How to Walk on a Runway | Modeling

Hearing the call of the catwalk? You gotta work - do your homework!
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The Professional's Guide to Modeling: http://amzn.to/1jeLGls
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Watch more How to Be a Model videos: http://www.howcast.com/videos/512625-How-to-Walk-on-a-Runway-Modeling

Hi. I'm Trudi Tapscott, and one of the most exciting parts of modeling is walking on a runway. And it is an art form. I think the basics of walking is learning where to position your weight, where to position your shoulders. It's very relaxed. You have to keep your body straight, your neck is straight, your shoulders are straight.

You have to remember that you are showing clothes, and you have to also remember specifically who you are walking for. Because, there is kind of different walks. But, the basics are, you want to keep your shoulders back, your hips forward, and your feet straight. Which all sounds really easy in the beginning, but once you really start walking and putting all the moving parts together, it's really difficult.

You have to keep your weight a little bit forward, you don't want to put all the weight on your heel. You want to look like you are gliding. Your face is completely relaxed, like you're not thinking about it and it's second nature, and you're not singing the words to the song, which is also something that happens in the beginning. Balance their stride, balance their weight, and keep the shift of their body and their arms to their sides. If you swing your arms too much, it's a huge distraction. So, you want to keep everything really simple and walk very basically.

It's very simple, it's very balanced, and it's in high heels. And the way you practice this at home, if you want to become confident in learning how to walk as a model, you put a full length mirror at the end of your hall. Hopefully, it's just a flat surface, and you walk back and forth.

When a model first comes to New York, that is all they do, is just keep practicing. You have models come in the agency all the time, and they are critiqued. Different agents go and watch them, how they walk in certain heels, walking in a variety of high heels. Sometimes at shows at the last minute, you don't get the perfect size of shoe, so you have to learn to walk in different sizes, because at the very end of the day, you have to be able to start and finish the runway with whatever you have on, and make it look great.

Knowing that you are walking from your head to your toe, that it's very straight but it's balanced, keeping your arms to your sides, that's what really makes a great walk. And no one knows how to do that without practicing. Walking is one of the key things that you have to practice, that you have to practice all the time.