Getting kind of sick of hearing about this...

[celstu1]

In the last few months, there have been SOOOOOOOOO many news articles about 'REAL SIZE' models. Women who are size 14 and modeling. People are clapping and cheering and all that .... but its driving me crazy. This one article I read today was a girl who was a size 4 as a teen, they told her she had to get to a size 2 and maintain it to be a model or go up to a size 14 to be a plus size model. She could not model if she were any size in between a 2 and a 14! WTH is that?

I don't think that just because a model is the Average size of women in America, makes her a role model. I think the average size in America is too high (if 60% of the population is considered overweight to obese). Don't you? I mean there are those who are who they are, and weight is an issue, but they are healthy, eat healthy, exercise and overall are healthy and just bigger, and that's that. But do you think we should be (as a society) all happy to see models that go to the opposite end of the spectrum of anorexic models?

I can't understand why a woman can't be a model if they are in the the healthy weight range for their height. If that means a 14, then great, if it means a 4 then great, and any other size in between! I just wonder why you have to be a 00 or a 14+ to be a model, but there are not categories for women who are a size 4- 12?


Just something thats been really bugging me! Models should be a healthy depiction of women, not anorexic or plus size.

Personally I think it's awful, to make a beautiful girl, gain weight to get unhealthy larger than she should be, or lose weight to get unhealthy smaller than she should be just to show off some clothes in a catalog. It's a sick industry!

[capt_noonie]

I totally agree with you, and that is one of the reasons I got out of the fashion industry! I am also sick of seeing the plus size models and people saying she looks normal. She doesn't! Take a look down the street and tell me if you see any 6'tall women with an hourglass figure, size 14 or otherwise. I noticed all these plus size models still have tiny waists. Most size 14 women do not. Heck I wear a size 4 but all my weight is in my midsection. I have NO waist! Even though I wear a 4, most clothes don't look good, and I am far from skinny.

But I do also agree, the general population is too overweight.

[Verbena]

I so agree with you. Models should just be healthly not anorexic or plus sized.

Three years ago there was a big uproar about Cacique (Lane Bryant's ) were going to have a lingerie commercial. That the commercial is too sexy for 8 pm. They said plus sized models have more cleavage. I was like have they seen the Victoria Secret commercials ! Those women all are well endowed. And they even have a runway show on TV. I think the whole thing was stupid. I personally would rather see a woman with curves then a stick with boobs. Hey that is just me

[rubymoon2072]

do you know how many of those models starve themselves...its been that way for centuries...it is so sickening. i think we should be more focused on being healthy and mentally healthy also but that is not what makes money. it comes down to the all mighty buck and who can make the most off of the most beautiful model. sad but it's the american way.

[chachi]

Im very concerned about it my daughter wants to be a model and I really dont like that career choice

[msyorktown]

I was once, as Teri said a stick with boobs! Wanted so badly to be a model....went to the Elena Fulture modeling agency, was told to put together a portfolio, and was told I would be modeling lingerie...oh forgot I was 16yrs old! Daddy got wind of it and put a stop to that 'foolishness' big time!
He felt I was about to be exploited and I probably was...I see nothing has changed since that time sooo very long ago.

[Maximo]

I can't stand the "heroin chic" look of most of today's models, but I admit that I like looking at fashion modeled by women and men who are not average or typical -- whether it's weight, or other characteristics.

On the other hand, I do see how air-brushed and photoshopped pics have a negative impact by setting up unrealistic expectations.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by rubymoon2072

do you know how many of those models starve themselves...its been that way for centuries...it is so sickening. i think we should be more focused on being healthy and mentally healthy also but that is not what makes money. it comes down to the all mighty buck and who can make the most off of the most beautiful model. sad but it's the american way.

That is why companies hire good looking or famous people to be in their ads, or give away their products for free if they are photographed with the product. People that look up to them then want to buy the same things, whether they can afford to or not, so they can think they are more like the people they idolize. There is a British singer Lily Allen, who has a line in a song "If I buy those jeans I can look like Kate Moss".

Originally Posted by Maximo

I can't stand the "heroin chic" look of most of today's models, but I admit that I like looking at fashion modeled by women and men who are not average or typical -- whether it's weight, or other characteristics.

On the other hand, I do see how air-brushed and photoshopped pics have a negative impact by setting up unrealistic expectations.

