NC Cuties 18 - Anna's Dorm Website Review

Anna's Dorm Website Review
http://www.annasdorm.com
Reviewed: August 2009

Anna has been modeling for over seven years now, and for a web model, that's a long time! Models have come and gone while she's been around, quietly doing her thing over at her old site, Anna's Closet. As times changed and it became harder for under-18 sites to get billing processors, Anna did her best to stay under the radar. Once she turned 18, she closed the Closet and opened Anna's Dorm in October 2007. Starting all over again is tough for any model, but Anna was determined, and in the last two years, Anna's Dorm has grown and progressed into a successful outlet for her ever-changing personality.

This is a brief look at what you can expect to find when you visit Anna's Dorm.

Anna's Dorm home page

Anna's Dorm members' page

Typical Anna's Dorm gallery page

Anna's Dorm is a simple website with no extra bells and whistles. No flashy intros and no heavy graphics - it's easy to navigate if you're on dial-up. The front page lays it all out in advance: this is not a nude site. What you're basically getting is an extension of the now-defunct Anna's Closet site... a look into this teenager's life. The teenager now just happens to be 19, and is free of the restrictions she had when she was younger. The join process is a simple one, with the membership handled by CCBill. You get to choose your own name and password, instead of one being generated for you. Once inside the members' area, you're given a simple list of links to visit, including the current gallery, past galleries, a video page, guest model area, and a forum. Each gallery page has a simple layout, with a brief description at the top and small thumbnails on each page. There are no zip files here - this is old-school gallery layout, with each thumbnail taking you directly to a jpeg file.

Because of her years of experience, Anna knows how to express herself in front of the camera. She doesn't just stand there for 50 pictures doing nothing - she moves around, she makes faces, and she looks like she's generally having fun. When the site first opened, the photos looked a lot like the ones at Anna's Closet, only with more risque costumes. As the site has progressed, the "studio atmosphere" that we saw has been replaced with more natural settings - outdoor backyard shoots and indoor shoots in actual rooms. Anna's look has changed over the last couple of years, too, as she's gone from blonde to redhead, and now back to blonde again. She isn't the little girl we knew from the Closet anymore, but she still retains that charm every so often.

Unfortunately, Anna is riddled with vocal fans who sorta don't "get it". A visit to her members' forum will find many people complaining that the content isn't sexy enough, or that the updates are late. Even Anna's mom/webmaster Angela has called some of these people "whiners". Believe me, I'm all for freedom of expression, but sometimes it seems like there is no pleasing Anna's members. If you like to complain, the Anna's Dorm forum is for you. If you're just into the photos and videos, I would avoid the forum. The information from Angela is valuable, but totally not worth sifting through the constant barrage of folks demanding that either Anna "show more" or they're "cancelling their memberships" (such a weak threat). Anna does not participate at her forum... only Angela does.

The updates are, for the most part, weekly. Angela has gone on record saying she doesn't like to shoot more than one set at a time so that we see Anna progress as a model, but she's recently lightened up on that way of thinking and has started shooting two sets whenever Anna visits. All of the galleries since Anna's Dorm opened are available, which is over 70 sets as of this writing! That makes the $8.95 membership one of the best bargains on the internet today. The photos come in at between 800x1200 and 900x1350 resolution (it varies from week to week) and are under 100kb each. Video clips are usually in WMV format and are generally edited with music and graphics, although Anna does talk in a good number of them.

The guest models at Anna's Dorm aren't all that great. Usually they're posted whenever Anna is unavailable, but they lack the charm and personality that Anna possesses in her photos. It also doesn't help that the guest model photos are several years old, which is a step backward from Angela's "moving forward" thinking. They're basically just place-holders until Anna returns from whatever adventure that left her unavailable for a photoshoot that week.

Anna does her best to tackle various fetishes (smoking, pantyhose, bondage, etc.), usually with mixed results. I think she does better when she's just being herself, because that's what kept her going for so many years.

The bottom line: I'm very loyal to Anna from her Closet days, but unless you knew her back then, you might not immediately see the appeal of Anna at her Dorm. The site is an extension of Anna's Closet, but since Anna's Closet is no longer running, it's hard to make the connection. However, with over 70 sets and 30 video clips (and counting) available for less than ten bucks, it's worth it to check out Anna's Dorm every so often and see what she's up to. You never know what surprises she has in store, since she shoots her photos so close to the update day. Anna's a real girl, with a real life - you can get a lot of phony models online, but it's rare to find one so human, and that's what Anna is. I recommend you check her site out at least a few times a year.