The Trouble With Modern-Day Models

Veteran model Daphne Selfe has a few things to say about her younger counterparts. At 87, Selfe is old enough to remember the early days of modelling, when models were taught decorum - something she feels is missing these days.

"We were taught manners, how to approach people, go for a job, and how to get in and out of a car without showing your knickers," she said at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival this week, adding of the current catwalk stars: "They all look so sullen now. Why are they so miserable? Always enjoy it. You should always look pleasant."

Her critique did not stop there. As well as decrying that models were no longer required to learn to walk with books balancing on their heads, she also questioned why they no longer took their jackets off half way down the catwalk, as they used to do, reports The Times - although arguably this is more a comment on the creative direction, than a model's lack of talent.

Selfe does have an answer to the problems she talked about though - her online academy, that would equip models with the necessary tools: "We would show them the right way to go about things," she said. "It would give the young models confidence."