University Chronicle > Opinions
The skinny on fashion expectations
By Kyra Loch
Columnist
Published: Monday, October 12, 2009
Updated: Monday, October 12, 2009
University Chronicle
Kyra Loch
There has always been controversy over the looks of fashion models in the pages of magazines and on the runways.
Ever since the 1960s, with the discovery of the model Twiggy, thin has always been best, and the models keep getting thinner.
The fashion industry has been under scrutiny for a long time on the use of unhealthy looking models. One of the reasons this has always been an issue relates to one’s own body image.
Girls and boys see the ads and photos in magazines and believe that is how they are supposed to look.
In the past month, we have had a step forward and step backward in regards to magazines portraying a healthy body image.
The November issue of Glamour magazine contains the “Beautiful Bodies” spread; a pictorial that contains seven plus-size models in the nude.
Each model is interviewed and tells her story about experiences in the modeling industry. The majority of them reveal they used to have bad dieting habits to be able to model at the industry’s “normal” standards, and they realized how harmful and damaging it was to their bodies.
They are proud and confident to go back to a healthy weight, and still able to look and feel beautiful.
The magazine has received a large amount of positive feedback on their pictures from their readers.
Glamour has also released a statement saying they are committed to showing a wide range of body types and racial diversity in upcoming issues.
It is great to see such a well-known and popular magazine stepping up and finally giving readers what they have been asking for: models and women who look more like them.
Glamour has made a great decision and I hope they stick with their commitment.
This past week, an ad for Ralph Lauren’s new fall collection became very controversial.
The ad features a model so heavily airbrushed, her head is larger then her pelvis.
Ralph Lauren has issued a statement saying they are taking responsibility for the problem, and taking precautions so that it will not happen again.
The Lauren ad is so gross and alien-looking it is hard to believe that any girl would strive to look like that.
The need to airbrush an already horribly skinny girl to almost nothing is uncalled for. This does not make the clothing or the brand look any better.
It is also interesting that Lauren decided not to withdraw or apologize for the image.
The unfortunate aspect about this ad is girls will see this and believe they need to look this way.
Because she is a model representing a major fashion label, and will be seen in many large fashion magazines, this will somehow give her credibility and validation that this is how women should look.
We are making so much progress with healthy portrayals of models. Glamour is great for featuring averaged sized women in their pages, along with stories on the struggles of trying to maintain an unhealthy and unrealistic weight.
I hope more leaders in the fashion industry take a lead from Glamour and learn from the mistakes of Ralph Lauren in regards to what people want to see in magazines and what will benefit everyone in the process of loving one’s body.
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Let's home that this is more than just "fashion" but rather a shift in the zeitgeist. It's fantastic to see "healthy" bodies in fashion.
E
oh wow! as gal who designs and sells plus size corsets as well as services the model industry - I think this is a wonderful article!
ReplyDeleteThank You So Much for publishing such an important piece!
Jenn
http://www.Baci-Farfalle.com
Corsets S-6X