What do you think?
Rate this book
Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model
Sociologist Ashley Mears takes us behind the brightly lit runways and glossy advertisements of the fashion industry in this insider's study of the world of modeling. Mears, who worked as a model in New York and London, draws on observations as well as extensive interviews with male and female models, agents, clients, photographers, stylists, and others, to explore the economics and politics - and the arbitrariness - behind the business of glamour.
Exploring a largely hidden arena of cultural production, she shows how the right "look" is discovered, developed, and packaged to become a prized commodity. She examines how models sell themselves, how agents promote them, and how clients decide to hire them. An original contribution to the sociology of work in the new cultural economy, Pricing Beauty offers rich, accessible analysis of the invisible ways in which gender, race, and class shape worth in the marketplace.
Exploring a largely hidden arena of cultural production, she shows how the right "look" is discovered, developed, and packaged to become a prized commodity. She examines how models sell themselves, how agents promote them, and how clients decide to hire them. An original contribution to the sociology of work in the new cultural economy, Pricing Beauty offers rich, accessible analysis of the invisible ways in which gender, race, and class shape worth in the marketplace.
Audible Audio
First published January 1, 2011
47 people are currently reading
1177 people want to read
About the author
Ashley Mears
2 books46 followersAshley Mears is an American writer, sociologist, and former fashion model. She is currently an associate professor of sociology at Boston University. Mears is the author of Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model, and is regularly quoted in media as an academic expert in the culture and economics of fashion.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 16, 2012
When, oh when, will people learn that no one wants to read a dissertation? This one has that classic dry, formulaic, rigid dissertation style and structure. Let me tell you what this study will do. Now I will provide some sociological discussion to show you that this is a legitimate academic study. Then I will tell you what I am going to tell you. Remember how I said I was going to tell you something? Well, now I'm telling you! Don't forget the methodology--let me talk about that some more!
Some publisher clearly thought this would be an easy sell, but you just can't package a dissertation as a paperback and expect anyone to enjoy it. You're going to have to put more effort into it if you want me to spend my precious free time reading this. I don't even want to read my own graduate work, let alone anyone else's, in my free time.
Not actually counting this as "read".
Some publisher clearly thought this would be an easy sell, but you just can't package a dissertation as a paperback and expect anyone to enjoy it. You're going to have to put more effort into it if you want me to spend my precious free time reading this. I don't even want to read my own graduate work, let alone anyone else's, in my free time.
Not actually counting this as "read".
March 25, 2015
From the outside, it seems so simple; models appear as if from the ether onto the pages of catalogues and fashion magazines, on catwalks and billboards encouraging us to buy the latest things, except of course that the catwalk clothes are unwearable, that the models have unattainable bodies and that the fantasy we’re being sold is out of reach of all but the tiniest proportion – little more than the 1%, if that. There are few industries and occupations that spend as much time in the public eye, few that are the subject of such extensive critical and journalistic commentary, few that are as vaunted as sources of inexplicable celebrity as fashion modelling, and few that are despite all this commentary and critique able to be justified as part of the ‘new’ cultural economy that is providing a future for post-industrial, post-modernising capitalism. In short, fashion models occupy a complex and contradictory place in contemporary economies and societies – amongst other things, they are seen as vacuous and figures of contempt, replaceable bodies carrying new, late capitalism into its bright future and symbols of a patriarchal régime that keeps us imprisoned in a retrograde way of doing gender. They are also really, really big business, wrapped up inside a code of mystery where no-one really knows why it is any particular model seems to make it big. All this (and more) adds up to it being a puzzle that there is so little serious scholarly work that explores the cultures and economies of fashion modelling. Ashley Mears’ excellent book shows us just how important and useful research in this field can be.
Fashion modelling fits into so many contemporary scholarly debates and social concerns that an insightful academic text such as this one should be on a reading list for many of us concerned about issues as diverse as the precarity of labour, body projects, labour process, cultural value, making gender, the significance of cultural gatekeepers and the functioning of cultural economies, among other things. This is not a random list of current debates or issues, but part of the array of socio-cultural and academic debates Ashley Mears draws on. Be warned those of you looking for journalistic celebration or condemnation – this is a serious and in places demanding bit of sociology. It is scholarly with a sophisticated grasp of a body of sociological theory that for the most part remains implicit, framing and shaping the argument to structure its flow but without being pushed to the fore. This is almost certainly the result of Mears’ approach to the fieldwork in particular and the study as a whole: she seems to have got out into the field, begun to explore the situation and let the theory required for the analysis emerge from the evidence. For some, this is a form of ‘grounded theory’; in Mears’ case it seems to be a form of philosophical pragmatism – use the theory that works. For this analysis, that is an approach that draws on work by Erving Goffman interwoven with material drawn from Pierre Bourdieu and Arlie Hochschild. From Goffman we get the idea of the presentation of self (and a ‘backstage’ area of work that sustains that presentation); from Bourdieu we get the operation of systems of cultural value; from Hochschild we get emotional labour; together they make for some great sociology. Despite all this scholarship, it is also a richly layered and engaging insider's view of a complex cultural industry (as a good ethnography should be).
