It's Not All In The Wrists

April 27, 2008

(CBS) We journey now to a truly unique realm in the universe of high fashion and advertising. Susan Koeppen of The Early Show introduces us to some models who work with their hands and ONLY their hands.

Fashion runways are filled with models who've won the genetic lottery - that rarified beauty prized by magazine editors and advertisers. But it turns out, no one's got it all, not even a beautiful actress like Sarah Jessica Parker. In this commercial, you can see Sarah Jessica, but not her hand. The hand you see belongs to one of the most successful hand models in the country, Ellen Sirot. She's a supermodel of hands, or as she puts it, "I'm the 'it' of digits."

For the past 15 years, Sirot's hands have been the queen of the close up - sometimes a hand-double for celebrities, but mostly playing best supporting actress to an endless array of products. "I'm not a hand that will take your attention away from something else," she said. "I'm just a hand that will fit in. I'm the hand next door."

Well, advertising's idea of the hand next door. Not every hand looks as perfect as hers. "They are really just the perfect, neutral-toned hands," she explained. "The skin tone of most people is not something that you'd wanna see up close at all. There's freckles, there's age spots, capillaries."

Sirot can make anywhere from $100 to thousands of dollars per hour - not typical remuneration for "working with your hands." Like Betty Grable, who once took out a million dollar policy on her legs, Sirot has hand insurance. But the policy doesn?t cover the mundane, like paper cuts. "That's really my biggest risk, so it forces me to be obsessively careful about my hands."

Really careful. To maintain perfection, Sirot's life is filled with no's. "So for me, that means no cooking, no cleaning, no taking out the garbage, no opening cans, no opening windows, no opening doors, no gardening, no sports, you know? No, no, no, no, a million no's." She wears gloves every day. ("These hands have not seen the light of day for, I'd say, 15 years," she admits). And she has a multitude of gloves - by her count, nearly 500 pairs. "Probably have like 300 pairs of purple," she said. "I'm on purple this year."

Sirot's home is a world where her daughter Lona buckles her shoes and her husband Peter does all the chores, without complaint. "What was it like to date her in the very beginning?" Koeppen asked. "A little peculiar," Peter laughed. "But she was beautiful and I was in love, so ?" Sirot admits that her obsession to protect her extremities may be a little bit "out there."

"But it works for me. I love this, I feel passionate about it." Being a successful hand model means more than having pretty hands. Today Sirot's working on a cookbook. She holds long poses ? then she drains (the blood out of her hands). "It's over and drain. Over and drain," she said.

Photographer Peter Pioppo says she's a performer. "It's kind of hard to tell a hand to be more emotional," he said. "But she somehow has figured that out - how to make a hand a little prettier, a little happier, a little more aggressive." Every hand supermodel has a niche, and Sirot is known in the industry for her perfect "mommy hands."

Let's give her a hand!

She's No. 1 -- Hands Down

WGNTV.com

When it comes to modeling, parts aren't parts
By Julia DiNardo, Special to amNewYork
March 5, 2007

You've heard of Gisele, Naomi and Tyra. But what about Krista, Christina, Ellen, Susan or Yana? These women are considered the "supermodels" of the parts modeling industry.

Dani Korwin is the founder and president of Parts Models Inc., a New York City agency that specializes in body parts modeling. She represents more than 100 men and women, the most in-demand parts being hands, legs and feet.

Parts models can earn anywhere from $150 to several thousand dollars a day, depending on their reputation and what they're modeling for (advertising or editorial). A current trend in parts modeling is a natural look. For example, in hand modeling, it's better to have a shorter nail as opposed to a longer, "glamour" length. For men looking to market their torso, it should not be overly ripped. Having a well-defined body is important, but muscle mania is not necessary.

Korwin advises aspiring parts models to be realistic. "Take a long, objective look at your various parts, and if you can give the time and energy to it, go for it," Korwin says. "It's a great field for someone who doesn't have the requirements to be a showroom or runway model, and it's gives you a longer model 'shelf life.'"

Just because parts modeling focuses on one area doesn't mean it amounts to less body maintenance."You have to make a conscientious effort to take care of the body part," Korwin says. "If you're a foot model, you can't wear flip-flops in the event that you may stub a toe."

