model morph

I found a German study that digitally averaged together a random sample of female faces. It made me wonder how this composite face would compare to the average model's. So I decided to do my own miniature version of the study, using a nifty free program for Windows called Morpher and 20 model polaroids I chose at random from thefashionspot.com. Here's a sample of some of the faces I used:

Here's the final composite (right) compared to the German study's composite (left):

I was struck by how much more neotenous the model composite looks than the average woman composite. 'Neoteny' refers to the retention of childlike traits into adulthood.

One caveat is that models are disproportionately young, so my sample undoubtedly leans younger than the German study's. But that wouldn't account for such a striking difference. The average age of my sample was about 18. By that age our features have more or less settled, and change slowly from then on.

The basic proportions of the model composite are closer to those of a young child than what you'd expect for a girl in late adolescence. Most strikingly childlike are the wide set eyes and short distance between the glabella (browbone) and mouth and tapering face shape.

Researchers have long recognized neoteny as a strong predictor of beauty, so these results are not at all surprising. In one study, a computer estimated the average age of a sample of fashion models as seven years old!

Even compared to a composite of only attractive women (rated by people in the study), the model composite is strikingly more neotenous.

Compare on both composites the distance between the pupils (interpupillary distance) to the vertical distance from the midpoint between the eyes to the lip part. The ratio is smaller for the attractive female composite, meaning her face is more 'mature' in terms of proportions.

Which composite is more attractive is in the eye of the beholder, but this demonstrates why certain faces are considered "model material" while others, including some very attractive ones, are not. The look now in vogue is extreme neoteny and not all attractive women have that (though there has been a slight shift toward more mature faces in the last couple of years).

Model material is one of those elusive traits many can spot but few can describe. You may hear the mention of specific features like 'big eyes, small noses, full lips," etc, but neoteny is clearly the common thread tying them together.