To become a hand model, keep your hands camera-ready every day (natural nails with no gel or acrylics, even skin, no fresh cuts), take clear daylight digitals of your palms and the backs of your hands, record your ring and glove sizes, and apply free to an agency that runs a hands or parts board. The same route covers feet, legs and lips, but every agency sets its own rules: Flawless Hand Models asks for professional on-set experience and a New York or Los Angeles base, while Hands by TDA says no experience is needed.
This checklist covers commercial parts modeling for adults (18 and over), drawn from agency pages and dermatology guidance as read on 1 October 2026. Selling photos of your hands or feet directly to buyers online is a different business and is outside its scope.
What parts models do and who books them
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics describes parts models in its profile of the modeling occupation as people with a body part, such as a hand or foot, particularly well suited to modeling products like nail polish or shoes. The London agency TDA's hands and feet guide adds the working reality: a brand books one specific part to showcase a product, the pace is slow and exact, and you may hold a single position for a long time while the shot is built around you.
Skills widen the briefs you can take. The Hired Hands applications page lists cooking, knife skills, cocktail making and mixology, playing musical instruments, knitting, painting and calligraphy as useful skills for hand models, because food, drink and craft brands need hands that move convincingly. Boards also go beyond hands: Closeup Models lists separate boards for hands, feet, legs, eyes and lips, and Hired Hands lists ear and eye models among its parts categories.
“Flawless” is not the only brief either. Handmodel.berlin says it is currently looking for hands with special features, such as vitiligo or prostheses, and for hands of people aged 60 or over. Parts work sits on the commercial side of the industry, so the usage questions in our fashion vs commercial comparison apply to every parts booking.
What parts agencies publish
| Agency | Requirements it lists | Photos it wants |
|---|---|---|
| Flawless Hand Models (New York, Los Angeles) | Smooth skin, evenly shaped nail beds, natural or no polish, professional on-set experience, aged 18 or over and based in New York City or Los Angeles (submit page) | Palms up and palms down, any professional hand photos and one clear headshot, with no gel or acrylics |
| Closeup Models (several US cities) | No nail polish, no false nails and minimal hair on male hands; talent must be 18 or over and based in one of the listed cities (parts page) | Uploads through the online form, since the agency runs no open calls |
| Hands by TDA (UK) | No experience needed and no fee | A face photo plus both hands flat with palms to the camera and both hands flat with backs to the camera |
| Hired Hands (UK) | A Greater London or Greater Manchester base, the right to work in the UK and daytime weekday availability | Untouched phone images: a headshot or selfie, a full-length shot and close-ups of the relevant part |
| BMA Hands (UK) | Online applications and appointments only, no walk-ins (apply page) | Professional hand, leg or foot pictures in color and in focus; no selfies |
| Handmodel.berlin (Germany) | Symmetrical, straight fingers and long nail beds, no artificial or gel-reinforced nails, no tattoos, adults only | Daylight photos on a plain white background, taken by someone else, usable as comp card polaroids |
The table shows real disagreements. BMA Hands wants professional pictures while Hands by TDA and Hired Hands accept phone photos, and Flawless requires on-set experience while TDA requires none. Location rules matter just as much, which is why Handmodel.berlin asks which city you can be booked from without travel costs, so start with the agencies that work where you live.
Care routine and shoot-day checklist
For parts models, maintenance is the job. The daily habits below come from the American Academy of Dermatology's dermatologists' tips for healthy nails and its skin care tips for hands, plus what agencies say they check.
- Wear gloves when cleaning or washing dishes, and moisturize after every hand wash; the AAD warns that too much water exposure weakens nails.
- Do not bite your nails, remove your cuticles or use your nails as tools for opening cans and packaging.
- Use sunscreen on the backs of your hands whenever you are outdoors, not just on your face.
- Wear work gloves for gardening, moving house and chores that risk a cut, callus or stain; TDA notes that a fresh mark can lose a rebooking.
- Keep nails natural, with no gel or acrylics: Flawless asks for natural nail beds without them, and Handmodel.berlin calls gel-reinforced or artificial nails undesirable.
- Ask your nail technician to tidy cuticles rather than cut them. BMA Hands' parts model advice wants half-moon cuticles on show, but the AAD's guidance on manicures says cut cuticles make it easier for germs to cause an infection.
