films) were still the mainstream, "shooting Taobao, many people will feel low, tired of living less money."
For example, Liang Xiaoqing said, "In 2010, I shot 300 yuan for half a day, 300 yuan for the whole day, and more than 100 clothes a day. But at that time, shooting a TVC was 800 yuan, 1000 yuan, and it didn't take too long. To put it bluntly, I (shooting) is cheap to go. ”
One of the shoots that impressed her was in a famous studio in Beijing, shooting beach skirts, and decorating garlands on her head. The makeup artist was impatient and kept saying loudly that Liang Xiaoqing's head was too big. She felt aggrieved, but decided to put up with it, because she did not want to lose the opportunity to cooperate in the future. The other party did not appreciate it, from morning to afternoon, Liang Xiaoqing finally couldn't help it, put the garland on her head, and asked her if she could wear it.
Looking back on this now, Liang Xiaoqing felt angry and funny. She was thinking that she would not cooperate after the big deal, and she did not expect that it was not long before the photographer of the studio invited her to shoot middle-aged and elderly clothes, and the makeup artist who made her feel uneasy had already changed.
Liang Xiaoqing in life.
That was the first time she photographed middle-aged and elderly clothing, when Liang Xiaoqing was just over 18 years old. She took a free shot of 250 clothes in one day and gave an extra 40 scarves for free, excitedly telling her family that she had earned a "huge sum of money" at once.
More fortunately, one of the 250 clothes she photographed sold more than 90,000 pieces, which was a hit. At that time, there were fewer people willing to be e-commerce models, and fewer people who were willing to be middle-aged and elderly e-commerce models, Liang Xiaoqing was seen in this way, and more and more middle-aged and elderly clothing merchants found her.
Some college classmates saw the Taobao photos and came to ask Liang Xiaoqing if it was her, she was a little embarrassed, and said to the other party, "You admit it wrong." Later, when she photographed more middle-aged and elderly costumes, she gradually became calm, and when someone asked, she said, "It's me."
Have you ever struggled with whether to continue to shoot middle-aged and elderly clothing? Liang Xiaoqing said, "At that age, I felt that shooting middle-aged and elderly people (costumes) was not oceanic, but I never struggled with whether to go (do) this thing, I definitely wanted to go (do)." Because I'm going to make this money. ”
"It brings me a life I love"
After the circle of middle-aged and elderly clothing models became popular, a model training school came to look for Liang Xiaoqing as a training teacher. She weighed it up, felt that she couldn't do it, and refused. "I'm afraid of misleading people's children, and I'm afraid that the school will use me as a gimmick, and others will mistakenly think that I came from that school, but in fact I don't understand it." 」
There are also manufacturers selling young people's clothes to find, And Liang Xiaoqing also refused. "I'm really kind with a smile now, with that energy, plus my orchid fingers are hard to change." At the same shooting price, they can find people who are more suitable for the style of clothing, and there is no need for me to shoot. ”
Liang Xiaoqing in the shooting.
In the matter of "whether you can do it", Liang Xiaoqing has always belonged to the kind of people who are very sober-minded.
About three or four years ago, the shooting base in Beijing was moved out one after another, and Liang Xiaoqing immediately went south and settled her home in Hangzhou. In order to expand the surrounding market, even if the manufacturer only needs to shoot a piece of clothing, she is willing to drive 70 or 80 kilometers from Hangzhou to Jiaxing Puyuan, a place famous in China with its cardigans.
For what can be done, Liang Xiaoqing described himself as "specially made". The other day, she just took an exterior shot. On that day, the wind was particularly strong, blowing the skirt all over the legs, and it was impossible to shoot the desired effect. A bunch of people could only stand in the cold wind and wait for the wind to stop, "because the wind is gusty, and it will be 10 seconds to come for a while, and I can't wear a coat." Scratched my goosebumps all up, frozen enough! Liang Xiaoqing said.
In a few days, it will be hot. But in order to prepare for Double Eleven, it is generally necessary to start shooting winter clothes in July and August. Winter clothes are almost always filmed on location to create a realistic dressing scene. In previous summers, Liang Xiaoqing covered her down jacket and immediately covered her body with sweat, and the sweat continued to stick to the lining of the clothes, making it difficult for her to undress.
"This line is like this, winter shooting spring clothes, summer shooting winter clothes", Liang Xiaoqing has become accustomed to it. She is grateful for the job from the bottom of her heart, "it brings me a life that I love, allowing me to travel independently and freely from city to city."
Liang Xiaoqing in the shooting.
Rather than suffering hardships, Liang Xiaoqing is more worried about the lack of manufacturers looking for herself.
On the surface, middle-aged and elderly models spend longer than other age stages, and after shooting "mother clothes" and "aunt clothes", they can also shoot "grandma clothes" at the age of 70. But in fact, Liang Xiaoqing believes that the length of the flowering period depends more on "whether there is a blockbuster", "and the star is very similar, you have a good work, you are on fire this year; if you don't get a hand in two years, you are not hot."
There is also a point of similarity with the star, because of the "photogenic fat three points", Liang Xiaoqing had to control the weight. She weighs 55 kilograms, but the skeleton is large, and if she gains slightly, she will appear "strong" and affect the dressing effect. Sometimes at night, before going to bed, she felt that she was hungry and panicked.
On the other hand, with the live streaming of goods to the hot, the demand for pictures is not as strong as in previous years, and the shooting scenes of middle-aged and elderly clothing are also more subdivided.
"Initially it was a solid color background paper, and slowly began to add a European-style chair and a European-style sofa to the background; later, the entire background was built into a home scenery, with a Chinese-style view, a European-style view, a large glass, and a floor-to-ceiling window; now there is a chic homestay with a unique decoration, creating the feeling of middle-aged and elderly people going on a wild outing." Liang Xiaoqing said.
Liang Xiaoqing in the shooting.
She also followed the trend, registered a short video number, sent a daily work from time to time, and tried to engage in side business. But in any case, for the middle-aged and elderly clothing industry that accepted him, Liang Xiaoqing said, "Unless the industry says that I have been angry, I will always shoot, live to be old, and shoot to be old." ”
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