At the heart of the analysis is the manufacture of ‘the look’, that mysterious thing that successful models have that seems to be little more than good luck in the genetic lottery that made that particular woman the tall, thin, classically beautiful occupant of the fashion week catwalk… except that’s not what happens. Take, for instance, Kate Moss at 5’6” (1.7m in most of the world) with her slightly asymmetrical face that makes her distinctive rather than classically beautiful in the ‘unattainable’ idealised ‘girl-next-door’ manner of, say, a Kate Upton who is more likely to make Fashion Week news for the clothes she wore to lunch than on the catwalk. At its high-end – editorial rather than commercial work – the go-for look is ‘quirky’; she’s a bit gawky (or was at school). The key part of the problem though is that there is a huge number of ‘her’, with that ‘can’t-quite-put-a-finger-on-it’ thing, and that very many of 'her' are signed to agencies, have been scouted in suburban shopping malls, Croydon streets or, in Mears’ case, a lower Manhattan coffee shop and told they have a great look, but only a tiny proportion ‘make it’. It is this process that Mears unpacks expertly and elegantly in this book, wrapped up in all the caution we in academia have of careful justification of our position.
The thing about ‘the look’ is that it cannot be measured, yet it is valued in such a way that it is given a price; sometimes that price is financial, sometimes it is symbolic – but it is always a price, it is always valued. In a capitalist economy, anything with exchange value is the product of labour and if there is capitalist labour there is a labour process: although she never uses this term, Mears has unravelled the labour process of fashion model making. This labour process has three components – models, bookers/agencies and clients (other fashion professionals mainly) – all of whom perform a different function and all of whom merit a close analysis based on an ethnographic approach that included several years in the ‘field’ working for agencies in London and New York. She turns her attention to each of these players, starting with the models, the ‘front of house’ of the industry and the things being ‘made’ to argue that their role is to be constantly at work on their body projects to enhance their body capital. Entry criteria to the occupation are low – models need to ‘look good’ and there is no programme of study as such although there is a huge amount of work involved in continuing to ‘look good’ – but crucial to success, in having ‘the look’, is the emotional labour in maintaining the contacts, profile and personality that turn ‘looking good’ into (financially or symbolically) paying jobs.
The second group are bookers: for Mears this group is the core of the industry making models in that they produce cultural value. Bookers are, in Bourdieu’s terms, cultural brokers (or intermediaries). They act as bridges between models and clients, having a sense of who is best suited to which client for which campaign, shoot or event. In doing so they produce value by acting as a lynchpin who, in Mears’ terms, hold together the “social interactions, shared meanings and culture, and institutionalized routines to make uncertain actions a bit more predictable” (p247): that is, they make the ‘market’ work. Finally, there are the clients, as Mears’ calls them (reflecting again the influence of Bourdieu) the tastemakers. In this case ‘clients’ are a broad group including stylists, casting directors, designers, photographers and magazine editors. Whereas models are ‘front of house’, on stage, and bookers are clearly backstage workers, clients in this case are both, with some designers, photographers and editors being high profile public figures (less so stylists and casting directors) most ‘work their magic’ behind the scenes while also maintaining a tight network and information flows promoting looks, images, models and bookers – much of this economy runs on gifts and reciprocity. When taken together, Mears’ analysis and presentation of the interactions of these three roles in the cultural economy of fashion modelling give us rich insight to the operation of a seemingly mysterious cultural industry.
A key aspect of any labour process analysis is the politics of power in the workplace, and while the tripartite discussion of model-booker-client unpacks many of the structural questions Mears shifts focus for the final two substantive chapters to ask broader sociological questions about issues of ‘size’ – the so-called Size Zero debate (so-called because Size Zero only has meaning in the US) – or ‘race’ and what the modelling industry tells us about gender. Her approach to each of these is sharp, and for the Size Zero issue turns on the essential distinction between commercial (clothes catalogues and the like) and editorial/catwalk modelling making the point that much of the debate has centred on editorial it might have (and needs to) take on a very different slant if the focus is to be commercial. Running this debate alongside the question of ‘race’ however allows her to open up a key facet in the manufacture of ‘the look’: the imagined community of shoppers invoked by cultural intermediaries and tastemakers, routinely described as ‘middle America’, ‘Ohio’, ‘my mother’ and other invocations of a cultural ‘mainstream’ allowing her to enhance and enrich our grasp of the forces at play in the invention of ‘the look’ – who might appeal to a ‘mainstream’ in commercial modelling and who might have that edgy appeal to the cognoscenti and the cultural élite, to work well in editorial. In turning to gender, she might surprise some readers in that the issue shaping this discussion is why male models are paid so much less than women, and why it is so widely accepted. This discussion is fascinating both for the way it nearly all the players in the industry accept the disparity, the way that many of the men downplay modelling as a career and the way in her argument women’s higher incomes is part of their powerlessness and social marginalisation – that is, they are paid more because they exist to be looked at: it is counterintuitive and it is convincing.