Hand model Ellen Sirot owns more than 500 pairs of gloves and rarely takes them off. She also stays away from cleaning, cooking or taking out the garbage. As far as celebrities go, Korwin says that Fergie has great abs while Jessica Biel has a fabulous behind. But what about Angelina's lips or Julia Roberts' mouth? "Sometimes the parts that are overly exaggerated aren't suitable for general advertising," she says. "Too dramatic or extreme doesn't translate to advertising campaigns. So Angie's lips may be too full and Julia's mouth may be too wide. People want something to look at that they can relate to."

I'VE WORN MY GLOVES NON-STOP FOR 15YRS
EXCLUSIVE RECOGNISE £5K-A-DAY MODEL YOU WON'T RECOGNISE I WAS LIZ HURLEY'S HANDS I'll never do the washing-up My hands don't see the sun Imoisturise 20 times a day
By Liz Todd

Ellen Sirot is one of the world's most in-demand models ...but this is the first time you will have seen her face.

Ellen, 36, earns up to £5,000 a day as a "parts" model, lending her perfect legs, feet and especially her hands to everything from Penthouse glamour shots, ads for washing-up liquid... and standing in for Liz Hurley.

Liz might be the face of Estee Lauder... but Ellen is the hands."Elizabeth was in the studio filming the ad, but then they brought me in the next day to fill in for the hands," she says. "People watch the advert and think it's her, but it's me."

Though she may advertise washingup liquid, Ellen would never be caught at the kitchen sink in reallife. Her skin care regime is a fulltime job and she doesn't want to put her delicate skin at risk. "There's a whole list of things I don't do at all," the New York model says. "I don't clean or scrub or take out the rubbish... anything that can damage my hands."

Even a simple paper cut could spell disaster for Ellen. "I just don't touch paper without my gloves on because I can't risk it. It couldn't happen," she says. She won't use any knife sharper than a butter knife, so husband Peter, a choreographer, is in charge of cooking. She also has a housekeeper for those forbidden chores. She says: "I'd never even wash a glass in the sink for fear of cutting myself. I find 100 per cent avoidance is the best prevention."

Outside her house she is even more careful. Her hands have not seen sunlight in the 15 years she has been worked as a hand model. "I have found that even with the best sun block on I can still get a tan line in short sleeves so I always wear elbowlength gloves," she says. "People think I am crazy. The first reaction is that maybe I am eccentric and I get a lot of questioning stares.

"People also wonder if I have a horrible skin condition or if I am an obsessive-compulsive."
Ellen changes her gloves five times a day and has over 500 pairs. In the house she wears little cotton ones, or medical-style disposable rubber gloves. But she also has beautiful antique gloves from the 1930s and 1940s for going out in the evening.

"I do everything with gloves," she adds. That includes taking care of her six-year-old daughter. "That was definitely the biggest challenge, having a baby and still taking care of my hands," she explains. "I wore those medical disposable gloves for changing nappies. I don't do arts and crafts things with her, my husband does that. But I do mummy things without gloves, like giving her a hug.

"We have a special hand model high-five where she pretends to bring her hand up to mine fast and then at the last moment stops and we touch gently, but when I wash her hair I use little rubber gloves." Ellen gets anything from £50 to £5,000 a day for her modelling work - but doesn't spend it on expensive skin care products.

"I moisturise 15 or 20 times a day and use ordinary Neutrogena. I like the consistency and it's a little pot I can carry in my bag. In the evening I use Vitamin E on my cuticles to massage and train them back from the nail. I only go to one manicurist who I have worked with for 10 years. I have my own set of instruments and polishes which she keeps in a separate area at the salon. The more you think about it, the more disgusting it is to use the same polishes on all those different people. I would hate to do that. I don't eat sugar, salt or caffeine on the day of a photo-shoot because that might cause a blood rush and pump up the veins. And I'd never run to the studio as it might make my veins pop out."

Ellen started modelling when she was a dancer and a casting director noticed her perfect hands and feet.

Now her hands are on billboards, magazines and newspapers across America. She has a lucrative contract with mobile giant Verizon and earns £1,250 an hour for them. Once she even did a racy shoot for Penthouse Forum mag. She laughs: "I thought it was a business magazine called Forum but they wanted me to hold a banana in different ways. I got a lot of mail after that one."

She's hoping for another 15 years of work - cashing in on the aging baby boomer population as her hands begin to show their age. "I don't know what I'll do after that - certainly not housework because I hate it," she says. "It's ironic really, because most of my work is as the hands of a healthy happy mum holding something like bleach. I would never do that in fact it's my worst nightmare!"

