at ny fashion week, uber designer zac posen cast plus-size model crystal renn (pictured here) for his zspoke show. needless to say, the idea of putting a plus-size model in a high fashion runway show during fashion week has caused quite a stir. when renn started in modeling, at the age of 14, she was told to lose almost a third of her total body weight. she did, all so she could attain that model look that was requested and required. once she achieved her size zero, she became one of many unknown models out there looking for work. eventually, after having health scares due to her unhealthy obsession with food and weight (which led to anorexia), she made the bold decision to switch to plus-size modeling. since then she not only became the highest-paid plus-size model in the world, but a bonafided supermodel, gracing the covers of american vogue and harper's bazaar as well as appearing in dolce & gabbana ads. while renn's exact dress size is debated (most say this six-foot model is a size 10, though some say she could be as small as a six), what is not in debate is the fact that those in attendance at posen's show say renn's larger size was barely noticeable.
my point, and i do have one, is...to begin with, the official definition of "plus-sized" is a u.s. dress size of 14 or higher, therefore it's not even proper to consider renn plus-size (even by the standards set by the fashion world). that being said, i think that it is not only ridiculous, but irresponsible for the fashion industry to classify the woman pictured above as plus-size!
ok, before i get any further, lets address the big fat plus-size elephant in the room...with 28 percent of americans officially obese and the average woman in this country wearing a size 14, people may question if by applauding plus-size models we are indirectly promoting obesity and unhealthy living. i get it! as a woman who has battled her weight her whole life and who comes from a family with, lets just say many women of size, let me be clear, i would never encourage, endorse or celebrate unhealthy lifestyles or obesity! (for the purposes of this blog, know i am not speaking about the overly overweight and obese when discussing plus-size, i am talking about run of the mill, in my opinion "average" sized woman.) also, let me say that i am not a women who hates or dislikes "skinny" women, even those who are size zeros (i have many friends who are naturally size zeros that can eat me under the table!)...my problem is with a world that tells women that they need to be size zero thin to fit into society's warped sense of "average."
society not only celebrates but rewards women who are ultra thin (the majority of actresses, models and performers are sizes zero-two). airbrushed and unattainable images of super thin women are perpetuated, leading to a blanket acceptance of this look as the benchmark for beauty. this leaves the majority of women and young girls not only wondering what that says about their shape, but also with unhealthy body images (giving way to a world dominated by weight loss companies and dietary supplements).
society also tells men that this is what they should look for in a woman. a certain gentleman i know (who i love and adore) once famously said to me the following about the look he wants in a woman: "i'm not saying that i want her to have an eating disorder, but i wouldn't be mad if she looked like she did...you know the hungry look." i think he said a mouthful! while i wanted to slap the crap out of him, truth be told, he was just being honest and verbalizing a look that many (not all) men consider ideal.
recently, star of the tv series mad men, christina hendricks (who is very curvy and oozes of sexuality) found it nearly impossible to score a dress for the emmy awards. she told the daily record: "people have been saying some nice, wonderful things about me. yet not one designer in town will loan me a dress...they only lend out a size zero or two. so i'm still struggling for someone to give me a darn dress."
now, speaking for myself (a size 10/12 woman), it has taken me the better part of my life to sorta come to terms with the fact that i have hips, i have (a whole 'lotta) boobs and no matter how little i eat, no matter how much i diet and exercise, i will never come close to being a size zero or two (not that either size would work on my body frame). i have long said, regarding my shape, that on a good day i have an hour glass figure and on a bad day it's an hour and a half! yet, as self aware and knowledgeable as i am, every day i still struggle to try and achieve the unattainable, because at the end of the day, it is still what society says is beautiful and desired.
this is why is disturbs me so very much to see crystal renn called "plus-size" when in reality is she not "plus" at all, but actually quite normal. what's your point?
haha... the hungry look! ;) i hear ya - that girl is not a plus sized model... come on! she looks normal sized, while the models are unhealthily thin.
ReplyDeletethat being said though, america does have a problem with weight... when you travel outside of america one of the major things you notice right away is that people are not as fat as americans. it's such a major problem that an ex-military leader said that it's a threat to national security! 27% of young adults are medically ineligible to fight because they are too fat!!! and that's men and women!
you say that american society has a warped sense of "average?" well, compared to the rest of the world, american's average is much bigger...
to clarify, as i said in the blog, i agree about there being an obesity issue and i do not encourage or support the epidemic we have in our country (and it is an epidemic). if tomorrow the majority of women were now a size 20 (as opposed to 14) i do not think that should then become the new average. just cause the majority of waistlines grow, our expectations don't have to. that being said, i don't think that it is any healthier for a model size zero/two to be considered the norm, yet i believe that is what is happening since that is what is mainly represented on tv, movies and in the pages of the magazines. i think having not only runway models, but role models (like crystal renn) who are "normal" size is a good thing. extremes in either way doesn't help anyone.