If you’re still here after 1500 words, thank you. This book has an awful lot to offer those of us who work in cultural sociology and the sociology of work for three main reasons: 1) it takes seriously an investigation of the creation of value in the cultural industries; 2) in focusing on the labour process (again, my term not Mears’) we have a clear analysis of the politics of power in an industry where in some cases not being paid signifies greater status than regular high incomes (leaving the so-called supermodel to one side); 3) the focus on body capital and body projects means that much of what is here becomes transferable to other obvious areas such as acting or sex work as well as to less obvious areas (and this is my interest) such as to sport. Admittedly, there are major differences in these industries’ body projects but there are significant similarities (in my case, I am looking for ways into labour process issues in sport; I’ve got a whole bunch of better ideas as a result of this). On top of that, there is a really good methodological appendix exploring problematic issues in this ethnography: I’ll be using that with my students.
Completing a PhD and converting to a monograph is a rite de passage in many academic disciplines; in many cases the outcome is a major piece of work that is never likely to be a big seller but is for those of us in the field an important way into a new scholar’s body of work in a way that can be developed in a more sustained way than shorter journal articles of book chapters. I read a lot of PhDs, and I’d read several published pieces by Mears before I came to this; they raised my expectations that I was due an important piece of work – those expectations have been realised. I also appreciated the recurring riff on glamour(ing) that runs through the text.
Fashion modelling fits into so many contemporary scholarly debates and social concerns that an insightful academic text such as this one should be on a reading list for many of us concerned about issues as diverse as the precarity of labour, body projects, labour process, cultural value, making gender, the significance of cultural gatekeepers and the functioning of cultural economies, among other things. This is not a random list of current debates or issues, but part of the array of socio-cultural and academic debates Ashley Mears draws on. Be warned those of you looking for journalistic celebration or condemnation – this is a serious and in places demanding bit of sociology. It is scholarly with a sophisticated grasp of a body of sociological theory that for the most part remains implicit, framing and shaping the argument to structure its flow but without being pushed to the fore. This is almost certainly the result of Mears’ approach to the fieldwork in particular and the study as a whole: she seems to have got out into the field, begun to explore the situation and let the theory required for the analysis emerge from the evidence. For some, this is a form of ‘grounded theory’; in Mears’ case it seems to be a form of philosophical pragmatism – use the theory that works. For this analysis, that is an approach that draws on work by Erving Goffman interwoven with material drawn from Pierre Bourdieu and Arlie Hochschild. From Goffman we get the idea of the presentation of self (and a ‘backstage’ area of work that sustains that presentation); from Bourdieu we get the operation of systems of cultural value; from Hochschild we get emotional labour; together they make for some great sociology. Despite all this scholarship, it is also a richly layered and engaging insider's view of a complex cultural industry (as a good ethnography should be).
At the heart of the analysis is the manufacture of ‘the look’, that mysterious thing that successful models have that seems to be little more than good luck in the genetic lottery that made that particular woman the tall, thin, classically beautiful occupant of the fashion week catwalk… except that’s not what happens. Take, for instance, Kate Moss at 5’6” (1.7m in most of the world) with her slightly asymmetrical face that makes her distinctive rather than classically beautiful in the ‘unattainable’ idealised ‘girl-next-door’ manner of, say, a Kate Upton who is more likely to make Fashion Week news for the clothes she wore to lunch than on the catwalk. At its high-end – editorial rather than commercial work – the go-for look is ‘quirky’; she’s a bit gawky (or was at school). The key part of the problem though is that there is a huge number of ‘her’, with that ‘can’t-quite-put-a-finger-on-it’ thing, and that very many of 'her' are signed to agencies, have been scouted in suburban shopping malls, Croydon streets or, in Mears’ case, a lower Manhattan coffee shop and told they have a great look, but only a tiny proportion ‘make it’. It is this process that Mears unpacks expertly and elegantly in this book, wrapped up in all the caution we in academia have of careful justification of our position.
