Plus size models .....really ???

~♥Little Miss - posted on 08/04/2011

Cathy "I also think it's an incredible double standard to complain about the malnourished underweight figure typical of couture fashion models (those designers don't even put garments bigger than a size 12 into production) then complain that the plus size model, who is a picture of health and fitness, isn't fat enough.
You'll criticize one eating disorder ... then complain that the other extreme isn't being represented!"

Bravo! Well said, I was actually coming to this thread to say the exact same thing. Everyone bashes skinny models, and then tells everyone they should love themselves the way they are. I am sure some of these models MAY have eating disorders to look the way they do, but what about those that are naturally super thin? Then a "plus size" just isn't big enough for regular standards.

I call BULLSHIT!

Ashley=) - posted on 08/04/2011

Shes not plus size, shes the perfect size.Shes beautiful and natural.She looks very happy and healthy.Good healthy imagine for all of us to see.

PLus size can even mean big hips.Theres a hip to waist thing in modeling to.If your over, i have seen this on top model show.She was called plus size.

Cathy - posted on 08/04/2011

I also think it's an incredible double standard to complain about the malnourished underweight figure typical of couture fashion models (those designers don't even put garments bigger than a size 12 into production) then complain that the plus size model, who is a picture of health and fitness, isn't fat enough.

You'll criticize one eating disorder ... then complain that the other extreme isn't being represented!

Cathy - posted on 08/04/2011

This is a great interview Robyn Lawley. There are photos at the bottom of the before (when she was a typical sized model) and the after as a natural plus sized figure.
http://www.fabulousmag.co.uk/fabmag/_fab...

Jane - posted on 08/04/2011

Currently I am fat, but I have been "Plus Sized" since I was 12 - the smallest size I could wear was a 12 when I was too skinny. Normally I wear a 14 or a 16, but I am 5'8" and have swimmer's shoulders.

Right now I am way larger than that.

Beautiful - posted on 08/04/2011

Sh ereally doesnt look like she wears that size... I wear a 14 and I look it... but my weight is all in my torso area mostly

Rebecca - posted on 08/04/2011

"That is crazy, in my opinion she's thin and beautiful."

Just because she is a plus sized model doesn't mean she isn't all those things. It just means she wears size 12 and up clothing and that clothing is called "plus-sized". Hence her being a plus-sized clothing model.

Beautiful - posted on 08/04/2011

That is crazy, in my opinion she's thin and beautiful.

I never did understand why the fashion industry insists the definition of beauty has to come with the figure of a prepubescent boy.

I completley agree with you on that. Ive always found it to be gross and a bit disturbing... women are supposed to have curves, thats part of our attraction I think!

And if she's plus size I must be obese lol (im really not big just thick) I have bresats, I have hips and I have ass! Lol, but if society and fashion is deeming her plus size... scarey. And most actual plus size modles are beautiful, it shouldnt matter plus or not anyway.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 08/04/2011

I am constantly struggling with my weight, and currently am still battling losing my baby weight. I successfully have lost about 40 lbs, and still have another 26 or more to go before I am at *MY* ideal weight.

This women is beautiful.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 08/04/2011

Well, unfortunately obesity is more the norm than this "plus" sized women. Yes, for industry standards, that is what she is. Maybe standards need to change. Cotour (however you spell it) is not designed for obese women.....or the average sized women. It is meant for the ultra thin and the rich.

I just wish that society as a whole would get healthier. I see more overweight people than I do see women and men being a healthy size. Then you pass fast food restaurants at lunch time, and cars fill up the lot and are actually wrapping around the building waiting in line for take out. This isn't healthy either.

Rebecca - posted on 08/04/2011

I agree with Cathy, as I said before, she is plus sized, according to the industry standard. She would be modelling clothing size 12 and up. She is bigger than a 10, by her own admission. That makes her a plus sized clothing model.

Taller women tend to look smaller when in fact their size might be bigger than you think. I used to work at a jeans store in my early twenties. I could always eyeball a waist size of someone with an average height. However, I learned very quickly that if a very tall woman came in, I would have to up the size one or two sizes up in the waist. She would look as thin as any girl with a size 8, but she would actually be a 10 or 12. That's just how it goes.

Here is an article about the trend towards plus sized models in main stream fashion houses and runways:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38994966/n...

I think this is a positive thing, not a negative thing.

However, I will say, the first girl in the V mag photo montage, at the bottom, she does not look "healthy" to me. I would prefer a model like the one in the OP's Vogue post, to be repping what a positive, healthy body image is. I'm not sure rolls of fat around the mid-section, in fact I know it is not, a healthy model for heart health for young or old women. It's not about fat, it is about health for me and that model looks as healthy as some of the really skinny, meth head models look. I don't think either is a good body standard.

I do think the first model in the original post though, has far less dangerous curves...meaning extra fat that could endanger one's health.

Cathy - posted on 08/04/2011

Ok, perception is everything here.



You (generally) say she isn't plus size because she isn't fat. Plus size does not mean fat. Plus sizes models are any over a size 12. I say she is extremely tall at 6ft. She's extremely well toned and obviously has to work out to maintain her physique. So while to some of you she doesn't look a plus size because her proportions are the same as yours, she may even have the same BMI... there is actually a lot more of her and she may have a few dress sizes on you. I checked her measurements and she would be a UK size 14-16 based on her waist and hips. Our average models would be a 4-8. So she is definitely in the plus category. *edit* her measurements are 36D-32-42.



Curvy and toned will sell clothes. It's a healthy desirable look. Big rolls of flab will not.

Jen - posted on 08/04/2011

True plus size models would not encourage sales. I read an article a few years ago that showed a catalog with real plus size women and women the size in the OP's article. The catalog was specifically for plus size models. The ones with real big women did not sell as well as the other. I can see that.

What bothers me more than this label is the unwillingness to use the word "fat.' I'm fat, I'm obese, I know it. Yet when I say it, people say, 'Oh Jen stop, you're not."

Well, yes I am but I'm really quite OK with it. Why can't everyone else just relax and accept what we are and what we aren't?

Krista - posted on 08/04/2011

A lot of it is perception. Models have ALWAYS been crazy-thin. They've just sometimes had boobs, and sometimes not. Any time people trumpet about a model with "curves" (such as Gisele Bundchen), it basically just means that she's not completely flat-chested.

Today's model requirements are measurements no more than 34-24-34, and 5'9.

Christie Brinkley, the 1980's epitome of the "healthy" supermodel? 36C-23 1/2-35 1/2. Not a big difference there, is there? Cindy Crawford -- another "healthy" model? 34B"-25.5"-36". I suppose an extra inch on the waist can LOOK like a big difference when you're already so slender. But really, at no time have models looked like the average woman.

Is that "plus-sized" model representative of plus-sized women? Of course not -- no more than a regular-sized model is representative of a regular-sized women. Fashion has always had a warped idea of body sizes for women.

Personally, I like it when we occasionally see a "plus" sized model in a magazine editorial spread without the "Hey! Look how enlightened we are!" disclaimer about featuring a fatty. It doesn't happen often, but at least it happens SOMETIMES, which is more than we used to be able to say.

Jaime - posted on 08/04/2011

*I* am a plus size...but this model isn't even close to that. The fashion industry is an oxy-moron on a good day to the 'average joe' (which makes up a good portion of the population), so it's no surprise to me that their definition of plus size is far from realistic.

Tara - posted on 08/04/2011

She shouldn't be called a plus size model, she should be called an "average sized human" model.
I think the whole world is sick of seeing ultra thin, bony, unhealthy, sickly and gaunt women grace the cover of every fashion mag. Especially in the US where the average female body is overweight. Where more people are carrying around poundage than not. Where thin is the exception to the rule. It's becoming quite comical actually.
This is a great start to showing the female body in a real, non fictitious way. If it continues down this path of normalcy, perhaps we will see a rise in the self esteem of girls and a decrease in the womanizing of women by men.

Kate CP - posted on 08/04/2011

Designers use rail-thin models because they don't have to use as much cloth to make the clothing the model has to wear. It's cheaper. But it's also sickening to see all those bony, sickly-looking women come trotting down the runway. Their hair looks fried, their eyes are sunken, their skin looks dull...they LOOK like they're starving. This woman looks HEALTHY: shiny hair, healthy glow to her skin, bright eyes. And she's not BONY. But I wouldn't call her plus sized either. I'm probably the same size as her (FINALLY!) and I am very proud to boast that I am NOT a plus sized woman any more! So no, she's not plus sized. She's just healthy. Like me! :P

Mandie - posted on 08/04/2011

She's gorgeous, I hope to see more of it in the media

Stifler's - posted on 08/04/2011

I hate the whole thing. We need models in every size. Just models, not "models" and "plus sized models". I'm so NOT going to wear something modeled by someone who is size 6 when I'm size 16. IT WON'T LOOK THE SAME.

Johnny - posted on 08/03/2011

To me she looks pretty much exactly what the models in my mom's fashion mags looked like when I was a kid in the late 70's, early 80's. The stick thin look was not so popular then.

Personally, I understand why high fashion magazines want models who are slender and tall, the clothes hang better. They aren't trying to sell the latest Versace to you & me, so the model doesn't need to look like a "regular woman". The models do not need to be looking like they are about to die from an overdose though. If they are thinner than my niece (who is 5'9", 104 lbs, 13 years old) then it's probably going to make me lose my lunch.

Now if it's catalogues or such, then it annoys me when the model appears to either be a pre-pubescent boy or have walked out of the Somali desert. It gives me no clue what the outfit might look like on a woman with breasts and hips so I just won't buy.

Rebecca - posted on 08/03/2011

The average size from a plus sized model, according to the various sources I read, is 10 or 12. They are generally modelling clothing size 12 and up.

This model says she struggled to keep her size below a 10 and then let it go. My guess, due to her height and big chest, is that she is most likely a 12 or even 14. She is a bit of a (what my fiance's family calls because it is their body type), pineapple-two sticks...meaning all the weight is held in her stomach/torso/chest and her legs/arms are a bit stick like. This kind of figure can be a bit deceiving because of the long legs and such...you may not catch that the weight in the middle makes for a larger dress size.

She seems pretty standard to me for the plus sized industry.

It was a huge trend on the runways this year, according to a Fashion Television (gotta love Jeanne Beker) episode I just saw, to use larger, "plus" sized models. For once, it looks like this model being in Vogue is not a stunt, but another sign toward the fashion industry clueing in a bit about how people really look. I find this move refreshing and I'm happy about it.

Fact is about the mainstream fashion industry over the last couple decades - it is just easier to design for a body that is like a hanger. The kind of clothing they have been showing are pieces of art and they want a super neutral canvas...no curves or extra bumps to contend with. That was the style, that was how they have been taught. Perhaps it is changing?

♏*PHOENIX*♏ - posted on 08/03/2011

Okay I am laughing out loud…hell no she is not plus sized, compared to the average women in many countries.
The average size of a woman here in the states is a 12 I believe which is a 30-33inch waist???
But in the fashion world that is F.A.T. it should not be but that’s the way it is.

Constance - posted on 08/03/2011

Feen I agree completely. I have just figured out that people are stupid. I have been called fat when I am a size 2.ust bcause I have a butt, hips, thighs, and boobs and I am only 5'3. I don't consier that fat by any means nice and healthy. My daughter is the same way just stands 5.9 but is a 00. She has everything I have but she is healthy and eats like an elephant. People are stupid.

Sal - posted on 08/03/2011

i just wish they;d get a little realistic, she is very beautiful, and good on her for not starving herself for a gig, but plus size???? when are they going to start refering t the other modles as minus or negative size modles...never!! thats when so wht can't they all just be models