How To Turn An Olympic Fencer Into A Wilhelmina Model

by Verena von Pfetten | 5:21 pm, July 23rd, 2010

Have you ever wondered what it really takes to be a model — other than winning the genetic lottery, that is? Well, in the case of Olympic fencer Tim Morehouse, even his athletic prowess and virile good looks were not enough. Morehouse, who was recently signed by Wilhelmina and already has one diet-food endorsement under his belt, had to lose 15 pounds, get his eyebrows threaded, embrace the spray tan, and put his very chest hair on the line. We wish we were joking.

In an interview with New York Magazine, Morehouse opened up about what exactly the transformation from athlete to fashion muse has been like.

On posing:

It’s harder than you think to take a good picture. So I’m learning, little by little… I learned how to get a spray tan, also. [Laughs] And I look really pale if I don’t, because fencers don’t get a lot of sun.

On his eyebrows:

I’m getting them done tomorrow. Now I have to regularly maintain it. These are things I never thought about before… It hurts. I find it very painful and I scream and make a lot of noise.

On his chest hair:

I still have chest hair… If I get paid to do an ad that requires no chest hair, I will shave it off. But until then, I’m keeping it.

And on the art of spray-tanning:

I use Beach Bum. I have someone spray me. You, like, stand there in your underwear and a guy sprays you, a guy or a girl sprays you. That is pretty weird. It took some getting used to. But I didn’t want to do a tanning bed and I was too scared to do a machine, I thought that was something I’d mess up, so I just let the professionals handle it.

And there you have it. Four easy steps to go from world class athlete to a moderately well-known model.

[via The Cut.]

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