Bowsher High School-grad and Bowling Green State University-alum Kate McComb graces the pages of Vanity Fair for the June issue (on newsstands now), after winning the Estee Lauder Camera Ready Style online competition. We asked the local fashion star (an account coordinator at Card Advertising) what her professional photo shoot inside New York's Metropolitan Opera Gallery Met was like.
Why do you think they
chose you?
They asked who our style icons were, and I said one of mine was Marilyn Monroe. At breakfast with a couple of the ladies who helped coordinate the contest, they told me one of the reasons I was chosen was because I chose her as an icon — Marilyn's on the cover of the issue I appear in.
It's a funny thing to win a contest. Most people enter assuming they'll never get it.
When my mom first told me about the contest, I kind of brushed it off. But after I entered, I started thinking about it more and thought, hey, I really do have a good shot, especially with my past modeling experience. But when I won, I was of course really surprised and happy.
So you got an all-expenses paid trip to New York City. Any celebrity sightings that would impress us?
My mother and I saw a very good-looking guy; he was so perfect he looked like he was wearing makeup. I said, "Mom, is that the guy from Twilight?" Turned out it was Kellan Lutz. He was hanging around our hotel for a fashion show that was staged there.
What was the photo shoot like?
It was a lot more low-key than I
expected, but that's totally okay with me.
The whole idea behind it was to capture me and who I am as a person. To me, the most exciting part of the photoshoot was meeting Blair Patterson, the global premier makeup artist of Estee Lauder. He's done makeup for everyone from Elizabeth Hurley to Oprah.
Did you experience any of the famous
NYC hospitality?
Everyone wants to help you. People were so nice to me whenever I needed directions.
That could have something to do with your good looks. Most people find New Yorkers pretty gruff!
No! [Laughs.] Me and my mom have that Ohio, Midwestern, we-don't-know-what-the-heck's-going-on-look. A lot of people are not native New Yorkers, so they want to help you along your way, I think.
Any other cool prizes?
I won a makeup kit from Estee Lauder. I was thinking it would be a glorified version of what you can buy at the holidays. No, no — it has 90 lipsticks; it's huge. I feel like I want to have a party so everyone can use it.
Any big New York dreams after this?
It was a dream come true, to be in a magazine that's so top-notch. I definitely feel that New York itch coming on. It was amazing. I know that's the most-used adjective of 2011, but it really was just … awesome.