The thing about ‘the look’ is that it cannot be measured, yet it is valued in such a way that it is given a price; sometimes that price is financial, sometimes it is symbolic – but it is always a price, it is always valued. In a capitalist economy, anything with exchange value is the product of labour and if there is capitalist labour there is a labour process: although she never uses this term, Mears has unravelled the labour process of fashion model making. This labour process has three components – models, bookers/agencies and clients (other fashion professionals mainly) – all of whom perform a different function and all of whom merit a close analysis based on an ethnographic approach that included several years in the ‘field’ working for agencies in London and New York. She turns her attention to each of these players, starting with the models, the ‘front of house’ of the industry and the things being ‘made’ to argue that their role is to be constantly at work on their body projects to enhance their body capital. Entry criteria to the occupation are low – models need to ‘look good’ and there is no programme of study as such although there is a huge amount of work involved in continuing to ‘look good’ – but crucial to success, in having ‘the look’, is the emotional labour in maintaining the contacts, profile and personality that turn ‘looking good’ into (financially or symbolically) paying jobs.
The second group are bookers: for Mears this group is the core of the industry making models in that they produce cultural value. Bookers are, in Bourdieu’s terms, cultural brokers (or intermediaries). They act as bridges between models and clients, having a sense of who is best suited to which client for which campaign, shoot or event. In doing so they produce value by acting as a lynchpin who, in Mears’ terms, hold together the “social interactions, shared meanings and culture, and institutionalized routines to make uncertain actions a bit more predictable” (p247): that is, they make the ‘market’ work. Finally, there are the clients, as Mears’ calls them (reflecting again the influence of Bourdieu) the tastemakers. In this case ‘clients’ are a broad group including stylists, casting directors, designers, photographers and magazine editors. Whereas models are ‘front of house’, on stage, and bookers are clearly backstage workers, clients in this case are both, with some designers, photographers and editors being high profile public figures (less so stylists and casting directors) most ‘work their magic’ behind the scenes while also maintaining a tight network and information flows promoting looks, images, models and bookers – much of this economy runs on gifts and reciprocity. When taken together, Mears’ analysis and presentation of the interactions of these three roles in the cultural economy of fashion modelling give us rich insight to the operation of a seemingly mysterious cultural industry.
A key aspect of any labour process analysis is the politics of power in the workplace, and while the tripartite discussion of model-booker-client unpacks many of the structural questions Mears shifts focus for the final two substantive chapters to ask broader sociological questions about issues of ‘size’ – the so-called Size Zero debate (so-called because Size Zero only has meaning in the US) – or ‘race’ and what the modelling industry tells us about gender. Her approach to each of these is sharp, and for the Size Zero issue turns on the essential distinction between commercial (clothes catalogues and the like) and editorial/catwalk modelling making the point that much of the debate has centred on editorial it might have (and needs to) take on a very different slant if the focus is to be commercial. Running this debate alongside the question of ‘race’ however allows her to open up a key facet in the manufacture of ‘the look’: the imagined community of shoppers invoked by cultural intermediaries and tastemakers, routinely described as ‘middle America’, ‘Ohio’, ‘my mother’ and other invocations of a cultural ‘mainstream’ allowing her to enhance and enrich our grasp of the forces at play in the invention of ‘the look’ – who might appeal to a ‘mainstream’ in commercial modelling and who might have that edgy appeal to the cognoscenti and the cultural élite, to work well in editorial. In turning to gender, she might surprise some readers in that the issue shaping this discussion is why male models are paid so much less than women, and why it is so widely accepted. This discussion is fascinating both for the way it nearly all the players in the industry accept the disparity, the way that many of the men downplay modelling as a career and the way in her argument women’s higher incomes is part of their powerlessness and social marginalisation – that is, they are paid more because they exist to be looked at: it is counterintuitive and it is convincing.
If you’re still here after 1500 words, thank you. This book has an awful lot to offer those of us who work in cultural sociology and the sociology of work for three main reasons: 1) it takes seriously an investigation of the creation of value in the cultural industries; 2) in focusing on the labour process (again, my term not Mears’) we have a clear analysis of the politics of power in an industry where in some cases not being paid signifies greater status than regular high incomes (leaving the so-called supermodel to one side); 3) the focus on body capital and body projects means that much of what is here becomes transferable to other obvious areas such as acting or sex work as well as to less obvious areas (and this is my interest) such as to sport. Admittedly, there are major differences in these industries’ body projects but there are significant similarities (in my case, I am looking for ways into labour process issues in sport; I’ve got a whole bunch of better ideas as a result of this). On top of that, there is a really good methodological appendix exploring problematic issues in this ethnography: I’ll be using that with my students.
