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Beauty and fashion documentaries

There are often sacrifices made in the pursuit of perfection. BBC Select is home to BBC beauty and fashion documentaries that explore those sacrifices in detail. If you live in the US or Canada, you can sign up for BBC Select to view a broad selection of beauty documentaries covering topics like plastic surgery, as well as fashion documentaries on luminaries such as photographer Erwin Blumenfeld and Manolo Blahnik.

The Body Beautiful: Ancient Greeks, Good Looks and Glamour

Stream The Body Beautiful: Ancient Greeks, Good Looks and Glamour on BBC Select

Why were the Ancient Greeks so obsessed with nudes and immortalizing the body?

Classicist Natalie Haynes leads us on a journey into ancient beauty and modern glamor in this illuminating BBC history documentary. She examines how our current obsession with looking good goes back thousands of years to the time of Troy.

Can these figures from the past teach us anything about modern bodily obsessions?

Liberty Of London

Stream Liberty Of London on BBC Select

It’s one of the most unique shopping experiences on the planet. But what makes Liberty of London tick?

Founded in 1875 and housed in a huge, ornate building, the store is synonymous with luxury and daring design.

For the first time, cameras go behind the scenes in this fly-on-the-wall documentary and record all the conflicts and calamities that take place when the customer isn’t looking.

Get ready for some radical retail therapy.

Clothes to Die For

Watch Clothes to Die For on BBC Select

In April 2013, 18-year-old Shirin became one of thousands of people trapped inside the Rana Plaza building when it collapsed. It became the worst industrial disaster of the 21st century.

In this moving documentary, Shirin and other survivors tell their remarkable story of survival and escape.

How much did greed and corruption in the Bangladeshi garment industry lead to this very human tragedy?

The Plastic Surgery Capital of the World

Watch The Plastic Surgery Capital of the World on BBC Select

60% of Korean girls in their 20s have had cosmetic surgery. Teenagers are given eye lifts as graduation gifts.

After being burned as a child, Annie Price endured countless hours under the knife. Now, she’s considering having work done on her own terms.

In cosmetic surgery’s capital, Korea, she finds a country where a nose job is the norm in this insightful documentary.

But what’s the cost of the plastic pressure to be perfect?

Million Dollar Wedding Planner

Watch Million Dollar Wedding Planner on BBC Select

Why have one wedding when you can have two? This is how the super-rich marry in Asia, now home to more billionaires than the US.

In this eye-opening documentary wedding planner, Lelian Chew takes on ten of these jewel-encrusted weddings a year at an average cost of a million dollars. When a bride wants to walk on water, it’s Chew’s job to make it happen.

Is it obscene to spend this much on a day, or is that the price of romance?