Show us the curves!
July 10th, 2009I love getting things in the mail, don't you? I think it's the reason online shopping is so compelling - you get to send yourself little presents!
I also love having mag subscriptions that arrive in the mail and my current subscription is for Madison (although I must say it started as a good mag and has slid a little downhill over the year - just one gal's opinion). I was rather keen to read one of the features "jeans for any shape". For all sized girls, finding the right jeans can be on par with finding the right bathing suit - lots of time spent sweating and pulling in badly lit change rooms, often ending in depression.
So, back to the article. I flip it open and they do the standard "shapes" - pear, curvy, etc. But the stinker was, the models in ALL of them were, oh, maybe a size 6, and the only pear in their world was what they'd find in their fruit bowl! For god's sake, our eyes won't burn out if you actually use a model that (a) is over 50kgs and (b) may actually be blighted with the same figure challenges as the rest of us.
I know that in a fashion spread you want the clothes to always look their best, but in the sort of spread that's purporting to help me choose jeans for my (sadly too wide) butt, I dont see the point in ignoring the size and shape of the gal you're putting the demin on?!
And this isn't just Madison. I got an email yesterday about a great product: "Yummie Tummime Shapewear and Body Shapers - These cute tops have a hidden panel to smooth your midsection and make you feel fabulous."
Sounds perfect, no? So I go to the website and find the tops modelled on, you guessed it, 6ft, concave tummy, hotties. Sheesh, if I'm gonna buy the thing, I'd at least like to see what it looks like on someone over 21 and who doesn't live on marathons and coffee!
So sorry, this has been somewhat of a rant, but it has to be said, over and over. We are not all amazons, we are not all a size 6, in fact the most common Australian size is a 16!!!! So please, editors and advertisers, show us some beautiful gals that reflect our dimensions and allow us to see if these clothes will actually make us look as gorgeous as we know we can look!
July 10th, 2009 at 2:55 am
“For all sized girls, finding the right jeans can be on par with finding the right bathing suit - lots of time spent sweating and pulling in badly lit change rooms, often ending in depression.”
OMG - I soooooooo hear you! It drives me nuts and I really hate going jeans shopping, apart from the sweating and size zero shop assistants sticking their head in at the worst moments. I’d love to see some real women in magazines!
July 16th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Ah, I am so glad it isn’t just me
I got a bit excited years ago when Cleo or Cosmo started including size 16 gals - but what happened to the mags for grown ups?!
I’d write a letter to all the editors in the world if only I thoughts they’d listen…but I’ve come to the conclusion they’re so starved their concentration span is adversely affected and they’d get as far as adding “hire model who weighs oh, 60kgs” on their list as a radical new idea…and that’s as far as it would go!
BB