Completing a PhD and converting to a monograph is a rite de passage in many academic disciplines; in many cases the outcome is a major piece of work that is never likely to be a big seller but is for those of us in the field an important way into a new scholar’s body of work in a way that can be developed in a more sustained way than shorter journal articles of book chapters. I read a lot of PhDs, and I’d read several published pieces by Mears before I came to this; they raised my expectations that I was due an important piece of work – those expectations have been realised. I also appreciated the recurring riff on glamour(ing) that runs through the text.
May 5, 2020
Must be silly to admit, but the book matches many of my experiences looking for a jobs of developer for the hedge funds in NYC. There are very familiar actors - recruiters creating a buzz, prestige butique funds and positions, they don't pay that much, as you have to take them as badges in your resume - and some less important, but certainly more lucrative places where you have to cache out. Scouting third world countries in attempts to bring new faces/ideas, etc.
Nevertheless, the book provides quite detailed insight to the fashion modeling industry, carefully painting all the actors, their motivations in each of the interactions, and their ultimate career goals.
The language is slightly dry, some places are unnecessary repetitive, other places seem to be outdated (as of 2020 and its instagram fashion), but overall - this is very good introduction for anyone who is up to make a career in extremely competitive field that run by gossip, uncertainty, and greed.
Nevertheless, the book provides quite detailed insight to the fashion modeling industry, carefully painting all the actors, their motivations in each of the interactions, and their ultimate career goals.
The language is slightly dry, some places are unnecessary repetitive, other places seem to be outdated (as of 2020 and its instagram fashion), but overall - this is very good introduction for anyone who is up to make a career in extremely competitive field that run by gossip, uncertainty, and greed.
October 25, 2021
Honestly…..did not expect this book to be THIS good. It was so thorough and genuinely eye opening and so…SMART. It’s such an in depth deep dive into the modelling industry with such a knowledgeable and rigorous eye, and I learnt so much about it all, as well as the field of sociological research. It’s just…very cool. The chapters about size, race, gender and all it’s observations about the market are all very meticulously argued and laid out and really highlight how industry outside of just modelling operates as well. I enjoyed it a lot, very balanced and solid, taught me a lot, I think. One thing I would’ve liked to see, would be the topic of gender diversity — the chapter on gender does do a fair bit of work on GENDER, and queerness as well, but still deals with it all in realm of cisnormativity and also within the binary of like male/female. I dunno, it’s just a small thing that made me wonder because in such a gendered industry it sorta begs the question: what if you’re neither? Anyway, still very good analysis and research regardless, seriously, those like, last chapters are killer.
March 24, 2019
This book is an ethnographic account of the fashion industry in the West. It articulates the labor behind the glamour - of models, designers, producers, photographers and agents. It also analyses how these actors construct a market for 'the look', out of their beliefs and shared practices, which shapes cultural and economic decisions of consumers. The book also peels apart the layers of gender, race and class that plays out in different ways in different segments of the fashion industry. This is an important work of social science because of its implications for our understanding of the increasingly precarious and uncertain nature of employment, something that has been ubiquitous in fashion.
August 16, 2012
Useless, 10-word review: Writing drier than saltine crackers, but really opened my eyes.
October 30, 2024
Smart book. Could make a fun tv show. [audiobook]
May 3, 2021
4.5 Forced to read this for my womens sociology class and found this book to be much more enjoyable than the last. I like how the author herself is a former model and a sociologist so we are able to read her own experiences among others. The quotes and dialogue from bookers, models, or clients were rather enjoyable and interesting to read. I wouldn't say that there is anything absolutely mind boggling that I did not know before and am now aware of about the fashion industry. The takeaways are fairly obvious that women tend to be paid more, face sexism, and are treated as objects. There were a couple concepts that were new to me such as commercial vs editorial models and how they are paid. Other concepts addressed with race and gender stereotypes in the beauty industry are not foreign knowledge to the average consumer.
“Fuck the Bourgeoisie” - Feral
“Fuck the Bourgeoisie” - Feral
November 22, 2022
4.5 stars rounded up
I read this probably in 2014 or 2015, but it has stayed with me since then. This book talks a lot about the Western modeling industry. It goes into the differences between commercial models (i.e. Target ads) and editorial models (i.e. Vogue ads) and how this difference controls a lot of the work. With commercial work, models (and the agencies they work with) will constantly make money, but they'll never get the big work that could happen with editorial work. Editorial models will work often for no pay (but prestige) and the ones that make it big make tons of money. Agencies need to balance out having enough commercial models to pay the bills, but not too many, because then editorial clients will not take them seriously. The author also goes into how race and size inclusivity play into and also explores the differences between male models and female models (modeling is one of the only careers where women make more than men). Definitely recommend!
