The Height of Fashion, Redefined

Thousands Attend D.C. Tryout for Not-So-Tall Edition of 'Top Model'

The economy is shrinking, and so are the fashion models.

Several thousand "America's Next Top Model" wannabes poured into downtown Washington yesterday for a chance to be plucked from obscurity for the first cycle of the popular reality TV show to give a chance to short women -- well, shorter than the average model.

"D.C.'s off the chain," casting director Michelle Mock-Falcon happily wrote in a text message to the show's producers when she saw the line outside the Renaissance M Street Hotel, at New Hampshire Avenue and M Street NW. It wrapped around the block and back again, rivaling the turnout in New York.

Proving that nothing -- bank failures, real estate foreclosures or a stock market freefall -- can dampen the spirit of young people with a dream, women from the Washington region and beyond waited patiently for hours in one line, then a second, and yet another, to get into the secret chamber for their casting call.

On the winning end was a chance to live in a house with cameras chronicling every interaction with a bunch of strangers and constant critiquing from a panel of judges that includes a man who goes by "Miss Jay" as well as supermodel and entrepreneur Tyra Banks -- the real star of the show, which airs on the CW Network and locally on WDCW-TV (Channel 50).

"It is my dream," said Janee Johnson, 18, a high school senior from Baltimore who came with her mother, Renee. "I want it really bad."

"Modeling is my passion," said Chiquita Butler, 20, a student at Prince George's Community College. At 5-foot-3, she said she is glad that short women are getting a chance, to which Serena Warren, 26, of Wilmington, Del., shouted, "We're not short!" (She's 5-foot-5.)

In the world of high-fashion modeling, Butler and Warren would, indeed, be considered short. Most models are at least 5-foot-8, and more often a little taller. Banks, who show officials say is heavily involved in choosing contestants, is 5-foot-10. That's why, in the first 12 cycles of the show, all contestants were supposed to be at least 5-foot-7.

But in a world where old paradigms are crumbling, Banks decided to take on the modeling height taboo. The first 12 winners -- there are two cycles a year -- won under rules that required contestants to be 5-foot-7 or taller. For the season that will be filmed this summer and aired in the fall, the rules changed to 5-foot-7 or shorter.

No, show officials said, it was not a ratings ploy.

Yes, it was because Banks is often approached by height-challenged women who want a chance, too. Besides, said casting manager Lisi Alpert, supermodel Kate Moss is 5-foot-7. So is Bar Rafaeli, the Israeli supermodel on the cover of Sports Illustrated's latest swimsuit issue.

After all, contestants and officials said, the show -- which provides the winner with a big modeling contract -- isn't just a show.