Model Thinking
Catching up with Too Fat for Fashion, I came across this post meditating on the thin ideal, especially in the modeling world:
"People genuinely believe what they're saying; people believe clothes look better on the thin, the slim, the tall. I sometimes believe it, even though I 'know' differently. How have we learned to see this way, and how do we learn to see differently? One cover girl or one plus-size model isn't enough, because they will automatically look 'wrong' set amongst other bodies of a thinner type. "
The whole blog post is great, and at the moment, I have nothing to add. I just wanted to make sure you didn't miss it.
"People genuinely believe what they're saying; people believe clothes look better on the thin, the slim, the tall. I sometimes believe it, even though I 'know' differently. How have we learned to see this way, and how do we learn to see differently? One cover girl or one plus-size model isn't enough, because they will automatically look 'wrong' set amongst other bodies of a thinner type. "
The whole blog post is great, and at the moment, I have nothing to add. I just wanted to make sure you didn't miss it.
posted by mo pie at 4:17 PM
3 Comments:
Not one hundred years ago, many women would have their clothing made especially for their bodies. They would be fitted every season and a tailor or seamstress would create their wardrobe. If you were poor, you or a family member would make your clothing.
This whole idea that you should sculpt your body to fit into your clothing is preposterous. Of COURSE the clothes look better on tall, skinny models; the clothes were designed for tall, skinny models.
It's true our eyes get trained by what we see in the media. Another example--breast implants. While not pervasive in fashion, in other contexts they are getting so ubiquitous, people are starting to think that's the standard of beauty, rather than something freakishly unnatural looking. (Not that all implants are unnatural looking.) More and more girls seem to think that the ideal is a thin boyish body with two spheres on top. Regular breasts, like regular BMIs, are being rendered unacceptable by the barrage of images in the popular media.
Well... I have clothing that fits me, that I still think would be a better style on someone less curvy. Some of these are styles I like and would like to wear, some are just practical clothes I have to have (work blouses with high-ish necklines).
It's easier to cut clothes for "straighter" bodies. Fact. Most of the men I know can lift any garment off a rail, and if it's their size it'll fit. Women are more variable, and off-the-peg women's clothing is more of a challenge to cut so it fits most customers.
I'm not saying it's a challenge that shouldn't be met. But it is genuinely more difficult to cut clothing for women who are curvy. I know, I've tried it.
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