I think it really has gotten out of hand in recent years with all the advancement in computers. People all the time are complaining about how thin models are nowadays. Look back to old pics of models in the 60s, 70s, and 80s before Photoshop, they were all that skinny! The difference now is that the average person is so much bigger than 30-40 years ago. I love vintage clothes and pictures. I cannot believe how tiny some of these people and clothes are from regular people, not models! So with all the photoshopping now it just makes the contrast worse.

[MomtoJasper]

These companies aren't setting realistic views for our youth on how women and men should look. The movie industry isn't helping either. Its all very sad. Teenage girls that will eat hardly anything and then sneak around to only throw up what they did eat. Or the average sized teenager who is made fun of for being "fat" in a size 10, who will go on to have low self-esteem issues or worse...committ suicide. Yes I'm ranting...it all just makes me sick.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by MomtoJasper

These companies aren't setting realistic views for our youth on how women and men should look. The movie industry isn't helping either. Its all very sad. Teenage girls that will eat hardly anything and then sneak around to only throw up what they did eat. Or the average sized teenager who is made fun of for being "fat" in a size 10, who will go on to have low self-esteem issues or worse...committ suicide. Yes I'm ranting...it all just makes me sick.

Yup we certainly have image problems, and not only with in the fashion industry but in certain other arenas.

Dance and gymnastics are still two sports that really really don't want an extra ounce on you.

Then there is the "keeping up" with the Jones mentality. Purchasing consuming and doing just because your fellow work mate or your neighbour has this or that or done this or that.

My biggest beef with the fashion industry is why isn't a size 6 or 10 the same measurements across all labels. I can't stand trying on clothes and never know which size to pick.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by gemy

My biggest beef with the fashion industry is why isn't a size 6 or 10 the same measurements across all labels. I can't stand trying on clothes and never know which size to pick.

Sometimes even the same label can't be relied upon. I swear there are no 2 pairs of Levi's that are exactly the same.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by gemy

Yup we certainly have image problems, and not only with in the fashion industry but in certain other arenas.

Dance and gymnastics are still two sports that really really don't want an extra ounce on you.

Then there is the "keeping up" with the Jones mentality. Purchasing consuming and doing just because your fellow work mate or your neighbour has this or that or done this or that.

My biggest beef with the fashion industry is why isn't a size 6 or 10 the same measurements across all labels. I can't stand trying on clothes and never know which size to pick.

It's not just the fashion industry that doesn't have standard sizing. In the bike industry also. It really depends on how a product is designed. Different specs, materials, geometry, etc can change how a medium on one company is not the same as in another.

Back in the day, all clothing sizes were based off the Wolf dress forms. They still use these dress forms, and a sample size is a size 8. But there is a thing called vanity sizing, and that Wolf size 8 actually a store size 4. This size 4 is also usually what they put on the fit model. A Wolf size 8 is actually a medium. We need fit models in mediums bc it's easier and more accurate to grade sizes even up and down, rather than go with a small and grade all sizes up.

Now, each company will have their own fit model. She is the ideal size and body type they want and she will be their medium, but every company has a different medium.

Remember how everyone talks about how Marilyn Monroe was a size 12? That's a Wolf size 12, which is a modern 6-8.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Sometimes even the same label can't be relied upon. I swear there are no 2 pairs of Levi's that are exactly the same.

Temperamental designers, know-it-all techies (me), pressed for time and most often cheated manufacturers, and constantly fired fit models all play a factor. And that's for one company.

[Wylie's Mom]

Amen, sisters! I don't want to see an underweight or overweight model promoted as "ideal", despite the fact that my brain is so used to seeing stick people as models and kind of likes it that way (ugh). They need to use BMI as the indicator...NOT weight, not size of clothing -- BMI.

To me, healthy BMIs give us a proper range of appearances - from the kind of thin on up to the more curvy -- without extremes in either direction.

I love fashion and the fashion industry and designers -- but it kills me in terms of what they've very intentionally and knowingly done with how we perceive our bodies. It's SICK .

[chachi]

No freaking kidding about biker clothes being sized different. Different like tiny. My Husband says they are fashioned for european riders well european riders must be twigs. I tease my Husband when he puts his gear on that he looks like elton john with his tight shirt,rose colored sunglasses and black helmet on. Hes got a belly hes been trying to get rid of for along time and doesnt appreciate my comments lol