# Why do models on the catwalk never smile? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2013, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392 "2013-09-09T07:01:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/21 "2013-09-09T14:33:04Z")
Maybe they can’t smile and do the model walk at the same time. It’s hard- you put your right foot to the left of your left foot, then your left foot to the right of your right foot, and so on. And in spike heels no less. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/22 "2013-09-09T14:34:47Z")
If you were on their starvation diet, you wouldn’t smile either. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/23 "2013-09-09T14:37:54Z")
If you had to strut the catwalk wearing an outlandish gown and a weird headgear while exposing your painfully skinny butt before a gaggle of fashion reporters no one cares about, while hundreds of cameras flash on your face, and in the end have to kiss the hairy designer whose nightmare it is you are wearing, you’d be sour, too. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/24 "2013-09-09T14:39:27Z")
Might I also suggest that the aloof look lends itself to an air of superiority. Hollister, American Eagle, and the like receive a lot of business by appearing that they’re better than you. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/25 "2013-09-09T14:56:37Z")
Does anyone other than Right Said Fred actually call it a “catwalk”? I’ve always heard “runway”. ---
**Author:** ![LovesBeagles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@LovesBeagles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LovesBeagles)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/26 "2013-09-09T23:37:14Z")
I had a neighbor who was a runway model and she called it a runway. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/27 "2013-09-09T23:46:13Z")
If the models paraded around on a catwalk, the viewing angle (for the outfits, anyway) would be pretty lousy. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/28 "2013-09-09T23:46:42Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > You should watch “The Devil Wears Prada.” Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci give a pretty good defense of the industry. And it’s not a terrible movie, it has Meryl Streep. And the documentary The September Issue. The September Issue is a few months in the life of Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue. In The Devil Wears Prada Meryl Streep plays a character that is generally accepted to be Anna. The movie and the documentary (if you’re into documentaries) go hand in hand. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/29 "2013-09-09T23:47:33Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > They’re too sexy for this world, too sexy for this world. …so sexy, I hurled… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/30 "2013-09-10T00:39:53Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Might I also suggest that the aloof look lends itself to an air of superiority. Hollister, American Eagle, and the like receive a lot of business by appearing that they’re better than you. The “aloof look” has been standard practice for a long time. In _The Caine Mutiny_ (Herman Wouk’s novel published in 1952), one of the officers becomes obsessed with a magazine photo of a model who is described as having a haughty, disdainful look “as though someone had just offered her a fish to hold.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/31 "2013-09-10T03:02:07Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > You should watch “The Devil Wears Prada.” Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci give a pretty good defense of the industry. And it’s not a terrible movie, it has Meryl Streep. It’s a great movie but if there was a good defence of the industry in there I missed it. There is undoubtedly an “explanation” but I don’t know about “good defence”. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/32 "2013-09-10T03:11:07Z")
I get the catwalk thing but what I don’t understand is why they don’t have wedding dress models smile, even in print campaigns. I see them and think how uncomfortable her dress must be and how miserable she is to be getting married. I know it sure would make me want to buy the dress. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/33 "2013-09-10T03:53:11Z")
The Unsmiling Fashion Model is what originally drove me to start enjoying Japanese (and later, other Asian) women. When I first got online, I naturally went looking for photos of pretty women whose names I knew … and they always looked so grim. Then I accidentally stumbled across photos of Japanese models, and I noticed that they were always smiling. That alone made them look so much more attractive to me. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/34 "2013-09-10T04:23:35Z")
Not have a full meal in eight years would make anyone stop smiling. A model can only eat so many [cotton balls dipped in orange juice](http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/eddie-murphys-daughter-bria-says-models-eat-cotton-balls-soaked-in-orange-juice-2013126) before she dreams of a juicy steak. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/35 "2013-09-10T05:10:58Z")
Fashion shows are about fashion. THE CLOTHES. STOP LOOKING AT THE GIRLS! Really, you’re not supposed to really notice them. They living mannequins. Ever notice how sometimes their hair and make up are all the same. They are there to show how the clothing moves, when the person wearing it moves. Nobody, but NOBODY is looking at the models. (unless it is the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show but that’s not really a fashion show) ---
**Author:** ![Tacit\_Knowledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@Tacit\_Knowledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tacit_Knowledge)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/36 "2013-09-10T05:27:08Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Because people with a lot of money pay attention to them. But why? Why would anyone - other than those actually making money selling the stuff - care? EDIT: My question was pretty much answered. I should have read on before posting. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/37 "2013-09-10T20:29:32Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > And when they get to the end of the catwalk, why not give us a joke already > > You should watch “The Devil Wears Prada.” Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci give a pretty good defense of the industry. And it’s not a terrible movie, it has Meryl Streep. > > Sounds reasonable to me. yeah, my first thought when i read **Doggo’s** post was this little speech from that movie: > [@Miranda Priestly](#): > > ‘This stuff’? Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select… I don’t know… that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise. It’s not lapis. It’s actually cerulean. And you’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent… wasn’t it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room… from a pile of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/38 "2013-09-10T20:48:25Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > Related question. > Why do fashionistas actually think they are important to the world? > There are countless magazines and some dedicated tv channels just for fashion. > Tell me why this most trivial of human activities receives so much attention, please. Related question. Why do people like things I don’t? There are countless magazines and some dedicated tv channels to things I don’t like. Tell me why these most trivial of human activities receive so much attention, please. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/39 "2013-09-10T20:52:10Z")
Off topic, but I watched a YouTube interview of Tim Gunn (because he’s always first in my mind), Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Michael Kors done about two years ago, about the development and success of Project Runway. One thing the Orange One said sort of struck me - something like PR has taught people that every piece of clothing they wear, the tie the put on, the yoga pants, etc, was designed by someone. Someone had to agonize about which fabrics to use, what colors to match, how wide to make a tie. On last week’s PR about two of the top three designs Kors said, “That would be on a discount rack somewhere. But you DID make it into the stores, so that’s good. It didn’t sell for full price, though.” And those were the winning designs for the sportswear challenge. My personal opinion of runway models aspect and posing is that this is what you’re supposed to imagine yourself as when you wear the garment. Sleek, fashionable, better than every other mortal around you because you’re wearing such spectacular clothes. StG ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392/40 "2013-09-11T16:06:05Z")
Have you noticed that this doesn’t apply to catalog models or other types of modeling that is directly marketed to consumers? The stuff on the runway is supposed to show the designer’s ideas, not actually be what would be sold in stores. So the focus really is on what the designer did, and not the models. I learned this from Project Runway, myself. That said, I have noticed that, when American’s try to sell sexy, smiling is much less common. There seems to be this dividing line between warm and sexy that cannot be crossed. That is what I notice that is different in East Asian cultures. You’ll see more smiling in, say, boob pics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-models-on-the-catwalk-never-smile/668392.md?page=3)