Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Illustrations (p. ix)
• Acknowledgments (p. xi)
• 1 Entry (p. 1)
• 2 Economics of the Catwalk (p. 27)
• 3 Becoming a Look (p. 71)
• 4 The Tastemakers (p. 121)
• 5 Size Zero High-End Ethnic (p. 170)
• 6 Runway to Gender (p. 209)
• 7 Exit (p. 249)
• Appendix: The Precarious Labor of Ethnography (p. 263)
• Notes (p. 267)
• Bibliography (p. 283)
• Index (p. 297)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Former model and current Boston University sociology professor Mears provides an insider's look at the modeling industry from the perspective of sociology. In addition to utilizing data from interviews with 40 models and 40 clients in London and New York, Mears offers first-hand stories about the humiliation inherent in the industry. She tackles tough and complex subjects, such as the economics of race in modeling (white consumers buy Prada, so advertisements feature white models) and the presence of "institutionalized racism," while also examining male modeling, including the darker "gay for pay" practice. Learning to lie, as Mears shows, is just part of the job. While probably too complex for the average reader, this is a well-researched, well-written, and thorough study of the industry. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

CHOICE Review

Images of fashion models can be seen everywhere, but viewers rarely stop to think about what it really takes to make a model. Mears (sociology, Boston Univ.) demonstrates that it involves far more than genetic good fortune to create a successful model. Mears worked as a model while she conducted her research, and she combines a serious, scholarly interpretation of the gendered implications of modeling with fascinating personal evidence about how these theories apply to the real world. Models, she argues, are the product of complex social interactions among designers, agents, bookers, and other individuals in the fashion industry who must be ahead of trends but also predict where the ever-changing public taste will go next. Modeling requires complex financial transactions between the players, with models, the raw material of the trade, often coming in last in profits. Moving beyond simplistic analyses of the sexist gaze, Mears is rigorous in her analysis of the conservative sexual and racial stereotypes that models embody, but refreshingly honest about the opportunities and excitement that modeling provides young women and men. Mears's book represents an original, highly readable contribution to the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. R. A. Standish San Joaquin Delta College