ReplyDeleteoh, i thought you might like that "hungry comment." :)
First...let me say that I agree that America has an obesity problem and let's discount those who are truly obese due to poor eating habits. Now...if you look back to what we considered "beautiful" and "ideal" not too long ago, you can see how our values have changed. Think Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren...neither anywhere close to a size zero, but both considered icons of their time.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we started going downhill with Twiggy. She was the first "skinny bitch" to take the runway and become a supermodel. She set the standard for what we have now, with her target audience young girls. I remember it well....(being as old as I am)...There was a reason she was nicknamed "Twiggy" as a child.
So...getting back to today...yes, obesity should be curbed, but so should our ideas of what is "ideal" and what our young girls should be striving for.
agreed. and lets not forget, once the twiggy look went away (think the christy brinkley era...she was never fat, but was no twiggy) in came heroin chic which had that special combination of uber thin look mixed with a sullen corpse aura. nothing says sexy like that autopsy look!
ReplyDeletefashion and beauty standards change all the time. in the future who knows what will be considered beautiful. if skinny is in now, i'll bet fat will be in later - it's all cyclical. you can't judge it based on the runway... did you see the latest "hot looks?" this is from an article:
ReplyDelete"This year, the most sought-after models are gracing runways with offbeat looks: albino coloring, tattoos and piercing, and gap teeth. Especially gap teeth.High-profile ad campaigns are snapping up models with space between their two front teeth, and the look is also hot in Hollywood, where stars like Anna Paquin and Elisabeth Moss flash gap-toothed smiles, the Wall Street Journal reports."
letterman is now a supermodel...
I find the fashion industry's notion of beauty and plus-size absolutely nuts! Camille Paglia had a wonderful column about this recently - she said the multi-decade push to make women want uber-narrow hips, legs, etc with some fake boobs tacked on is actually making our culture asexual as a whole. Couple that with gender-neutral clothing and HR-sanitized workplaces, and you have a recipe for disaster, according to Camille. Both men and women with narrow hips and 5% bodyfat? Please!
ReplyDeleteNow Christina Hendricks - that is some hotness right there! In fact, this humble poster thinks she's just about the sexiest woman in pop culture at the moment.
As a curvy woman myself... you have to love and own what you have. Walking with your head and shoulders high will make a woman of any size beautiful. We are each made up of different bone structures that play an integral role in what size is healthy for each of us. I was personally astounded at the amount of anorexic comments I received when I was a size 4 (i thought that I looked great at the time...and was trying to break through into some modeling.ha.ha.ha.) I found the whole career so unhealthy for the mental stability of woman in general. I have to point out that this was not brought on by elite model management either...the negative and harsh comments came from the photographers. I found myself constantly watching calories and what I ate which was very unlike my personality. I quickly decided that modeling was not something I was remotely interested in.
ReplyDeleteAside from that ... I personally feel that the public as a whole (not the media) responds better to a "healthy" curvy woman. It's just up to a few great designers to take the challenge of curves on. Designing for the "board" like figures is brainless - designing for the curves is a challenge that many of them are too incompetent to address. Finding well fitted clothing for curves is virtually impossible whether your a size 6 or 16. We don't look sexy .. because no one is designing for us busty/curvy women. I've seen this proven countless times throughout the years including on the well known show Project Runway.
In response to the "hungry look". We have to take the source into consideration (whom I absolutely love myself) He is generally a smaller (average height)... more petite athletic man. It makes complete sense to me that some men of his size wouldn't want a woman that is larger than him. (Unless he likes to climb of course;) I tend to be guilty of similar thoughts. I've never felt like a small woman and have always gravitated toward tall muscular men. I LOVE "feeling" smaller than my significant other and knowing that my guy can pick me up and throw me around a little. Ok. So maybe I'm warped too;)
My main point is that I would guarantee a majority of men would prefer Crystal Renn's body over the "needy" model Twiggy... and not one of them would call her "Plus" size. Plus size for anything below a 16 is absurd.
KY