Okay, so this is old news BUT it’s still one of the coolest things that I’ve done in my life so far. AND I felt like I manifested it. I, Taelor, modeled for one of the coolest fashion brands in my opinion. WHAAAATTT?! I’ve already pinched myself and this is real life.
So today’s blog post will tell you how I found out about Tanya Taylor, how I manifested a photoshoot with them, AND all about my experience on set. ~*Long Blog Post Alert*~ Just warning ya! Lately I’ve had a lot to share/say so I hope y’all don’t mind.
Okay, okay! Finally, right?! We’ll let’s get to it.
Taelor x Tanya Taylor ♥️
How I discovered Tanya Taylor and How I got to attend the Tanya Taylor NYFW show
APRIL 2019
So I actually found Tanya Taylor through Rent the Runway. And fell in love instantly.
Ya’ll remember this iconic cherry blossom date day outfit last spring? Tanya Taylor. Since this first dress rental, I fell in love with the bold prints and cuts of Tanya Taylor’s brand.
Tanya Taylor is a luxury brand and to be honest, out of my budget most times, but I’m able to experience and wear her clothing through Rent the Runway which I love.
September 2019
I entered a social media contest through Tanya Taylor’s Instagram to win a ticket to her Spring/Summer NYFW show and won! It was a series of little brain teasers and hints to the theme of the inspiration behind the collection. All of my work friends would help me figure them out because they were hard!
I went to my first NYFW show and had the time of my life. I’m throwing in a few of my favorite photos I took from the show below because I mean…. 😍😍😍
I couldn’t get over the colors and accessories. I WANT that transparent polka dot print.
How I got to be in a Tanya Taylor Photoshoot
One random night, I saw a story on the Tanya Taylor Instagram page. That said that they were looking for real women to model for a Tanya Taylor photoshoot and all you had to do was swipe up and fill out this quiz.
Well, my first thoughts were that it sounded like the most fun, but then my negative thoughts swooped in shortly after and did a whole 180 on my perspective. My thoughts had me thinking that I am no model and that a brand like Tanya Taylor wasn’t looking for a woman like me for their real woman photoshoot. Crazy how our minds can work right?!
Well after thinking about it and going back to the same story a few times and watching the time disappear. I told myself to just try it. What’s the worst that could happen?! I actually remember trying to do the survey 3 different times from my phone but I don’t know if you’ve ever explored another site through Instagram, but it’s the worst! Sometimes it randomly closes or you click the wrong button and it closes out entirely and that’s what kept happening to me. But something told me to complete it, so I texted the link to my laptop and filled out the application. Much easier process.
The quiz asked me a couple of questions about my sizing, social, and what I loved most about the Tanya Taylor brand. Oh! And I had to submit a picture where I felt most beautiful. I shared this one from my best friend’s wedding last year.
How I manifested the Tanya Taylor Shoot 💫
So around the time of the quiz, I had just been talking about trying to manifest with my coworkers. What is manifesting you ask?
“A manifestation is the public display of emotion or feeling, or something theoretical made real. Manifestation’s origins are in religion and spirituality because if something spiritual becomes real, it is said to be a manifestation” – I stole this from the internet.
But if you’ve heard of karma, energy, essentially manifestation is the same sentiment. What you put out will come back to you. Speaking and thinking it into existence. I have some tips on how I’ve started to manifest on this instagram post.
So that Sunday night, I tried manifesting seriously for the first time. One of the first steps is to write down your intentions. So I jotted them down in my notes. (Don’t judge me this is my actual list of intentions last year! Untouched 😮) and at the top of my list you can see in bold “Shoot with Tanya Taylor”.
What?!! And spoiler alert 🚨
Three days after they emailed me asking me to be apart of the Tanya Taylor photoshoot. INSANE. I can’t make this stuff up.
Here’s the email I got with certain stuff hidden for privacy and confidentiality. BUT WHAT?! I was in complete shock when I got that email. I was sitting at my desk at work. And literally got so excited that I ran and told twenty of my coworkers.
The Day of the Photoshoot! 📸
Man oh man, I was nervous. It was first thing Saturday morning and as much as I thought I had gotten everything ready the night before… I hadn’t. I was running around looking for certain Spanx haha. I hoped in an Uber about 10 minutes after I would have preferred which had me tracking for 3 minutes late!? 😅
Then I actually couldn’t find the place when I got there. Because it was almost like a warehouse looking building. But once I found it everyone was in hair and makeup and there was this buzzing energy.
I sat down next to the @curvily, now my new friend, and chatted it up about the usual. What we do, how much we love Tanya Taylor, and being plus-size and shopping in the city. Everyone was so so kind.
When I went into hair and makeup I was actually a hair nervous because some people aren’t skilled in applying makeup for women of color. They did ask us to come with foundation on. I loved getting my makeup done. My makeup artist was so sweet. AND SLAYED my makeup. I’ve never looked so rosy and bright in my opinion. I loved it. Made me want to consider wearing blush actually!
So we actually had a wardrobe malfunction before the shoot that had me nervous if it was actually going to happen. I think I ordered a size 20 or 18 in the dress for that day. I honestly can’t remember and when I went to try it on it was too revealing in the bust area. Like I guess my boobs are too high or too far apart, or my back is too wide but for some reason where the clasp was to give you less cleavage and more coverage I was getting a large gap underneath that.
Man! I was stressing! They only had the size I requested so if that one didn’t work it seemed to me like I wasn’t going to get to be apart of the shoot.
The Tanya Taylor team was absolutely amazing to me y’all. They sent someone to get thread and actually sewed me into the dress! Not lying! I went braless which helped and we worked it out! It meant the world to me to get to take part.
First, they had everyone do individual shots, then we did one large group shot, and then we did smaller groups. Everyone was so encouraging while each one of us was shooting. Like one girl would be hyping me up (think mat talk if you watched ‘Cheer’ on Netflix) and someone else would be taking photos on my phone so I could have the memories! I just couldn’t believe it. I just met them AND didn’t know half of their names at that point but we were all a mini Tanya Taylor lovin’ sisterhood.
THE Tanya Taylor even stopped by to thank us and hop in a few photos!
Below is a series of more behind the scenes photos from the day. Thanks to the lovely ladies who helped me capture these moments. Definitely a day I’ll never forget ♥️
The Photoshoot Reveal!
So I actually got the photo of us and Tanya Taylor which is something I’ll probably print and file and hang in my future office!
The photoshoot launched on Instagram in the coolest way! I loved it! It was the group image of all of us split between 3 photos on the grid. I remember being so excited! At that moment, I knew that more of this, photoshoots, meeting and networking with other women, and working with brands who have the same mission as me was what I wanted to do.
They also posted this really dope recap on IGTV, a story of the day, and a little Brady Bunch grid of us all. Called us the Tanya Taylor Bunch! How cute?! Oh, and we are still featured on the Tanya Taylor website! Check it out!
So that’s my experience being apart of the Tanya Taylor photoshoot last year. I wouldn’t say I’m ready to go full time into modeling BUT I did have the time of my life and would definitely do it again.
I hope this inspires you to shoot your shot. Put yourself out there. Manifest. You never know what may happen.
♥️