I read this probably in 2014 or 2015, but it has stayed with me since then. This book talks a lot about the Western modeling industry. It goes into the differences between commercial models (i.e. Target ads) and editorial models (i.e. Vogue ads) and how this difference controls a lot of the work. With commercial work, models (and the agencies they work with) will constantly make money, but they'll never get the big work that could happen with editorial work. Editorial models will work often for no pay (but prestige) and the ones that make it big make tons of money. Agencies need to balance out having enough commercial models to pay the bills, but not too many, because then editorial clients will not take them seriously. The author also goes into how race and size inclusivity play into and also explores the differences between male models and female models (modeling is one of the only careers where women make more than men). Definitely recommend!
March 28, 2012
This fascinating book is Ashley Mears doctoral thesis. Since she'd been a fashion model, I can easily understand why she found this interesting enough to study. For my purposes, I was looking for something that would help me write about the world of fashion models with some confidence. This book gave me that, but then the second half of the book delves into inequities based on things like race and gender which was equally fascinating. I know I'll never look at those high fashion models the same way. There's just something wrong with an industry that worships at the feet of a 5'10"+ woman who weighs 117 pounds. These women are stick figures.
September 8, 2022
Written by a now professor of sociology at Boston university this insiders look at modelling is a well researched look at what it is to be a model in the mid2000s. It does not offer anything too ground breaking, and instead covers topics such as size zero, race, gender etc
I felt it didnt add anything new to the conversation, and though we followed two models through their career it lacked a personal touch. Further it didnt add any solutions to these issues either.
This was clearly a academic study turned book, and whilst it covered alot, it did leave me wanting more.
I felt it didnt add anything new to the conversation, and though we followed two models through their career it lacked a personal touch. Further it didnt add any solutions to these issues either.
This was clearly a academic study turned book, and whilst it covered alot, it did leave me wanting more.
November 16, 2018
An informative read, but it's written more in the form of an academic dissertation - not the most engaging read.
November 30, 2023
This is my second Ashley Mears book and I've completely read them in a different order. I read VIP first and was so intrigued by Mears I had to find out more of what she had written. I was surprised, and extremely excited, to find out she wrote on my biggest passion - models! I have restarted this book so many times because of my own pure laziness. But when I decided to buy the physical paperback, I knew that I was serious about finishing it. And after 5 months of laziness, picking it up and putting it down and vice versa, I HAVE FINISHED IT!
If you see my physical copy, I have annotated it like crazy because I know I will go back to it as part of my research on models myself. The bibliography is one that I will also attack later because there are so many other works that touch on the same topic that I had no idea about.
Model Studies (which I don't think is a real name but walk with me) is very underrepresented in academia despite models being so entrenched in our daily lives through advertising that guide how we view beauty in relation to others and, at our most self-aware, ourselves. I always knew modelling was gruelling and that looks were based off white supremacy, but to have it linked to marketing, advertising and aesthetic labour was eye-opening. It made me understand the industry beyond shallow comprehension and remove the magic - or glamour as Mears puts it - of what being model is. I have a lot of unlearning to do because I still find myself charmed by the glamour but, it's always good to have a physical reminder with annotations and bookmarks.
I really loved how she delved into the wage gap of male models and explained how male models' association with being on display means they get paid less because conversely, women are better at being objectified. Hence, reifying gender norms. Reading that chapter really opened my own bias that I have towards male models and how I seldom see them as victims of this line of work because of male privilege. But now I see that actually, male models also have their own struggles in the industry that aren't talked about. They become these invisible entities that nobody checks up on because of this fake sense of feminism. It was probably the most insightful chapter of the book.
Ashley Mears, you have done it again! I cannot wait for the new book if it's in the works. She is definitely the leading scholar in Model Studies. I've recommended this book to just about every model I meet!
5/5
If you see my physical copy, I have annotated it like crazy because I know I will go back to it as part of my research on models myself. The bibliography is one that I will also attack later because there are so many other works that touch on the same topic that I had no idea about.
Model Studies (which I don't think is a real name but walk with me) is very underrepresented in academia despite models being so entrenched in our daily lives through advertising that guide how we view beauty in relation to others and, at our most self-aware, ourselves. I always knew modelling was gruelling and that looks were based off white supremacy, but to have it linked to marketing, advertising and aesthetic labour was eye-opening. It made me understand the industry beyond shallow comprehension and remove the magic - or glamour as Mears puts it - of what being model is. I have a lot of unlearning to do because I still find myself charmed by the glamour but, it's always good to have a physical reminder with annotations and bookmarks.
I really loved how she delved into the wage gap of male models and explained how male models' association with being on display means they get paid less because conversely, women are better at being objectified. Hence, reifying gender norms. Reading that chapter really opened my own bias that I have towards male models and how I seldom see them as victims of this line of work because of male privilege. But now I see that actually, male models also have their own struggles in the industry that aren't talked about. They become these invisible entities that nobody checks up on because of this fake sense of feminism. It was probably the most insightful chapter of the book.
