Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 7, 1993 TAG: 9301070372
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
SHE'S GOT THE LOOK
MILAN. London. Paris. New York.The glamorous life of a model is a dream come true for most young women. But few actually make it to the big time.
Sixteen-year-old Peyton Nininger, however, could be on her way to the top.
Peyton, a junior at Cave Spring High School, is heading to Winston-Salem, N.C., in January to appear in the Manhattan Model Search. If an agency likes her, it'll sign her up and take her to the Big Apple.
All she has to do is walk on a runway, bare-faced and hair tied back, for a group of modeling agencies from New York.
But it's not as easy as it sounds.
There are hundreds of women seeking fame and fortune in modeling and it takes just the right look and style to get noticed.
Peyton, who is 5-foot-9, was one of about 100 chosen for the search out of 600 women who converged recently at the Sheraton Inn Airport hotel in Roanoke.
Her dreams of becoming a professional model have been hindered by the lack of modeling agencies in Roanoke. Plus, she had no idea where to start. That is, until an announcement on the radio this past spring told of a search being conducted in Lynchburg for candidates to attend a modeling school in Washington, D.C.
Peyton was one of five chosen from hundreds of applicants to complete a five-month professional modeling course at John Casablancas Modeling and Career Center.
"Yes! Maybe something's going to happen," Peyton had said to herself.
The classes were held from May to October. Peyton; her mother, Dee; and occasionally, her sister, Laura - herself a statuesque 15-year-old who was a semifinalist in the Seventeen magazine cover-girl search last year - drove to Washington every second Sunday for a full day of intense training.
Peyton learned skin-care techniques, health tips and different methods of wearing makeup, such as heavier for television and dark lines for black-and-white pictures.
"It was real funny, all of us walking around with thick, black lines on our faces," Peyton said.
She practiced how to walk and turn on a runway and how to do television commercials.
"When I got into the class and saw what it was really like . . ." she said, thinking back to the class. "Before, it was a dream that would never come true," but now it seems almost possible.
But getting started is expensive. It was $120 for the class, $40 for supplies and $400 to $500 for the photo sessions. Getting good pictures is costly but can make the difference when they're sent to an agency.
Peyton was advised to get one "drop dead" photograph copied and to send it to all the top agencies. The coordinator at the school told her it wouldn't be easy, but the agencies eventually would want her as their model, she says.
Adding to her excitement, Peyton was chosen to model at two fashion shows in Washington - one was a street festival and the second was a country club benefit.
"I get nervous right before, but once I'm up there, it's fun," she said. "I've wanted that ever since I can remember."
Peyton always has been poised and comfortable in front of an audience, said her mother.
On being chosen for the Manhattan search, Peyton said: "It makes me excited, 'cause I want to do it so bad."
But she's preparing for rejection. "You have to get a tough skin against all the agencies that'll be rude."
She admitted it'll be difficult, but she believes she's ready.
She started modeling at age 7. A friend from church coordinating a fashion show at Tanglewood Mall asked Peyton's mother if her daughter would be interested in participating.
"At 7, I was just scared to death," Peyton said. Back then, she hadn't seriously thought about modeling professionally.
When Peyton turned 12, her mother saw an application for a Seventeen Magazine cover-girl search. That's when Peyton began to consider a modeling career.
In 1989 she was the regional winner for the magazine, and in 1991 she became a national finalist. That same year, she was a national semifinalist for the Gitano Model Search.
She subscribes to Vogue, Mademoiselle and Seventeen magazines and dreams of being on the cover. "I don't think I'll be as famous as Cindy Crawford or Nikki Taylor . . . maybe one day."
She's already thinking about when her career as a model is over. Peyton wants to attend Brigham Young University in Utah to study fashion and business, with the possibility of opening her own boutique, to be called Peyton's Place.
Peyton doesn't make a big deal out of her accomplishments and keeps quiet about her modeling. "It sounds kind of conceited."
But what about the image that models are dumb?
"That was the '80s. This is the '90s. The models are smart. They have brains now."
Peyton is balancing advanced chemistry, German, trigonometry, computer programming, accounting and psychology with dance lessons, drill-team practice and a 6 a.m. Bible study class at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And, she works part-time at the clothing store The Limited at Valley View Mall.
What keeps her going?
"I don't know," she said. "I really don't think about it. I just do it."
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