GIVING A HAND
ELLEN SIROT is, by many accounts, the most successful parts model in the country. Her hands, feet and legs have been featured in ad campaigns for everything from Bloomingdale's to Toilet Duck, and she once had the singular honor of palming Howard Stern's love handles in a promotional photo for his film "Private Parts." But folks who see Sirot on the street occasionally mistake her for a New York eccentric.

"During the summer, complete strangers approach me and ask why I'm wearing elbow-length gloves," says Sirot, whose hands and feet haven't seen sunlight in 15 years. "Sometimes people assume I'm obsessive compulsive or germophobic."

Sirot owns over 500 pairs of gloves, and if you were to meet her, she would probably decline to shake your hand. Years of disuse and constant moisturizing have made her mitts remarkably photogenic yet susceptible to bruises, which could jeopardize her employment status for weeks. She recently earned quite a bit for a four-hour Verizon shoot. It would be a shame to miss that kind of payday over a mere social convention.

Asked what she'd do if she were to suffer, let's say, a paper cut, Sirot is incredulous. "Well, I would never get a paper cut. That's just how it is." She avoids lifting heavy objects, to prevent building unsightly muscle. Knives? Forget about it. Pens, paper, doorknobs, car doors and wine glasses are regarded with apprehension, while animals - "pets are scary and unpredictable" - are given the widest of berths. And on no condition will Sirot rush to a shoot. "The veins in my hand might get pumped up if I hurry."

Her meticulous regimen may strike many as too great an assault on life's conveniences. But it hasn't dented her cheerful demeanor. A 15-year veteran of the business, she'd like nothing more than to continue for another 15 years - about what she's got left before she ages out of the trade, she figures.

A native of Greenwich, Conn., Sirot came to New York to attend Barnard, and after graduation set out to be a dancer. To that end she had headshots taken, and when the photographer noted her perfect extremities, he referred her to a parts-model agent. "I got my very first pedicure," she says, "and beat out 50 pairs of feet for a Dr. Scholl's commercial." There are around 100 parts models in the city, but Sirot says she's "one of five in the world working hands full-time, without relying on side jobs."

It's no wonder; her fingers convey the highly marketable feminine ideal: slender, yet graceful, youthful, supple, and free of wrinkles and blemishes. Estée Lauder considers her hands suitably sexy to double for those of supermodels Elizabeth Hurley and Paulina Porizkova, and she's performed a hand job (a little industry humor for you) on behalf of Rachael Ray. Then there was her racy spread in Penthouse Forum. "I thought it was a business magazine called Forum. I got there, and they wanted me to hold a banana in different ways. I got a lot of mail after that."

Tough Job, Soft Skin
By DAISY CARRINGTON
January 9, 2007

When Ellen Sirot leaves her house, she makes sure always to don a pair of gloves. Like many New Yorkers in winter, she is cautious to not let her skin dry out. But unlike most of us, her job depends on it. Ms. Sirot, 37, is a hand, leg, and foot model. Her feet have appeared in print ads modeling high-heel shoes for Saks, and her hands have scooped out cans of Campbell's soup with a spoon and washed dishes using Dawn — all work she is barred from doing in real life.

Though her job places unusually high demands on her skin, Ms. Sirot's moisturizing regime includes elements even the average commuter could benefit from during these driest months of the year. Many aspects of her beauty regimen are standard: She drinks lots of water and takes a daily multivitamin. She stays fit with yoga and pilates, though she avoids all poses that require use of the hands, substituting her elbows instead.

Some parts of Ms. Sirot's routine, however, would be impractical for the average New Yorker. "I don't clean, I don't cook, I don't use sharp knives, I don't do household chores like taking out the garbage," she said. "I don't do anything that would put me in a situation where my hands are near chemicals." She has a long list of things to avoid: physical activity (so her hands don't become bulky), caffeine and sugar (which make her hands appear veiny), and sun and water, which she says "are the worst enemies for the general aging on the hands. I wear gloves all the time. My hands haven't been in the sun in 12 years."

She wears latex gloves when showering; she moisturizes nearly 20 times a day with Neutrogena Norwegian Formula, and again at night with Eucerin's Aquaphor Healing Ointment. Before going to sleep, she applies baggies full of moisturizer to her feet, which she keeps elevated at night. To keep her legs from getting cracked, she exfoliates with an apricot scrub and then "moisturize them like crazy." She avoids high heels and puts lotion into her sock before putting them on.

“It's a little extreme," she admits. But one look at her skin, and it's clear she's on to something. "My hands are like a biological experiment. They are much younger-looking than the rest of me."