Ashley Mears, you have done it again! I cannot wait for the new book if it's in the works. She is definitely the leading scholar in Model Studies. I've recommended this book to just about every model I meet!
5/5
July 21, 2025
Overall a good overview of the fashion modeling industry (and thanks to the book, I’m intrigued to see what Metro’s HQ actually looks like).
In essence, modeling can be split into two parts: the mainstream models (think of Kate Upton) and editorial models (think of Twiggy). The latter often seem “ready for camera” but in real life are “strange looking” (the models themselves often describe themselves like that). The author noted that the fate of models’ careers are often up to “fate” as no one in the industry can pinpoint exactly what the trend might sway next: could the next fad be size 0 models or exotic ethnicity? No one knows.
(There are also a lot of sociology and feminist theory blended in the book, rendering want to read more on both subjects.)
In essence, modeling can be split into two parts: the mainstream models (think of Kate Upton) and editorial models (think of Twiggy). The latter often seem “ready for camera” but in real life are “strange looking” (the models themselves often describe themselves like that). The author noted that the fate of models’ careers are often up to “fate” as no one in the industry can pinpoint exactly what the trend might sway next: could the next fad be size 0 models or exotic ethnicity? No one knows.
(There are also a lot of sociology and feminist theory blended in the book, rendering want to read more on both subjects.)
October 23, 2020
An interesting description of how the fashion world works. The ultimate goal is to understand why only very few people reach success: it is complicated. Some of it is pure luck. Models' lifes are much harder than I expected. Fashion is a market completely distorted, with very different incentives from other spheres of human economic activity. What I found interesting is the description of the differences between the editorial and the commercial circuits (with the editorial world pursuing a completely inverted eco chamber-type economic logic), the author's analysis of bias against minorities and male models.
October 24, 2019
Very unique in my opinion since the author, a sociologists, was also a model and experiencing the business firsthand. It's what one would expect of the entertainment industry, absurdly insulting and disappointing but she gets into the details and shares real events and quotes from everyone in the business so one of left feeling they are familiarized with the different corners. Very important book for anyone hoping to create change in the field because it describes very well what goes on on a day to day basis.
June 13, 2020
Was mesmerized by this, but also somewhat dissapointed.
They talk about the social effects and overall I feel like I have a really good model of people-selection & promotion on multiple levels which will be useful. However it never goes deep enough to talk about the actual causes, first movers, etc, and doesn't actually uncover anything that people have difficulty talking about. Also I feel like I have a better understanding of commercial vs prestige markets and their interaction.
They talk about the social effects and overall I feel like I have a really good model of people-selection & promotion on multiple levels which will be useful. However it never goes deep enough to talk about the actual causes, first movers, etc, and doesn't actually uncover anything that people have difficulty talking about. Also I feel like I have a better understanding of commercial vs prestige markets and their interaction.
September 8, 2022
Such a fascinating book about modeling, gender, race, and the cultural economy! I particularly loved the analyses in the race and gender chapters. Overall, the book is theoretically dense yet also describes the author's personal experience as a fashion model, so there are personal touches in addition to a rigorous analysis of the modeling industry. Highly recommend!
April 2, 2020
יכל להיות מעניין אם במקום לקחת את הדיסרטציה שלה ולפרסם אותה סתם ככה, היא הייתה טורחת להפוך אותה לספר קריא יותר.
חבל.
חבל.
December 3, 2020
Interesting insight into the sociology and machinations of the global modelling industry. Much meaner than new world gig economy work.
February 14, 2024
今天上课带学生读的，是不错的一部作品。我问学生aesthetic labor ��不是在人与人之间维护关系上有可以借鉴的地方？
May 24, 2024
Very interesting. Taking one star off because the whole "modern society is racist and misogynistic" trope got old quite fast.
June 27, 2024
Read as research and it gave me some interesting info.
December 29, 2024
3.5 stars but since she was my professor and I’m rounding up to 4. I have my qualms but as a sociology student who is researching bodily capital, I thought this was fascinating.
October 30, 2025
Relatively interesting to read considering it is mostly from an academic research. A rich empirical work for anyone studying fashion, labor markets, cultural industries, or gender/race studies.
June 29, 2021
A burlesque, but a fascinating one.
This book is a thorough, academic treatment of the modeling industry. The author ably covers a number of fascinating sociological aspects of one of the more extraordinary industries in modern culture. This is so even though really she never defines beauty, and so has a tough time talking about its economics.
