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Friday Faux Pas: How Thin is Too Thin?

21 January, 2011 Nelia 12 Comments

First of all, let me get this out of the way…I love Revolve Clothing. I love their product selection, their sales (Hello, D&G shoes for under $200!), their easy layout, and the fact that they ship to Canada (sometimes even for free). But something really bothered me a while ago, when I was browsing their site for the nth time. It wasn’t the fact that I missed out on that lovely Alexander Wang bag on sale, no, what bothered me was this bobblehead girl, with limbs as thin as my favorite egg tagliatelle from Buca. It was extremely unsettling seeing someone so unhealthy-looking, modeling clothes, while looking like a human hanger. Upon further prodding, I realized that said girl was featured in many other photos, looking slightly less scary when covered up, but shockingly thin in tank-tops and other revealing outfits.

What’s more, I realized that this sad-looking girl was also the same model who got picked on for being too skinny by the People’s Revolution maven Kelly “Don’t You Dare Effing Cry Inside” Cutrone during the one episode of The City that I ended up watching. I’m guessing that Kelly’s concern went unnoticed, seeing how this girl is still shockingly thin. But what’s more shocking than that, is the fact that she’s still somehow getting work.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not out to bully this particular model, or vilify the collective skinny, but my question is…how thin is too thin? Shouldn’t retailers realize by now that they aren’t promoting a healthy image, when booking models this skinny. And though some might argue that clothes look better on rail-thin girls, whose main job is to sell a product…In my opinion, models should look good in their outfits…and that would make me want to buy the clothes much more. It’s always a model in a size small or extra-small in the garment photo on every site, wouldn’t it be amazing if they had a medium, or…gasp…a size large model demonstrating how a particular item fits?

I guess, after a year, during which diversity was so widely celebrated, skinny is still the golden standard. And after getting so used to seeing the already thin girls at each and every online shopping site, I’m worried that eventually we’ll get used to seeing this as well. If we aren’t already. I’d love to hear your opinions on this. Take the poll below or leave a comment.

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Photo Credits: Revolve Clothing

LG Fashion Week: Joe Fresh Fall 2010

8 April, 2010 Nelia 1 Comment

As anticipated, Joe Fresh showed some diversity on the runway in his Fall 2010 fashion presentation. Well, if you can call one very famous normal-sized girl and one older supermodel among a sea of very skinny girls, diversity…then the show succeeded. It was insane how packed the showroom was! Everyone wanted a peek at the now-infamous Crystal Renn. As did I! No offense to Kirsten Owen, but Crystal was the main attraction for moi.

I wasn’t surprised, however, when I realized that as many things in the fashion world, Crystal’s plus-sizedness was greatly exaggerated! Sure, the girl has curves, and no she doesn’t disappear miraculously when she turns to her side (seriously, one of the girls was flat…as in paper thin…could barely see her sideways)…but having seen her fat rolls in magazines, I am afraid that someone has been playing with Photoshop, because there’s no way this girl, who is sold to us as a size 12 is a size 12! From what I could gauge, she’s probably a 6-8, but of course, given that most of the girls at LG Fashion Week were size negative triple zero, Crystal did stand out – in a good healthy way. And no, I don’t mean “healthy” as in fat, I mean “healthy” as in healthy. Apart from her weight, however, one might note that the girl is gorgeous! Beautiful eyebrows, thick, shiny hair, good confident stride, and those cheekbones! Those cheekbones could cut you if they didn’t like you! It totally makes sense why she’s in every major magazine this year!

As for the clothes, there were many pieces that I liked: long chunky knits, some very cute office-appropriate separates, a velvet dress, and flat studded boots. Prices, of course, were also more than right, which made my wallet weep with joy. The collection itself was very “all over the place”, including fur, camo and animal print, leather, mohair, tweed, studs, sequins, velvet…oh my! It didn’t have a specific theme or feel to it, but it did ignite my curiosity to check out some of the pieces in stores, and I guess that’s the point at the end of the day. Or was it to see Crystal Renn in action? Two birds, one stone.

All photos are property of Style Blog and are not to be used without permission.

Crystal Renn to Walk For Joe Fresh

24 March, 2010 Nelia 1 Comment

Amazing news, lovelies! Joe Fresh runway shows have featured Coco Rocha, Irina Lazareanu, and Theodora Richards in the past, and now Crystal Renn, the curvy model behind the autobiography Hungry, is confirmed to walk the retailer’s Fall 2010 runway show! The meaning behind that Joe Fresh Style blog comment is revealed!

Crystal has had quite a year so far, not that Toronto Fashion Week is anything big for this model, but to me and many other Torontonians, it really is a big deal. I literally cannot wait to see the dark-haired beauty strut her stuff at Joe Fresh! Yay for diversity on Toronto’s runways!

Photo Credits: TFS

Joe Fresh Thin Thin Thin No More?

17 March, 2010 Nelia 2 Comments

As a new Joe Fresh convert, I’ve been checking out their website and blog to see if there are new product photos, etc., when I came across a comment by a woman unhappy about the use of “thin thin thin!” models in Joe Fresh ads. The blog’s response was “watch our Fall 2010 fashion show on March 31 – I think you’ll like the diversity you see!”.

Is Joe Fresh going to have average size models work their runway for Fall 2010 collection? I wonder if the diversity will be represented by many sizes, as well as races. Though I think it’ll take a very long time, before the size/race issue is issue no more in fashion industry, another brand taking a tiny step in the right direction is mighty encouraging. As I am attending Joe Fresh Fall 2010 show on March 31, I will report back on what I see there. Hoping for the best.

Mark Fast vs. Erika Kurihara

22 September, 2009 Nelia 4 Comments

London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010 is well underway, and there’s already controversy! Both casting director and stylist, Erika Kurihara (also a fashion editor of i-D) quit (or were let go?) after London-based Canadian knitwear designer Mark Fast had decided to use three plus-size models in his show. While Kurihara is known to support diversity on the runway, she did not think that size 12 girls had the “right walk for the show” and shot back at Fast claiming that the designer “had failed to embrace diversity by introducing the larger models because they were all white”. Fast stuck to his guns, and the girls (Haley Morley, Lauren Catterall, and Gwyenth Harrison) worked the runway.

And while, I applaud Fast for supporting size diversity, it seems quite clear to me that his decision to use those models was indeed a bit last-minute. The clothes worn by the girls did not fit them as well, as one would’ve hoped, and neither did the undergarments that they wore, which seemed more suited…well, for the smaller size models. If Fast wanted to show off the beauty of “bigger” girls, he could’ve altered the clothes to fit the models better and gotten the right size underwear for them. Because in this kind of situations, on the runway of all places, size and fit do matter! Especially so, if you are trying to showcase the beauty of all sizes and shapes.

What do you think about this latest controversy at London Fashion Week? Last minute PR or history changing event?

Source: www.thisislondon.co.uk

Photo Credits: Style.com