Why do models never smile?

Ah, yes. Very true. Today they have to look mean and moody.

This is what they are told to do, so they do it.

One niece was a model for Storm- and they had to look thin, and glum.

Probably look miserable because of the ghastly clothes they're forced to model!

Because they re told not to smile, the pouty angry look is in
Look at photos ( not models) at the turn of the century No one smiled they all looked into the camera with a po face
Times change

Botox?

Probably very hungry, going by appearances!!

I buy quite a lot of clothes from White Stuff and Seasalt. Many of their models are smiling, or have a hint of a smile in photographs. Some are more 'moody' poses though.

As others have said, it’s not the model’s decision how to pose it is the clients they are working for who require a certain look/atmosphere , the artistic director and the photographer.

I always think the glum expression is almost a challenge to ensure you don’t laugh at the ridiculous get-ups some of the models are wearing!

BlueBelle

Because they re told not to smile, the pouty angry look is in
Look at photos ( not models) at the turn of the century No one smiled they all looked into the camera with a po face
Times change

They didn’t smile because they had to hold a pose and stay still for a relatively long time, or the image would be blurred.

It's because any expression distracts from the clothes they model apparently
I wish they would give it a try. I would love to see normal sized models smiling.
If you are reading this - take note all you designers out there.

If they smile, it’s probably a lot more obvious that they are normal teenaged children

I’ve just looked on three sites, M&S, Joules and Joe Brown’s about 50% are laughing/smiling.

I listened to part of a podcast about this and related fashion issues recently. It was a man talking and I found his voice irritating so didn't listen to it all. His main argument seemed to be that women's fashion at the moment veers to androgyny with bosoms, as he called them, not discernible, nor waists, nor women's form generally. He also commented on the bored looks of the female models.

I've actually stopped looking at certain companies' ads for women's clothes because I find their bored and, frankly, stupid-looking models' facial expressions off-putting. There are enough places from which to buy clothes whose adverts use smiley models and some in which the models – whom you see from season to season – actually seem to enjoy their job.

I was just thinking of catwalk models, yes, you are right JaxJacky
And I think that models these days are a little bit more diverse too.
Still plenty of room for improvement, but it is better now