What Do You Want to Know: Why So Serious?

I apologize for not delivering "What do you want to Know Wednesday?" on time. I was experiencing some technical difficulties yesterday. For today, the feature is "What do You want to Know Thursday" which simply doesn't have the same alliterative ring to it, does it?

Today's question is brought to us by devoted reader and local fashion gadfly, Clarissa S.:

Will it ever be stylish again for fashion models to smile? And what brought around the popularity of the dour/grim/bitter/pissed-off/bored/dazed visage in the first place?

I'm glad you asked. In short, the answer is, "It probably won't be fashionable for models to smile on the runway." For explanation, I look to New York Time's writer John Tierney who addressed this in greater depth than I did three years ago.

In his article, Tierney summarizes what social psychologists at New Mexico University found in their study of facial expression "trends." Their conclusion? "Lower status individuals appear to smile more than higher status individuals." If a model is working a high-end runway, she'll look stern. Lower-end work (like catalog work) results in smiles aplenty. Professor Ketelaar goes on to say:

“I believe that the smiling faces of the models for the lower priced brands are simply conveying information regarding the social status of the brand image, rather than attempting to make customers feel better. Sometimes the advertiser must make a trade-off between advertising high status and presenting an emotionally positive image. Thus, the non-smiling faces of the higher status brands are not trying to make the consumer feel bad; they are simply attempting to display the signals that are associated with higher status. We liked Elvis even when he sneered at us from the stage because the contemptuous sneer is typically produced by individuals with higher status. Although we don’t generally like contemptuous individuals, most folks admire higher status individuals and want to be around them. Thus, the irony is that higher status brands are creating a positive image -– high status—by using a negative signal (lack of a smile).”

Personally, I feel more relaxed when I can control my face. If I'm stoic or stern, I am probably feeling pretty confident about the situation in which I find myself. When I'm nervous, I'll grin like a big, dumb fool - which probably conveys to people that I am a big, dumb fool. Note to self: change this.

The question of whether sending stoic models down the runway was an actual, conscious attempt on the part of nearly every major fashion designer in the industry is simply too big to speculate. I think that we automatically make those subconscious distinctions and this has carried over into how we expect models to look when representing brands. What brought about the popularity of this "trend" is our own expectations of what "high status" and "low status" people should look like.

However, there are some great fashion brands out there that allow their models to smile. Take Sonia Rykiel's Fall '07 runway or Suno's Fall 2010 runway.

Suno

Suno

Sonia Rykiel

Sonia Rykiel

Personally, I think they look great when they smile - like they're actually happy to be wearing the clothes. While there are occasional exceptions to the rule, you will likely see the majority of models on the runway with grim faces on.