Hometown girl in the fashion world

She's been to Paris but dreams of owning a Montana ranch

By Laura Johnston ~ Southeast Missourian

At home she dresses in Wrangler jeans, T-shirts and boots, but when she's working you can find Ali Turner in some incredible outfits designed by top names like Catherine Malandrino or James Coviello.

Turner, the youngest daughter of Patty and Dennis Turner, is a model for Ford Modeling Agency, the internationally-known firm that has been discovering models since 1946.

And in New York, she dresses much differently than she does in Cape Girardeau.

"They have some of the weirdest clothes you've ever seen," the 16-year-old says.

But those clothes, weird as they may be, are helping her pay for a horse, pickup truck and college -- and could someday buy her the Montana ranch she dreams about.

"It's not what people would wear here," she said. Most of Southeast Missouri is wearing styles about a year behind what Turner sees in New York.

Peasant tops, which seem to be all the rage now, are really out of style in the city, she says. Most of what she wears has been skirts and tops.

But Ali doesn't keep up with fashion all that much, even though she wears $1.5 million bracelets and dazzling sequin dresses during her photo shoots. If she were to go shopping for clothes, Ali would be more likely to buy a new rodeo shirt at Buchheit's than she would a designer dress by Versace. At the models' apartment where she stays in New York, the other girls call her "Cowboy."

But Ali does know what to wear when she's going on a casting call, though, since it's like going on a job interview. Casting calls give potential clients a chance to meet the models, hoping to find the one who fits the look they're after.

"You try to be funny and be yourself," Ali said. She brings along a portfolio of her work and her composite sheet with her height, weight and measurements. "That's how they remember you."

Ali might go on 10 casting calls a day before she gets called back for a job. And sometimes those callbacks have stipulations because the client is after a specific look.

For instance, Ali's hoping to do a campaign for Wrangler jeans, but that might mean going a little blonder than her natural color. But then again, Ali would dye her hair blue if it mean a job where she could be around horses and wear jeans, she says.

While the clothing doesn't have much appeal for her, some of the big name models get paid in outfits when they show up for runway shows.

Ali usually gets a check, which could be several thousand dollars a day for about two hours of work in front of the camera.

Modeling is a job Ali found quite by accident. At the request of a Cheekwood Studio photographer, she sent pictures to Ford. Her mom, Patty, thought they were pictures the family would never see again. But it turned out that the Ford agency wanted Ali. The agency sent her to Chicago and Paris for shows.

Ali spent most of March and half of April in New York doing runway shows before returning home for Easter. She intends to stay here long enough to attend Jackson's prom with her boyfriend, Josh Wills, May 10 before heading back in June. She takes correspondence courses from the University of Missouri when she can't attend classes at Central High School.

But don't expect to see her in anything too fancy at prom: her dress is a fitted blue number that "makes my eyes stand out," she says.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126