There has been a significant amount of press these last few weeks regarding the disastrously skinny frames of models in the fashion industry. The Ralph Lauren airbrushing scandal caused quite a stir, as did Karl Lagerfeld's statement that he didn't want to see curvy women in fashion. To aggravate matters, we are in The Season - models are prancing down the catwalks daily in New York, Milan and Paris - and with each step, media heads continue to gawk and criticize the frames that bring them the fashion.
What I don't understand is: why are we still, after all these years, acting like the reverence of the skinny girl in the fashion world is any kind of news? Models have been tall, skinny and waif-like for several decades now. Twiggy started it, Kate Moss pushed it along, and at this point it is here to stay. Yes we have a few curvy exceptions here and there - but in my humble opinion - actually, no, in my totally self righteous opinion - it would behoove people to stop whining about it and start understanding it.
Fashion is not about the person...(if you think it is, then you're thinking of style). No, fashion is about the clothes - the garment itself in all its glory. The higher up you go in the fashion world, the more attention is put into the detail of each garment. And like a chef at a restaurant, each detail must be put together a certain way to create the ultimate presentation. Is a chef going to spend 5 hours on a meal and serve it in tupperware? Getouttaheah! The skinny model is the serving plate to a chef's fancy feast. It displays the hard work, it is impartial, and it allows the focus to be on the main course. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with tupperware in the grand scheme of things! Nobody is insulting tupperwear! It is truly appropriate and welcome on many occasions...but for some it is simply not. The skinny model is a walking, talking hanger for the clothing. It doesn't stretch it or ripple it or crease it where it is not meant to. It doesn't speak or give its opinion, it doesn't overemphasize certain parts or underemphasize certain parts. The skinny model allows the garment to speak for itself - no distraction, no confusion, no nothing.
Some might think that the fashion world is making strides away from its obsession with the skinny model. Trust me when I tell you that Glamour Magazine putting a naked "plus size" model on their website is only giving you false hope. Wake up and smell the rice cakes. Skinny is in and it ain't going anywhere. Why get angry? Why take it personally? The fashion industry doesn't give an eff how much criticism they get from the mainstream - they run things. Have you ever been to a fashion party?! Unless you're in the biz nobody even knows/cares you exist. So go ahead, protest, get mad, get false hope, but it won't get you anywhere. Fashion is for the skinny and this is not inherently catastrophic. It's simply an objective truth...like eggs taste better with salt. Some people might disagree and enjoy really bland eggs, but it's basically just fact.
I should mention here that I'm not a tall skinny girl (how many times have I mentioned food in this post so far?) - and I feel like this is worth mentioning to show that it is possible to love fashion for fashion's sake, and accept that skinniness is a fundamental part of all of it. I suggest you join me in my love (or maybe just strive for a bit of acceptance) and embrace the thin limbed ladies who grace our catwalks and magazines. Allow the garments to speak for themselves...support the designers in their quest for perfection and romance and freshness! Give props to the industry for continually reinventing the aesthetics we put on our bodies every day! And if after all that you still can't see that the skinny girl is simply a product of this vast web of ideology, clearly I have not made my point and you will always be a hater. Good luck to you, it takes more energy to hate than to love.
Warm fuzzies to everybody out there, and in defense of skinny models everywhere...you have my support and I thank you for being so tall and skinny.
'prece.
2 comments:
100% agreed. i can say that i do love the idea of curvy women here and there and really just promoting the WOMAN, but what it all come down to is the presentation. you are right on!!
her , here x
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