Madrid: Models Who Are Too Skinny Are Unwelcome.

[Atomic Glee]

Personally, I've always found women with curves to be far more attractive than really thin women. One of the several reasons why I find far more (as in greater quantity) of Golden Era famous women to be beautiful than I do modern famous women.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Let's be frank. A thin runway model makes the clothes look good. A thin runway model, undressed, does NOT look good. Clothes hide those boney ribcages and shoulder blades ...

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[scotrace]

So the perfect runway model is actually a skinny 11-year-old boy?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'm surprised that designers haven't used prepubescent transvestites ... yet.


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[Terry Lennox]

I'm surprised that designers haven't used pre-pubescent transvestites ... yet.


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I thought Calvin Kline did that a while ago and got into trouble for doing so...

 

[McPeppers]

But thats ok because thats the type of forward thinking we've come to expect from CK lol

 

[Baron Kurtz]

So the perfect runway model is actually a skinny 11-year-old boy?

You got it!! If his legs are long enough. Perhaps a castrato would work?

bk

 

[CharlieH.]

Well, it appears that the fasion world is finally returning to the realm of reality.

Hmm... aren't malnourished 11 year olds too "petite" to be runway models?

 

[Caledonia]

You got it!! If his legs are long enough. Perhaps a castrato would work?

bk

Not sure that's got anything to do with the length of his legs, but I could be wrong! Thin has been in since forever. Corsets turned us into swans, the 20s wanted us to be boys, the 30s wanted us to be - well, not sure but it had something to do with athletisicm and frills, the 40s put us in uniform then turned us into Gone With The Wind. The 50s put us back in corsets, the 60s reinvented the 20s, the 70s were a fashion nightmare that swung 20s to 40s and back, and the 80s - ok, we know how that turned out!

My point, at last: Catwalk models will always err to the side of thinness. It's a fact that clothes hang better on walking hangers. And some of them are not starved for the job so don't let's ridicule them all. Kate Moss for example (and I am not a fan, just to put it in context) is a classically slim lady, and lovely with it. But in general, better looking clothes mean better sales and clothes hang better on thin, and that's recognised and been used in the modern part of the 20th century since the 30s (the 20s were still somewhat, um, chubby). Lets just indulge a bit of intelligence. Appreciate the spectacle of fashion and use it from a distance to whatever extent your own body dimensions and style dictates.

On another note - it is really happy-making that so many of the gentlemen in the Lounge appreciate the variety of female shapes. Style and elegance, wit and personality, they are really nothing to do with the outer casing, male or female.

Sorry, did I go off on one there. )

 

[tallyho]

I find it funny when people think the old days had only voluptuous women with curves galore. I can think of three off the top of my head that were very much on the skinny side: Kate Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Veronica Lake. I am sure others can come up with some more.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Not sure that's got anything to do with the length of his legs, but I could be wrong!

It hasn't. I should have started on a new line. A castrato would not be troubled with the results of testosterone so would have thinner shoulders and a less voluminous chest cavity. But the height wouldn't be affected. So instead of a woman looking like a tall young boy, you would in fact have a tall boy ... or a wardrobe.

bk

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

Who's that? Governor Arnold Schwartzeneggar in drag (and does his wife, Maria Shriver know about his double life)?

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

The part that I can't figure out, is when exactly did anyone decide they wanted their women to be extremely thin? Why does this idea still exist today?

I believe this trend - the "Twiggy Look" - started in the 1960s. Why it's clung tenaciously to our culture for 40 years has been explained in a variety of ways, some psychological, some socio-economic and a few political.

One theory holds that it's a manifestation of men's insecurity with the rise of feminism and the new gender role models. Thus men's emphasis on increasingly younger, more immature and "waif-like" girls (not women) - i.e. those who are less of a threat, more economically dependent, easier to manipulate and exploit. Taken a step further to the more extreme end of the spectrum, feminist Naomi Wolf has posited that this trend is a more covert, latterday version of the Holocaust: the deliberate and systematic political neutralization of women through starvation. According to her, this subversive program has been institutionalized by an elitist conspiracy of Madison Avenue advertising magnates, Hollywood executives and the major players in the fashion industry. Somewhere along the way Ms. Wolf forgot to mention the involvement of the Freemasons, the Knights Templar and the Illuminati.

Whatever the root causes, I think it's a disturbing trend. Some guys I know are incredulous when I say I always encourage my dates to enjoy their dinners, to eat their fill and to have dessert!

I remember back in high school (early 1980s) our psychology teacher raised the issue of eating disorders. He took a quick poll and all the girls considered Marilyn Monroe fat! Although her dumb blonde routine was a real turn-off (she would have had another ardent admirer had she flaunted some of her native intellect!) I always thought she looked a very healthy weight. Sad how this view is still the case with many American teenagers, especially when they are at a critical point in their development.

 

[skinnychik]

I should've never looked at this thread, but now it's too late.

What about lithe models who are jut skinny NATURALLY? High metabolisms? I'm 5'5" and my weight fluctuates from 95 to 103 pounds. I get so *edited* (we don't allow language like that here) sick of fat jealous people taking out their insecurities by firing off hurtful comments about my weight. "Are you anorexic?" "Do you ever eat?" "What are you, a size zero?" (Yes, 00 actually...a 14 in 1940s clothes, but vanity sizing makes me a negative integer.)

It doesn't make it easy to buy clothes, in spite of what sizes models wear. Slim sizes are usually available only in short lengths.

I understand that overweight people would be annoyed by New York's and Hollywood's love of the slim figure, but I'm sick of fat people who assume that skinny is unhealthy. I eat plenty. I stay slim. Get over it.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

but vanity sizing makes me a negative integer

i await zeros and double zeros for men's clothing ... the vanity sizing is also becoming a problem in menswear.

The Baroness has the same problem that you describe. Apparently the nurses who cared for her in hospital were particularly forward in their negative comments about her [lack of] weight. And believe me, we both pack away the food. We just don't put weight on ...

bk

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

As a fat jealous person, I'll just say wait until you hit age 30 or so.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

30 is just around the corner. People keep telling me about metabolism slowing and all that jazz. I'll wait and see, i guess.

bk

 

[Viola]

These fat girls look normal to me. One heifer even dares to wear a bikini.

http://gawker.com/news/vogue-australia/fattie-aussie-models-ruin-oz-fashion-week-kicked-out-of-oz-vogue-199434.php

 

[herringbonekid]

I believe this trend - the "Twiggy Look" - started in the 1960s.

there have been very thin models since the late 20s.

One theory holds that it's a manifestation of men's insecurity with the rise of feminism and the new gender role models. Thus men's emphasis on increasingly younger, more immature and "waif-like" girls (not women) - i.e. those who are less of a threat, more economically dependent, easier to manipulate and exploit.

this theory doesn't ring true to me. as has been noted already most men profess to liking women with a bit of flesh on them. and these images of women are created by the fashion industry (often gay) elite, not by most men. it also ignores the fact that people are increasingly getting fatter in the western world.

 

[skinnychik]

this theory doesn't ring true to me. as has been noted already most men profess to liking women with a bit of flesh on them. and these images of women are created by the fashion industry (often gay) elite, not by most men. it also ignores the fact that people are increasingly getting fatter in the western world.

True, true. If the average man preferred a skinny gal, big breasts would have to go out of style. Something about fire hydrants on the hood of a sleek vehicle...