- See a dermatologist if your nails change, swell or cause pain, which the AAD says can be signs of a serious nail problem.
On shoot day:
- Arrive with clean, unpolished nails unless the brief says otherwise; Hired Hands asks for no varnish, makeup or cosmetic treatments on the part at its meetings.
- Bring clean cotton gloves to protect your hands between setups and while you wait.
- Practice steady holds before the job. TDA lists the ability to hold a pose or a product in a precise position without shaking among the things bookers look for.
- Confirm the usage terms in writing before the shoot starts, then log the hours and terms afterward.
Parts digitals shot list
| Part | Shots to take | Where the list comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Hands | Both hands flat palms down with fingers together; both palms up; a relaxed, slightly cupped side view; one hand holding a simple object such as a glass | Flawless and Hands by TDA ask for palms and backs; the TDA guide adds the side and object frames |
| Feet | Both feet top-down while standing on a plain floor; the sole of each foot; a side profile showing the arch; a pointed foot to show the line | The feet list in TDA's hands and feet guide |
| Legs | Front and side views standing straight in plain shorts, in the same light as your other digitals | Closeup Models runs a legs board and asks for photos through its form |
| Lips and smile | A neutral close-up, a natural smile close-up and a profile, all without lipstick | Closeup Models lists a lips and smile board |
| Every application | One clear headshot and one full-length photo, even when you are applying only for a part | Flawless requires a headshot; Hired Hands asks for a headshot and a full-length image |
Shoot everything in daylight against a plain, pattern-free background, and ask someone else to hold the camera: Handmodel.berlin says self-taken photos change the perspective and do not make hands or feet look good. Skip filters and retouching entirely, since the booker is judging real skin.
Submission template
Copy these lines into the agency's form or email and fill in each one. Parts applications need more precise details than a fashion submission; Handmodel.berlin, for example, suggests measuring both ring fingers because they often differ, and measuring glove size around the hand at its widest point.
- Name, and confirmation that you are 18 or over
- Board applied for: hands, feet, legs, lips or several
- City you can be booked from without travel costs
- Right to work in the country and weekday daytime availability
- Ring size for the left and right ring finger, and glove size
- Nail status: natural length, no gel, acrylics or extensions
- Shoe size with its country label, if applying for feet
- Honest skin notes: any tattoos, scars or marks that show on camera
- Hand skills: cooking, knife work, mixology, instruments or crafts
- Experience so far, and union status if you have one
- The tax or business number your country uses for invoicing
- Links to your digitals and any professional hand images
The last line before the links matters more than it looks. Handmodel.berlin says it can only add models to its file once they have a tax number, because it invoices clients on the model's behalf. Closeup's form, meanwhile, asks for union status, which tells you that some parts work in the US is union work.
Scam checks for parts models
- Fees to review photos. Flawless says it does not charge any fees to review photographs and asks to be told if someone requests a fee in its name; Hired Hands says there are no upfront fees and no costs for its online portfolio.
- Paying to be represented. The FTC's guidance on modeling scams calls any agency asking for money to represent you a scam and says agencies get paid after the client pays them.
- Strangers buying photos. A message offering to buy pictures of your hands or feet is not an agency booking. Scamwatch's jobs scam guidance also warns against sending identity documents to anyone you cannot verify.
- UK complaints. Complaints about pay and work rights now go to the Fair Work Agency, which GOV.UK says replaced the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
- Licensing elsewhere. For who needs a license to find you work in California, New York or Australia, see our manager vs agent licensing guide.
Parts boards are open to shorter models because only the part is in frame; if that is you, our guide to where petite models work maps the other routes, and the modeling types overview shows how parts work fits alongside them.
Limits of this checklist
This checklist has limits. The care habits are general skin and nail guidance from a dermatology body, not treatment for a skin condition; anything that persists, hurts or spreads belongs with a dermatologist or your doctor. Agency requirements are quoted from individual pages on one date, and agencies can change those briefs at any time.
It gives no rates, because parts fees depend on usage, client and market, and it does not cover selling content directly online. Treat it as general information, and have any representation agreement reviewed before you sign it.