September 16, 2006

• Thanks BBC: The Spanish Association of Fashion Designers decided to ban models who had a BMI of less than 18. *munches on cookie*
• In other news: The Spanish Association of Sandwich Makers rejoice.
• this is awesome. 18 is about the minimum BMI I would consider healthy for a woman (I know that BMI is fraught with issues and not terribly accurate--but it serves as a general guideline)
• I always wondered why it was so damn hard to get any decent clothes in anything over a size 8. I got an inkling recently during this episode of Project Runway. The designers were saying shit like, "I don't even know how proportions are supposed to work in these sizes," like they weren't designing for human beings. Or like they didn't have the women's measurements right in front of them. Or the women themselves waiting in the next room. And it was all completely serious, with no self-mocking at all. I've also read that the free dresses female celebrities get to wear on the red carpet, etc. are made up in "Sample Size," which is usually a 2 or 3 since it's quicker to make and saves fabric. One you beef up to a 4, no more free Guccis. If the fashion industry in Spain is as tightly-regulated by the government as it is in France, it doesn't seem odd that they're setting these guidelines.
• I remember watching an episode of America' Next Top Model where a designer told one of the models that her hips were too wide, for being 40" (and she was at least 5'9). She was one of the better looking models, and was slender with, well, curves. I also remember thinking that what she should have told him was "If you want your evening gowns to be modeled by a boy, I can go find you one." Seriously, I've begun to wonder whether women's clothes are being designed for women, or for transvestite boys. Not that I mind boys wearing girl's clothing (boys who looks like girls are hot) - but I do mind having to go three sizes too big on my shoulders to get anything to fit my breasts and hips. Actually, I just got back from buying new trousers - from the men's department. Men's trousers fit me as well as women's (since women's are so uncurvy), come in better styles, were all much cheaper and last longer.
• i was soooo upset when they wouldn't let me walk...
• "If you want your evening gowns to be modeled by a boy, I can go find you one." Spot on!
• Men's trousers fit me as well as women's (since women's are so uncurvy), come in better styles, were all much cheaper and last longer. ...and have more pockets - yay!
• Heck yeah on dude pants. I like me some pockets.
• I recently took my husband to a party for which he was dressed in drag--he was deeply disturbed to realize he had no obvious way to carry his wallet, cell phone, car keys etc., I said "welcome to it baby!"
• I am often flabbergasted at my wife's lack of pockets when she wears anything other than jeans. You ladies are liberated, right? NOW WE FIGHT FOR UTILITARIAN POCKETS! *mumbles something incoherent about considering a murse*
• Medusa wins the thread. On Spain: this is a good idea.
• Mr. Medusa needs a man bag.
• Nah, what's awesome is watching as this announcement has been cheered on by people who normally deride BMI and go ballistic a the idea of weight or body shape based qualififcations for jobs.
• Um, I would think that the idea of weight and body shape have always been the basis for qualifications for models. Spain is just trying to make the qualifications a little more healthy.
• It's not a purse! It's European!
• The article makes it sound like the Spanish government is doing this. The fashion organizations can do whatever they want. The government should not be able to impose such a rule.
• I'd be surprised to find out there were significant numbers of people who think that a runway model's body shape shouldn't matter at all. That strikes me as comparable to saying that the FAA shouldn't discriminate against the visually impaired when licensing airplane pilots. But when the norm for an industry has gotten to be such a ridiculously unhealthy extreme that this woman can be described - with a straight face - on national television as zaftig, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for anyone to be concerned.
• If the fashion industry in Spain is as tightly-regulated by the government as it is in France Thanks to legislation enacted by Présidente Coco Chanel, no Frenchwoman shall languish in an ill-fitting dress and a handbag that doesn't match her shoes.
• I always thought that the clothes where in a certain size and the models just had to comply with that. So there was bound to be someone who figured out that, though bigger people wouldn't fit in them, thinner people would.
• Perhaps the woman from Marajoara should have put on her show in Spain instead...
• I saw an episode of My Life on the D-List, the Kathy Griffin reality show, where she was being readied by a celebrity stylist for a big event. The stylist was appalled that Kathy was a size 6, and kept talking about the difficulties of fitting such a fat woman (his words). People in the fashion industry obviously life in a world that doesn't include me. "If you want your evening gowns to be modeled by a boy, I can go find you one." There are rumors about a famous wedding gown designer who refuses to have his gowns photographed on female bodies for advertisements and catalogues (I remember hearing this when a friend was planning her wedding, but my Google-fu fails me here). He claimed that women's bodies "ruined the lines" of his gowns, so he had them photographed on men. Supposedly, you can spot his gowns because in the catalogues the models are shot from the neck down, and sometimes you can spot an adam's apple. It could be an urban myth, but my friend swore up and down it was true, and showed me the headless models in this particular catalogue.
• someone should let them know that in the real world we all love boobies.