Part of the problem rests in the style of the study--focused as it is on interview. It is clear that the author is very bright, but she insists on forming her argument around quotes from industry professionals, very few of which are as sophisticated or insightful as she is. The result is chapters filled with inane statements and colloquialisms that can't possibly be viewed in an intellectual light. The 'like's and 'you know's can be humorous if viewed objectively, but certainly detract from an otherwise engaging survey.
As it is, then, it seems as though no real point is made, and one can refute the vague impressions that are made with mere questions. For instance, this reader would have liked to have seen a more robust investigation into the nature of beauty, and why certain models are chosen over others. Thanks to a myriad of quotes, we know that commercial models appeal to 'your mom' and editorial models look rather 'freakish', but we don't necessarily know why that is. If nothing else, this investigation would help in the attempt to uncover some of the more provocative arguments made in the chapter on race and thinness.
Throughout, however, the author maintains a very academic tone, treating all of her subjects as if they were saying anything important. The result is something of a burlesque--perhaps more telling about the state of academia than anything else.
The issue of 'pricing beauty' is nonetheless a fascinating one, and the material that this book presents is a wonderful introduction. With regard to the book's grand scope, one will see how modeling is a reflection of many of the great concerns and opportunities modern culture faces. And, contrary to some of the book's insinuations, the fashion world represents one of the last real instances of pure market capitalism, where individuals buy and sell according to their own preferences and compete against one another to attain the elusive commodity that is 'the look'.
This book is a thorough, academic treatment of the modeling industry. The author ably covers a number of fascinating sociological aspects of one of the more extraordinary industries in modern culture. This is so even though really she never defines beauty, and so has a tough time talking about its economics.
Part of the problem rests in the style of the study--focused as it is on interview. It is clear that the author is very bright, but she insists on forming her argument around quotes from industry professionals, very few of which are as sophisticated or insightful as she is. The result is chapters filled with inane statements and colloquialisms that can't possibly be viewed in an intellectual light. The 'like's and 'you know's can be humorous if viewed objectively, but certainly detract from an otherwise engaging survey.
As it is, then, it seems as though no real point is made, and one can refute the vague impressions that are made with mere questions. For instance, this reader would have liked to have seen a more robust investigation into the nature of beauty, and why certain models are chosen over others. Thanks to a myriad of quotes, we know that commercial models appeal to 'your mom' and editorial models look rather 'freakish', but we don't necessarily know why that is. If nothing else, this investigation would help in the attempt to uncover some of the more provocative arguments made in the chapter on race and thinness.
Throughout, however, the author maintains a very academic tone, treating all of her subjects as if they were saying anything important. The result is something of a burlesque--perhaps more telling about the state of academia than anything else.
The issue of 'pricing beauty' is nonetheless a fascinating one, and the material that this book presents is a wonderful introduction. With regard to the book's grand scope, one will see how modeling is a reflection of many of the great concerns and opportunities modern culture faces. And, contrary to some of the book's insinuations, the fashion world represents one of the last real instances of pure market capitalism, where individuals buy and sell according to their own preferences and compete against one another to attain the elusive commodity that is 'the look'.
February 12, 2017
In no way should this dissertation have been inadequately forced into book form. It was difficult to identify an argument or research question in this work. Mears consistently contradicted herself and back tracked on any personal criticisms she may have accidentally let slip. This was akin to a child's book report on very limited sections of the fashion industry. If this were not some seemingly punitive form of advancement for my masters, I would have put it down immediately.
November 7, 2016
as an ethnography, this book is amazingly sociological not anthropological in the sense that it draws a good many sociological classics like Goffman and Simmel. I am more interested in this distinction of academic traditions of different social science subjects, though departing from its content. Sociology tends to view everything from the point of view of social constructionism, most clearly in the book the themes of aesthetic, fashion and beauty, which is not unproblematic. I would expect more of the review of the "essence" of beauty and fashion, which seems odd if they are deconstructed by a set of cultural powers at play.
January 22, 2017
After a party at one model agency decided to understand what's behind the jolly and confident faces models and their agents (besides the coke, of course).
The takeaway: catalogue models are beautiful by rural mom and pop standards, they earn stable income doing dull work. Edgy look models are used by haute couture industry with unstable and mostly low pay. Agencies need the edgy models to keep the brand 'cool', so they keep and subsidize the edgy ones while there is still hope that they will be the next 'new look'.
Don't get into modelling as a man unless you're into really low pay and often homosexual abuse.
The takeaway: catalogue models are beautiful by rural mom and pop standards, they earn stable income doing dull work. Edgy look models are used by haute couture industry with unstable and mostly low pay. Agencies need the edgy models to keep the brand 'cool', so they keep and subsidize the edgy ones while there is still hope that they will be the next 'new look'.
Don't get into modelling as a man unless you're into really low pay and often homosexual abuse.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews