Breaking News!
Just heard that the big wigs at the Prada design house in Milan fired many off the toothpick-thin models that were originally booked for their fall 2010 fashion show, which is being held at this moment in Milan on Feb. 25th.
Shockingly, for the skinny-obsessed fashion world, they were replaced by more voluptuous Victoria’s Secret models, who actually have at least a little meat on their bones.
My source is telling me that the big revolutionary moment occurred last night during fittings for the highly regarded trend-setting fashion collection.
She reports that a casting director suddenly threw up his hands, said “F— it!” and ordered that sexy Victoria’s Secret Angel models, Miranda Kerr (girlfriend of Orlando Bloom), Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes and Isabeli Fontana airlifted in for today’s 1 pm EST show.
Word has it that the revolutionary decision came after the uproar over the pin-thin models at New York Fashion Week, and the criticism over the skinnies on the runway at Prada in past seasons.
As someone who was the editor-in-chief of fashion magazines Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire, I can assure you that this emergency move could have earth-shatteringly positive consequences. In other words, we can expect that after uber-trend setter Prada has made this revolutionary move to curvier girls, other design houses will fall quickly in line. It’s great news for models — they can EAT again — and for real women with real shapes everywhere.
Furthermore, last night design company Elena Miro actually used regular size models — the kind that fashionistas call plus-size, and the rest of us describe as “normal.”
So take a look at our pictures of Prada’s skinnies last season versus their new curvy girls, and tell me which do you like better?
fan
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Jaz
Posted at 1:17 AM on February 26, 2010
I don’t get the big deal so these women are practically the same size just larger cup sizes. When a fashion designer replaces the models with size sixes or tens then ill be more enthusiatic
Linda
Posted at 1:08 AM on February 26, 2010
lmao Miranda Kerr is skinnier than most fashion models.
thommy
Posted at 12:54 AM on February 26, 2010
I don’t know if anyone already pointed this out:
A company boots out the toothpick-thin-girls which is the same company that effectively made them as such. Kinda wonder how bummed this girls might be feeling…
Alex
Posted at 12:43 AM on February 26, 2010
This is a step in the right direction, but only a step. Even the Victoria’s secret models are waaay skinnier than “normal” women, but at least they look healthy.
Ricardo
Posted at 12:37 AM on February 26, 2010
I hate to see those skeleton girls. What those designers are thinking about those sickness girls. It looks like those designers hate women and want to destroy the beautiful women’s curves. So hope that changes really stop that bad behavior. Hope that changes will really come soon. Tired to see only bones, skeletons never more.
Talisha
Posted at 12:28 AM on February 26, 2010
I think that is absolutely fantastic. I’ve been modelling for over 10 years and am a “curvy girl”. I’m Australian size 10 (US 2) and am often told at castings I’m too big and that I need to be skinnier if I want to model. The truth is that I have been working consistently for the past 5 years and I love what I do. Regardless of what people say I am always myself and refuse to change my size just for someone else. I’ve actually just started a blog where i’ll be discussing my modeling experiences in a bit more detail so you can follow my adventures there is you like http://lifeandtalisha.blogspot.com/ and on twitter “talishatweets”. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the matter… or if ur a “curvy” model too! I’d love to hear from others!
itDoesn'tMatter
Posted at 12:25 AM on February 26, 2010
It won’t make diff if Prada design house in Milan fired many off the toothpick-thin models because Victoria’s Secret Models are skinny, have no curves too.
Mr. Goatse
Posted at 12:15 AM on February 26, 2010
THEY ALL SUCK! who really cares. i mean honestly they should get rid of the Hollywood “look”. it just gives young girls the wrong idea of pretty.
Robin
Posted at 11:36 PM on February 25, 2010
Curves look better than angles any day in the week.
zorella
Posted at 11:35 PM on February 25, 2010
Oh, and to Hank (9:45 PM on February 25), I’m seeing an equally catty comment from a male on a women’s gossip website.
Good on you! It’s nice to see men get in touch with their female side ^_^
zorella
Posted at 11:31 PM on February 25, 2010
Yay! As a size 16 myself, I don’t even bother with looking at fashion/mags/etc, ever, but seeing this in Google news has even made me happy enough to post a comment!
Lets hope more sanity came come to the fasion industry.
Jonathan
Posted at 11:53 PM on February 25, 2010
At size 16, while you are certainly not obese, you are still at an unhealthy weight. While I would applaud you for being confident, I would applaud you more for acknowledging that it is time to make a substantial life change and strive to be healthy.
Bobfell
Posted at 11:59 PM on February 25, 2010
Seriously? How do you know she’s not 5’10″ and big boned? Your an ass… and I would guess not the model for a male physical specimen either.
Vicky Velasquez
Posted at 10:09 PM on February 25, 2010
Es una fantasia que a las modelos flacas las hayan sacado para colocar modelos de mas de 65 kilos.
Buena por esa y muchas gracias
Hank
Posted at 9:45 PM on February 25, 2010
Sooo…. I see a lot of catty comments from fairly obviously over-sized women here. Put down the cheese curls and do a sit up or 2. lol
cvguy
Posted at 9:37 PM on February 25, 2010
So…they went from anorexic chicks to plastic chicks. 6 of one half dozen of the other. I’d bang either
enoughalready
Posted at 9:24 PM on February 25, 2010
You are all morons.
There are obviously many opinions on what should be an ideal size for models, young girls, women in general. For the most part, there are two camps: those who are for letting women decide how thin or curvy want to be, and following an appropriate career path accordingly (i’ll explain in a second), and those who who are against stick thin women all together.
Here’s why I believe those who are opposed to thin women are wrong. According to BMI studies such as this one (bmi.emedtv.com), “an ideal BMI is within the range of 18.5 and 24.9. Children and teenagers should be between the 5th and 85th percentile. However, athletes and people with muscular builds often have high BMI numbers. Recent studies show that less than half of U.S. adults have an ideal body mass index and approximately 15 percent of children and adolescents are overweight.” That being said, 220 MILLION American’s over 20 years old are overweight or obese according to the American Heart association. That’s 63% overweight and 26% obese. But underweight Americans make up ONLY 2 PERCENT of the population!
What is my point? I have several.
1. If you look at a BMI chart, you will see that a 5’6″ woman at 115 lbs. has a BMI of 19. Alternatively, at 155 lbs. same height, a woman is considered overweight. Note that BMI of 15 through 18.5 is considered UNDERweight, while anything below 15 is considered emaciated. A 5’6″ woman would have to weigh in at around 80 to 85 lbs. to be considered emaciated. This means her body at this point will stop functioning correctly. Although fashion models often
2. Thinking that being curvy and having ‘meat on your bones’ is better than being ‘thin as a stick’ is all a matter of personal opinion, not fact. Women are notorious for criticizing other women on their looks, hair, breasts, education, and of course, dress size. In my personal experience, I hear most of this ‘too thin is wrong’ talk from the overweight community. Yes that is subjective, but so is you all saying ‘thin is not attractive’ and ‘curvy is beautiful’. That sounds like jealousy to me.
3. So much focus has been put on the fact that underweight models are just that, underweight. But nearly 300% more women are OVERWEIGHT. Far more underweight people are active and healthy than overweight people. If you think that claim is false, watch the Olympics and tell me how many overweight people you see. On the flip side, please educate us on how many underweight gold medal ice skaters you find. Sign up for a marathon, and at 7:30 in the morning, look around at the thousands of people around you and tell me how many overweight people you find. How many underweight? So don’t point your finger at fashion models and say ‘you are sickly and unhealthy’. Instead, take a closer look at the strong willpower it takes to exercise EVERYDAY, restrict their diet to specific low fat foods and juices, and cut out carnal cravings such as chocolate and candy. Eating whatever you want and giving in to ice cream and chocolate cravings is not impressive, it’s LAZY. So don’t demean those who stick to a dietary plan.
There have been those who went too far with unrealistic diets and unhealthy habits. Thin models and hollywood women are under the microscope far more than average everyday women, so the media makes a HUGE deal out of it when unfortunate incidents such as Luisel Ramos’s death more-so than the countless deaths associated with obesity and other diseases brought on from being overweight.
22 year old Luisel Ramos died from heart failure after collapsing during a fashion show. Her BMI was found to be 14.5. Now, considering she was eating nothing but lettuce and diet coke for 3 months, it’s pretty easy to see how her death wasn’t all that surprising. We can all agree that a diet like this is not only not very appealing, but also very unhealthy. She literally starved herself to death.
On the flip side, obesity in middle-aged humans is a risk factor for many age-related diseases and decreases life expectancy by about 7 years, which is roughly comparable to the combined effect of all cardiovascular disease and cancer on life span. The prevalence of obesity increases up until late middle age and decreases thereafter. Mechanisms that lead to increased obesity with age are not yet well understood, but current evidence implicates impairments in hypothalamic function, especially impairments in the ability of hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin neurons to sense nutritional signals. The rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity at all ages in the past decade suggests that, in the next two or three decades, diseases associated with obesity, especially diabetes, will begin to rise rapidly. Indeed, these trends suggest that for the first time in modern history, the life expectancy of people in developed societies will begin to decrease, unless the rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity can be reversed.
In short, if you’re fat, you’re unhealthy! If you’re EMACIATED, you are unhealthy. If you’re underweight, you’re just skinny! Those 63% of Americans that are overweight should be more worried about THEIR health than these girls that are simply skinny. There is a clear difference, so no one has the right to point their stubby fingers and skinny girls and tell them they are unattractive. In fact, for models, their contracts include this article:
Article 14: Prohibition on Discrimination
(The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.)
Article 14 covers discrimination on all the grounds set out in the article (sex, race, colour etc.) However, the list is open-ended. This is clear from the fact that the article refers to ‘other status’. Some other grounds for discrimination are now clearly accepted as coming within the scope of Article 14, for example discrimination on the basis of someone’s sexual orientation. What is not clear is how far further grounds for discrimination have to be linked to a personal characteristic or whether it is just necessary for someone to show that they have been treated differently from someone who is in a relevantly similar situation.
In other words, Prada broke their own contracts with these women by severing their unemployment based on their size. That is wrong.
And finally, in my opinion, as a 27 year old male, 6’0″ 170 lbs UNDERWEIGHT healthy tri-athlete; skinny IS beautiful, emaciated is unhealthy, and curvy is lazy. I’ve always been thin, due to eating and exercise habits, and I’m pretty damn sick of hearing those who aren’t as thin as me tell me that ‘stick thin’ is unattractive. I don’t want to watch cellulite and fat in a bikini walking down a catwalk, but I’m not going to tell you you’re ugly. I’m just not going to pay attention to you.
So, leave the fashion shows to the skinny girls, they deserved it.
real skinny woman
Posted at 11:03 PM on February 25, 2010
i think i love you
Truth Seeker
Posted at 12:02 AM on February 26, 2010
How can you say that people that indulge in sweets and food that is not necessarily considered healthy is a lazy person? Some just like to treat themselves and it’s ok to do that sometimes, it’s not lazy. Just because you, yourself are skinny, does not mean you should be attacking women of bigger size, even people who are not overweight. Some people don’t get a chance to work out every day and dedicate their lives to do so, as you do. The majority have to devote their time to their jobs and families. It’s not unheard of that some just don’t have the time to go to the gym-Not giving the excuse of unhealthy eating though. It is true that some people, not all, eat unhealthy food without giving a damn about what it will do to them. But others just can’t afford pricy health foods and brand name groceries (e.g. Whole Foods). They will buy whatever is convenient. This does not mean they are lazy, rather just cost conscious and maybe in a monetarily tight situation. How can you say that people pick on the skinnies when they are the ones that have been chosen for years to be the poster of what “beautiful” is? I’m not saying that skinny people are not beautiful, but it is hard for some people to have a high self-esteem about themselves if this is what is considered beautiful in society. Most people are not skinny like this. As you have pointed out, there are a lot more overweight and normal people. So why should this be the icon of beauty? People starving themselves to look as skinny as what is considered beautiful in the fashion world is wrong. And putting a class of women that weight on the runway is irresponsible. The solution would be to just put average weight people in fashion shows. There is nothing wrong with this. And women should see beauty from every spectrum, not discriminate against everyone else. You make it seem like skinny people are the ones that are being attacked. Now, this may be your personal opinion, but others see it as a breakthrough. You can’t say that skinny women are the ones being picked on , when for years, they were the ones that were given all the right to the runway. They haven’t been discriminated against for their weight as much as average people in the fashion world! Skinny people have set the standard for beauty for a long time now. So don’t go complaining about this just because a designer starts to change their mind about what they want in their show. It’s their choice, their
Ryan
Posted at 12:30 AM on February 26, 2010
“As you have pointed out, there are a lot more overweight and normal people. So why should this be the icon of beauty?”
Huge person debt is the norm, should this be what people should be aimming for? Of course not.
As someone who was over weight and now “skinny” I can say that I was overweight because I was lazy. It’s cheaper to eat the way I do know then in the past. You don’t have to shop at Whole foods to eat well. I just cut back on the bad stuff and but my butt out running 3 days a week for around an hour.
I find people bug me about being skinny more than over weight.
Blaming the media because your fat isn’t the right thing to do.
enoughalready
Posted at 1:07 AM on February 26, 2010
You say there is nothing wrong with putting average sized people on the runways. Who are you or I to decide what ‘average’ is? If we want to get technical, since the majority of American’s are overweight, that means our ‘average’ sized human is on the ‘big’ side. My personal average is underweight. Kate Moss’s average weight is underweight. You also just assume that all thin people don’t eat and are miserable. My last girlfriend was underweight, happy, healthy, and ate all the time! She never complained about passing on snack foods and soda. She was simply built that way. To her, average was size 0. What if she wanted to model and you bigots would rather have a size 10 model instead? Then we’re back to grouping specific body image into categories and making a perfectly normal woman in her own right self-conscious of her ‘undersized’ body.
Also, who is ‘they’ that considers thin beautiful? Can anyone tell me? Is ‘they’ our public at large? Is it only photographers that take the pictures that find these women so photogenic? Is it event organizers? Modeling agencies? Teenagers? It can’t be only thin people that think thin deserves being on the catwalk, since they are the minority! It must be that over time, we simply shifted our perception of beauty to mark feminism as lithe and fragile. I’m not saying that I as an individual declare that the reason, for I’m certainly not the first, or the last to feel that way. I also think women who are ‘average’ weight and muscular display a different beautiful feminism. So don’t take away from this that I personally believe woman should be tiny and soft – quite the contrary. I acknowledge beauty in all her shapes and sizes. I PREFER to see thin models wearing nothing but their skivvies rather than average, since that is the kind of woman I personally am attracted to.
But for clarification, look at the title of Bonnie’s blog here (the only reason I created an account here to write all this..). It says “Hooray! Skinny Models Booted out of Top Fashion Show and Replaced by Victoria’s Secret Angels!” That is simply mean. That’s like someone saying “Hooray! Fat people kicked out of the internet to make room for more Dogs on Skateboard videos!” Seriously? Why is the author of this blog undercutting these poor girls whose whole LIFE is what they do in fashion? “Hooray, GM workers lost their jobs to make room for robots from the future!” I don’t like to ever hear that someone has been undermined by jealous zealots who won’t stand until ‘average’ women are represented on the catwalk. Like everything in life, maybe we should applaud the girls who work hard to achieve their image instead of demanding they be replaced by someone who doesn’t.
And I LOVE hearing this argument about not having time to devote to your body. And to go along with it, you cited how inconvenient it is shop for ‘healthy alternatives’. I spend on average 40 dollars a week on groceries. I don’t eat ONLY expensive organic foods either. I don’t buy anything from those expensive Whole Foods places, because if you did your research, you’d realize those places are owned by the ‘big supermarkets’ too, and give you the same food at a higher price. I eat normal everyday brand food. I do, however, take the 10 seconds to look at the label on the food before I buy it to ensure I get something that I personally deem ‘healthier’. Also, I see all kinds of people at the gym; mothers, doctors, food service employees, office workers, salesmen, business owners .. ‘average’ people with ‘average’ lives. Apparently SOME people plan better, wake up earlier, or just simply try HARDER to fit in the suggested 30 minutes of exercise a day. I could sleep in, I could make excuses that it’s just too hard to get out of other things to exercise, but then I’d only have myself to blame. It’s called sacrifice and I’m proud of my rewards as a result.
We don’t have to throw punches here, as nothing said will sway others’ opinions, but I urge people to not be so quick to judge others. What upsets me the most, is that it’s politically incorrect to point out that someone is too fat to do their job, but it’s totally ok to say someone is too thin.
Healthy
Posted at 12:33 PM on February 26, 2010
I have to agree with “enoughalready”. Two years ago i moved out on my own. I gained 30 pounds due to eating whatever i wanted. i felt disgusting and unhappy, unhealthy food made me tired and i couldn’t stand to look at myself in the mirror or go shopping due to needing a bigger size everytime. After 6 months of being at my highest weight i kicked my habits to the curb and lost all of my weight plus five extra pounds. I made time to exercise and started checking my labels on food.
Skinny is attractive. Not to every single person out there but to the majority. It’s attractive because it’s healthy. Eating right and exercising says a lot about a person and their ability to take care of themselves, and it’s also healthy. Any doctor will tell you that.
To the person who is arguing saying that not exercising is not lazy i disagree. I get up at five every morning either to work out or go to work. I work 32 hours a week, go to school full time (four classes), and work out six days a week due to P90X. I work hard to look the way that i want. When i have more to do i simply get up earlier. I buy my groceries at walmart. It’s not about where you get the apple its about choosing the apple instead of the bacon ultimate cheeseburger.
While i agree that runway models are too skinny, i dont think that fat people should be worried about them but about themselves. Obesity is on the rise and it causes a lot of health problems a lot that lead to death. Instead of sitting here complaining about others being too skinny because you are fat fix yourself first, a model who gets paid for being that thin should not be your main concern.
It makes me so angry when people call me a skinny bi***. I am 5’3 and 115 pounds. Not underweight but right between the reccommended normal weight on the BMI scale. Fat people due to jealousy treat me like i was just born like this even though they are very aware that i work hard to look the way that i do, they ignore the fact that it takes hard work and tell me that i am too skinny.
I do indulge in a Mocha three times a week. I track my calories every day. I am not unhappy nor do i feel like i don’t eat what i want. I do, just not EVERYTHING that i want. You have to find a balance between food that’s good for you and food that isn’t. If i have a mocha in the morning i won’t go out to dinner like i wanted to or vice versa. It’s about controlling yourself.
Going back to the article i think that replacing runway models with victorias secret models (while it’s a step forward) is a very small step. The models are still unhealthy the difference in the breast size and the pounds of make up to make them look rounder. Nothing to see here.
itDoesn'tMatter
Posted at 12:35 AM on February 26, 2010
Thank you for providing so much info about the ideal bmi but Victoria’s Secret models would be skinny if you don’t count(subtract) their breast implants (from ur ideal bmi)……Also.. remember that camera always add 5 lbs….
enoughalready
Posted at 1:09 AM on February 26, 2010
Are you serious? Those things weight less than a pound at most.
itDoesn'tMatter
Posted at 12:46 AM on February 26, 2010
Nothing against fat or skinny people, but I disagree when you said that “if you’re fat, you’re unhealthy! If you’re EMACIATED, you are unhealthy. If you’re underweight, you’re just skinny!” that’s not true at all.. sometimes I see skinny people are super unhealthy (i.e. all they eat is junk foods, they just don’t get fat! Proof to my point.. I have a friend that is super skinny, all she eats are junk foods.. she has type 2 diabetes…sad but true) . My point to you is that you cannot tell whether if someone is healthy or unhealthy by being skinny or fat. You have to look at how they live their life style.
enoughalready
Posted at 1:17 AM on February 26, 2010
It is true that some people are thin but don’t provide the appropriate energy for their bodies. However, unless you’re a linemen in the NFL, if you’re overweight, you’re damaging your body in SO many ways. Every 5 lbs. we lose takes 15 lbs. of weight off our knees. Cardiovascular disease risk increases due to overweight elevating blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and increasing insulin resistance. The location of excess body fat can further increase CVD risk. Central obesity for example, is directly associated with an increased risk of heart disease. A 20% reduction in body weight can reduce CVD risk by 40%. This can be achieved by keeping BMI in the normal range. Over 50% of all cases of hypertension are simply due to being overweight.
The incidence of diabetes increases with increasing weight. Diabetes is three times more likely in obese individuals with a BMI of 28 or greater.
Osteoarthritis symptoms are worse in men and women with a BMI over 25. Excess body weight stresses joint cartilage.
Cancer risk can increase due to elevated hormones associated with obesity, influencing cancer development. Excess estrogen is linked with reproductive system cancers. Adipose tissue (fat tissue) is a major site of estrogen synthesis in women. Scientists link a BMI of 28 to 30 with an increase in cancer risk.
Other diseases associated with obesity include sleep apnea, abdominal hernias, varicose veins, gout, gall bladder disease, respiratory problems including pickwickian syndrome (a breathing blockage linked with sudden death), and liver malfunction.
Most of these diseases are not associated with being underweight. I’m sorry for your friend, but again, if you don’t eat well, it’s your own fault.
getbacktowork
Posted at 10:58 AM on February 26, 2010
don’t make a legal argument when you don’t know what you’re talking about. it makes you sound stupid and invalidates all of your other points. it is not illegal to discriminate on the basis of size and that argument would never hold water in that industry. stick to what you know.
getbacktowork
Posted at 8:40 PM on February 25, 2010
i like this change, too, but i’m not so convinced that the vs models have meat on the, either. seriously. aren’t the vs models just skinny models with implants and fake tans? not trying to be mean, i would be happy to look like vs models- they look great and healthy, but isn’t that more about the implants and the spray tanning than actually eating?
Bahahaahaa
Posted at 7:59 PM on February 25, 2010
I don’t think this is all that impressive, the models were the epitome of anorexic/bulimic. Now we have the epitome of the “Barbie” build for our young women to look to as examples…what about the DIFFERENT looking woman, short and fluffy, tall and lanky, huge boobs, no boobs, big butts and no butts?????? To bad we all can’t be “Barbies”. Real women with real money can afford to look like that and anorexia might be out of the picture now but what about adolescent augmentation? I am sure that is so much healthier…Think About It!!!
RW
Posted at 7:45 PM on February 25, 2010
How about some full figured models too?
epic
Posted at 12:14 AM on February 26, 2010
because, well…ewww
Mrs.Dr.Jones
Posted at 7:36 PM on February 25, 2010
The regular models look worse than skinny…they look like death. The VS models are a lot more curvy looking and far more appealing. …so of course the VS models. Hopefully this will help with anorexia and girls wanting to look like they haven’t eaten in years to be a model.
John Dingler
Posted at 7:09 PM on February 25, 2010
Bonnie,
Hmmm, they told the models to be skinny. They got skinny as required. Now they are fired.
Here’s the trend: From anorexic, to Victoria Secret now, to fat a couple of years from now, and then to the obese with backpacks full of snacks.
Speedbeetle
Posted at 6:21 PM on February 25, 2010
That sound grand but all I what to know is what happenes to Twiggy and Bridget Bardou
Caligurl
Posted at 6:11 PM on February 25, 2010
First of all the vitoria secret models r pretty.. the other girls are too damn skinny pale looking with no style =./
geoff
Posted at 4:43 PM on February 25, 2010
how is this momentous when france did this 2 years ago? come on bonnie….read!
Chloe Melas
Posted at 3:50 PM on February 25, 2010
I like the Victoria’s Secret models the best!!!
disco
Posted at 2:43 PM on February 25, 2010
what was the BMI they aimed for?