• I'm surprised that only 30% of the models were turned away. Looking at the models from New York's recent fashion week, it looks like a lot more than 30% of them need a sandwich. (self-link, in that I collected these pics in one place)
• Once I've made my fortune, I'll never wear anyone but Galliano. His Spring 2006 collection was amazing and I love him forever for including all shapes and sizes in his show. (via Kimberly) PS. Those shoes!
• When I looked at the collection, I didn't even have to click your link to figure out which shoes you liked, space kitty. It's very easy to imagine you filling out the rest of that photo. john should really just send you a pair.
• Thanks, Space Kitty. Now I have a new fashion idol!
• SK, an easy choice, no? not only is Galliano refusing to reinforce the tired old skeletons-only fashion clique but his clothes are gorgeous and delightful. once I've made my fortune, we should go shopping!
• I used to be just jealous, and wish I looked like a model - but now, really I don't. Sure, I should lose 30 pounds and get myself back in the normal range, but they look frightening - and so unattractive, so unsexy. Their legs look like they've been no neglected and starved. I don't think most actresses aren't that bad. Slender women can be beautiful - but only if they have some muscles, some curves. I found a BMI calculator from the CDC. At 5'7", a BMI of 18 means that you weigh 115 pounds. The CDC defines being under 18.5 as being underweight, and says "Talk with your healthcare provider to determine possible causes of underweight and if you need to gain weight." (I remember when my 5'7" friend, who had always been so thin through high school, hit 130 or so - she was so proud to have acheived it, and it was all muscle from cycling and stuff. She looks great - and her biceps are so strong from playing woodwinds.)
• The links from The Underpants Monster and Space Kitty ilustrate this one point very well - you can make a draped sheet look good on a "perfect body" - but only a designer of genius can make beautiful clothes for any body shape. One thing that always surprises me about seeing photographs of fashion shows is that so many of the clothes will only look good on a stick figure, but the people buying them have real bodies. I never could quite understand how that works out market wise. Playing on fantasies? BMI is a bit controversial - but unless you are a muscular athlete it works as a basic standard for most of us. Most of the calculators have 18-25 has being normal or healthy weight. I can't recall one of the links I checked - but it seems that most catwalk models have a BMI of 16 - which is very underweight. It takes a lot of work to have a BMI of 16 - and puts a lot of stress on your body - hence you have incidents such as the one which sparked this action in Spain - a model recently died of heart failure which was linked to her starving herself before a show. A lot of people are crying dicrimination in this case - but honestly the fashion industry has always discriminated about their model's weights, which is how this whole ridiculous ideal of the stick then cam about. Seems odd that they cry "Discrimination!" as they then make clothes at very small sizes and refuse to hire any model over a size 4.
• Miss America, Playboy models, show significant decrease in average weight and body measurements since 1970.
• Sorry I'm late - we were talking about boobies?
• Seriously, I've begun to wonder whether women's clothes are being designed for women, or for transvestite boys...I do mind having to go three sizes too big on my shoulders to get anything to fit my breasts and hips. I wonder if part of the problem is that so many designers are gay men and would prefer to deal with uncurvy bodies. There's way more to the uber-skinny model thing than gay designers, definatly, but, hey, why would a gay man want to spend time hasseling with breasts and hips? They're just a load of fat to him.
• Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and the preferred solution is for the industry to include them all in both their designs and their models. Banning skinny models is an overreaction to a real problem. Now, back to the boobies...
• And I for one welcome our new boobie overlords. . . err Sorry - um . . body image, look- uh, lookism . . um . . the . . wow. Did you check those out? Woah.
• Boobist!
• Whobist?
• Well, there's really no need to ban dangerously overweight models; the industry does that on its own. Banning dangerously underweight models, and keeping only the healthy ones in between seems like just plain workplace saftey regulations to me.
• I think there's truth to what the Brubaker says. Myself, I find skinny thighs a problematic issue, and I like some proper hips. If your bum looks big in that, chances are I like your bum.
• the argument that this is discrimination is an anorexic canard. as TUM points out, "overweight" models are already routinely rejected by the fashion industry, as are short people, "old" people (oh mah gawd, you're 29?????????????), ugly people...etc., so those stick figures don't really have a bony thigh to stand on. /feels warm appreciation for own sturdy, muscular legs :)
• *also feels appreciation for Medusa's sturdy, muscular legs*
• Two things: 1. Although I love Kiera Knightly, a proper woman should be at least a bit curvy, maybe more, curves are good. 2. A gentleman can never have too many pockets. Ladies should take note.
• I for one am just glad that we are finally starting to blame the real culprits for women's body image issues - gay men. Oy.
• Anglo-Dutch consumer products company Unilever NV decided to ban super-slim models and actors from its advertising, joining growing global ambitions to fight eating disorders such as anorexia. Unilever said it will not impose strict criteria for models and actors, but all brand directors and agencies would be expected to use a Body Mass Index (BMI) of between 18.5 and 25 as a guideline for models and actors.