She's more accustomed to dodging the paparazzi, but when it came to launching her own line of clothing Lindsay Lohan made sure to invite them - and ended up besieged by 50 photographers.

The 21-year-old star was joined by two models - a sultry brunette and a blonde with corkscrew curls - for the promotional photoshoot on Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood.

But her bid to win extra publicity for her new line of leggings by phoning up press photographers nearly backfired.

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Overwhelmed: Lindsay Lohan looks bemused as 50 paparazzi turn up to her photoshoot

Paparazzi crowded around in a jostling mob, getting in the way of each others' cameras.

Even the leggy models, dressed in Lohan's shiny new leggings, were not quite tall enough to stand out above the swarm.

The throng of photographers even blocked the entrance to the boutique that was hosting yesterday's launch.

At times Lohan looked amused by the melee, but at other times she just looked bemused as her plans nearly went wrong.

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Brief glimpse: Lindsay and a pair of sultry models show off her new range of leggings

No doubt the free publicity will make up for the fact that the new range itself was hardly the centre of attention.

Today it emerged Lohan will be guest-starring in Ugly Betty.

Her publicist said she had turned down a role in an upcoming film about murderous Sixties Hollywood cult leader Charles Manson in order to appear in episodes of the U.S. sitcom.

The publicist denied claims that the troubled star had been axed from the role of one of Manson's disciples because other actors would not work with her.

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Aw, shoot: Lindsay and her fellow photoshoot models are lost in the crowd of photographers until, below, a minder escorts her through the throng

She spent much of 2007 out of the public spotlight after she was arrested twice in one month for drunken driving and re-entered rehab in a relapse of substance abuse that cost her a role in a film produced by and starring Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine.

The year before, a studio executive publicly rebuked Lohan for repeatedly showing up late on the set of Georgia Rule, which he blamed on her late-night clubbing.

Lindsay looks worn out by the whole experience