The 100-Model Glamour List
A hundred names in a single countdown: the big list feature, and why men's magazines kept coming back to it.
Few formats were as dependable for the men's magazines of 2009 to 2012 as the top-100 list. FHM's annual poll was the most famous example, but the weeklies and monthlies all ran their own versions, and the glamour world produced plenty of lists of its own. This page looks back at one of those hundred-strong countdowns and at the format itself.
Why a hundred?
The number matters. Ten is a quick read; a hundred is an event. A list that long can carry an entire issue or a special edition, it gives room for established names and newcomers alike, and it guarantees that every reader will find something to disagree with. That arguing was half the point: the letters page and the forums would fill up for weeks with complaints about who was too high, too low or missing altogether.
How the list was put together
Big lists drew on a mix of sources. Some were driven by reader votes, others by an editorial panel, and many quietly combined the two. The pictures usually came from existing shoots rather than new sessions, so the design job was to make a hundred different images sit together on the page, often with a consistent border, numbering style and a line of copy per entry.
- The top ten usually got full or half pages
- The middle of the list ran as grids of smaller entries
- New entries and big climbers were often flagged for attention
The pictures belong to their original publishers and are not reproduced on this page. Other lists and calendars from the period are gathered on the hub.
More: Calendars & lists