Modelling with Shannon Marie

As a gesture of gratitude to yours truly for helping her recover her MODE tearsheets, former Ford 12+ model Allison Price has kindly provided us with an account of one of the most memorable experiences of her career—a photo shoot during which she enjoyed the incomparable privilege of working with the breathtaking…Shannon Marie. We are deeply indebted to Ms. Price for taking the time to share with us her fascinating impressions of the most gorgeous plus-size model the world has ever known.

“Shannon Marie is a great model and a beautiful person. I felt very honored to be working with her that day knowing how visible she was in MODE and the other clients she was working for at the time. She looked even prettier to me in person :) She and I started the day eating bagels and cream cheese, and getting to know each other a bit. I showed her pictures of my kids and she was very complimentary of me being a single mom and being a model. I was very impressed with her professionalism and easy going manner on the set. Not pretentious at all. She told me how she started out in the business and what a struggle it was to have people say, “You have such a pretty face, if you lost a little weight you could be a model,” which was something I was soooo familiar with hearing. We had a good laugh together about that. I was most impressed with her ease on set. I learned a lot that day. She was very fluid and natural in her movements and the photographer loved working with her. In fact everyone on set did. We were booked for a full day and both did six or seven outfits for the fall catalog. After many laughs and hard work we wrapped it up with a hug, exchanged phone numbers (she was with Wilhelmina at the time) and hoped to work together again. Unfortunately I never did get the chance to. But it was one of my favorite jobs!”

These comments pertain to a Bloomingdales shoot, and Ms. Price is still trying to recover her tear sheets from this promotion—which were promised to her, but never provided. If anyone has them archived, please pass them along to Ms. Price by way of The Judgment of Paris, in order that we can scan them and give them a permanent home here, so they can stand as a testament to true feminine beauty.

Shannon Marie was a very young model when she took a hiatus from modelling, and her countless fans still eagerly hope that she may return to the profession, someday—especially since industry standards concerning size have changed for the better since the faux-plus tyranny of 2001, and are continuing to improve. Shannon Marie remains dearly missed…

(This reminiscence was originally posted on The Judgment of Paris Forum, June 10, 2002.)