This Is What It's Like To Live With A Model

Lately, whenever I'm asked to give a fun fact for team ice breakers I tell them: My roommate is a model from eastern Europe. Living with Pirina has made me more appreciative of the sometimes harsh and crazy fashion industry. I look at models at fashion week a different way now. They are not just clothes hanger mannequins ready to be taken a picture of touting a product. They have chosen this profession as a work of art and a way of life. While some may be a bit taller than the rest of us, living with Prina has been just about as normal as any NYC roommate situation you could ask for. Here, a couple things people always ask me about sharing an apartment with a model.

Yes, We Love To Eat

Unfortunately, it's no secret that being a traditional runway model can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food — but that's hardly the case for many models who enjoy their meals, and I love it when I see them chowing down backstage. Fashion Month is long and grueling!

Models have their own food obsessions. I've heard of stories where models living in a grouped apartment collected 16 Handles spoons just the way my friends and I frequented 40 Carrots at Bloomingdales for our own frozen yogurt. We all fall under the same dieting trends like juicing (Pirina and I are calling BS on that one). We both crave chocolate before bed. We encourage each other to indulge in these little treats once in a while.

We both want to gym more often. It's the nature of Pirina's job that she's under immense pressure to stay thin. I have been on center stage as an on-camera personality before. Because of the somewhat similar nature of our jobs, we're actually able to help each other stay healthy. Sure, she uses cellulite oil; I have purchased post-pregnancy tummy oil for stretch marks even though I've never been pregnant — but in general, we just try to ignore that nagging pressure to be "perfect."

Yep, We Share Clothes... Somehow

Prina's favorite color to wear is black. I wear a lot of bright patterns, prints, and color. But as tends to happen with co-habitating friends, we've rubbed off each other. I've bought myself some combat boots and she just purchased a pink fuzzy sweater. We can't share shoes but we'll swap coats and other items for castings, work, and play. The other night she wore my college sweatpants and it was the funniest thing in the world. It's weird to think she models the clothes that I may end up buying. It's made me a more thrifty, aware consumer.

In the end, our lives are not glamorous but living with a model is still fun. We both hustle and take pride in our respective professions. And most importantly, we both share a desire to be best known for our inner beauty.

Love ya, roomie!

Images: Ko Im, Pirina/Instagram