# Why Do supermodels Scowl? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580 "2007-07-20T19:42:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/1 "2007-07-20T19:42:57Z")
If you view old videos of fashion shows in the 1950’s, models mostly simled as they walked around. Now, it seems that models do their damndest to look angry! Why is this so? You are trying to sell something (overpriced clothing0-why not have a girl who smiles and looks pleasant? Same for the male models-they seem to smirk, mostly. NONE of them look particularly happy! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/2 "2007-07-20T19:47:45Z")
Because it’s a burden to be around people who are less attractive than you. When you’re as hot as they are, everyone is less attractive. Therefore, they are always in a lousy mood. ---
**Author:** ![Flea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d78d45/32.png) [@Flea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flea)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/3 "2007-07-20T19:51:05Z")
I don’t think they’re supposed to scowl, but it’s considered “high-fashion” to have a sort of intense look. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/4 "2007-07-20T19:52:00Z")
They are very, very hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/5 "2007-07-20T19:55:18Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica] They are very, very hungry. [/QUOTE] That’s what I was gonna say! If you had to live on nothing but a stalk of celery and a bottle of water a day, you’d damn sure be scowling, too. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/6 "2007-07-20T19:58:53Z")
they’re not scowling! they’re looking FIERCE! ask Tyra Banks! Seriously, though, I think it’s just part of the art (or “art”, if you prefer) of it all. Cheerleaders smile and beauty queens smile. High fashion is supposed to be a lot more edgy and interesting. And there’s a difference between scowling and that model look of superiority. It’s not huge, but it’s there. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9fc29f/32.png) [@I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_Ron_Burgundy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/7 "2007-07-20T20:04:47Z")
Regular models smile plenty. Look in the retail flyers that came with your newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/8 "2007-07-20T20:06:25Z")
Pouting is the new smiling. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/9 "2007-07-20T20:06:26Z")
Somebody finally got around to telling them that the death camp survivor and heroin chic looks are, like, SO 10 minutes ago. They haven’t gotten over it yet. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/10 "2007-07-20T20:12:17Z")
Maybe because super model talent scouts mostly stand on their heads during shows?\* - Yeah, I got nuthin’. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/11 "2007-07-20T20:12:24Z")
You’re supposed to look at the clothes, not the models. You’ll look at pretty, smiling, happy models’ faces first if given the choice. Scowling literally effaces the models so that the eye is drawn to the outfits instead. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/12 "2007-07-20T20:13:53Z")
Apparently, they used to smile. Then one found the act of smiling constantly to be “too draining” and did the whole looking bored thing. Rather than firing her, the fashion designer said, “Interesting. Work with that.” No, seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/13 "2007-07-20T20:18:00Z")
It’s not a scowl. It’s a “look”. Watch _Zoolander_ sometime. Ben Stiller lampoons it perfectly. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/14 "2007-07-20T20:21:17Z")
This is actually a major reason I took to looking at pictures of Japanese models instead of American/European models. The Japanese girls smile a whole lot more. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/15 "2007-07-20T20:22:59Z")
It isn’t a scowl, it is a look of intensity and superiority. It isn’t enough that they obviously look better than everyone else, now the look on their faces let’s you know that they are well aware of it. And are a bit annoyed by it. Plus you can’t smile while sucking in your cheeks to make them look heroin hollowed. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/16 "2007-07-20T20:30:07Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] This is actually a major reason I took to looking at pictures of Japanese models instead of American/European models. The Japanese girls smile a whole lot more. [/QUOTE] Which is precisely Exapno’s point. They don’t smile because you aren’t supposed to be looking at the models, you’re supposed to be looking at the clothes. All the “because they’re hungry” jokes aside, models DO, of course, smile most of the time, if by “models” you mean all models. The women who model in Sears catalogs, who model at trade shows, for billboards, in commercials for Gap stuff, etc. are almost all smiling. They’re getting across, to the consumer, the impression that the products they’re selling make them happy. International fashion is unique inthat the models are primarily modelling not to the general public, but to buyers and people in the fashion industry. These are people who’ve forgotten more about clothes than you or I will ever know, and they’re not fooled by a smile. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/17 "2007-07-20T20:32:22Z")
1. They know how phony the fashion industry is, and they’re jaded. They know they are supermodels because they are unnaturally tall and thin. It’s not good enough; the designers want them thinner. 2. They do what the photographer tell them to do. He says to look angry, and they look angry. Besides, smiling makes wrinkles, and wrinkles cut into income. 3. Backstage, they are rushed around like entry level (naked) kitchen help. They are mere livestock to the stage manager. 4. Despite being world famous and rich, they haven’t had a decent meal in years. I’m not here to weep for the poor, abused supermodels. This is more about the twisted fashion industry. I won’t ask, “How stupid and obediant do they think we are?” I already know. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermodels-scowl/412580/18 "2007-07-20T20:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] If you view old videos of fashion shows in the 1950’s, models mostly smiled as they walked around. Now, it seems that models do their damndest to look angry! [/QUOTE] Models apparently were pouty/sullen a long time ago as well. There’s a subplot in Herman Wouk’s _The Caine Mutiny_ (which was set in the South Pacific in WWII) in which one of the destroyer’s officers develops a fixation on a model in a magazine photo. The model is described as having a haughty, insulted look as though someone had offered her a fish to hold. 😃