Kate Moss thinks ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’

Kate, have you ever tasted carbs? Or anything that wasn’t vodka? Because you are totally missing out.

I can’t summon much outrage about these comments, despite many readers feeling furious and asking me to post about it.

Here’s how it’s being reported by media all over the world today:

British supermodel Kate Moss was accused Thursday of giving the wrong message to anorexics and teenage girls when she gave her backing for a slogan encouraging them not to eat.

Interviewed by fashion industry website WWD about her favourite mottos, Moss said: “There’s ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’. That’s one of them.”

Campaigners said Moss, 35, who has a seven-year-old daughter, risked creating eating disorders in girls and young women. Beat, a British charity for people with eating disorders, said: “It’s very unfortunate that someone who is a style icon would make such a comment. We can only think and hope that she wouldn’t realise just how dangerous it could be.

“Young people struggling with an eating disorder are fighting a tough enough battle as it is, without thoughtless remarks such as this which can make it even harder.”

Three things came to mind when I first heard about this last night:

1. Kate Moss is a model who has been in the fashion industry since she was practically a child. That is the most significant context that was missing from her comments. It’s like a Formula One driver talking to normal people about road safety. What is normal to them in their daily lives is BIZARRO to us. Parallel universes. This is how models and the fashion industry think. Occasionally, we get a glimpse into their heads and it’s S-C-A-R-Y.

2. Kate Moss hardly EVER gives interviews. This is the smartest thing she does. Not only does it create this extraordinary sense of mystery and allure, it prevents the world from knowing that she’s just a mixed up woman who isn’t very educated and has some serious substance abuse problems.

Not much mystery about that.

She may be a fashion icon but while her outfits may be profound, her words….aren’t. AND THAT’S OK.

If there’s one thing about Kate Moss, it’s that she can work a skinny jean better than any other human and that she is extremely adept at knowing how to market herself. And the staying-silent-and-mysterious approach is her biggest weapon. Remember how disappointed Dorothy was when she found out the Wizard Of Oz was just some little dude standing behind a curtain with a microphone?

If Kate Moss gave more interviews, we would be feeling a lot like Dorothy and Kate’s value as an icon would plummet.

3. Also, it must be said, print interviews are notorious for coming back to bite you hard in the bum. Especially if you are fond of piss-taking, irony or sarcasm. I have learned my lesson the hard way. I’m much better than I used to be but I am still very wary of print interviews. I’m far more comfortable doing the writing myself (where I can control the words) or on radio or live TV where there is more context.

Countless times, I have said something in an interview and then been horrified to see it printed. Like the time early in my career when I did an interview about body image and I was trying to explain that magazines were not documentaries and a degree of glamour was important. To make what I thought was a saliant point, I said “You know, nobody is going to pay $6.50 to see pictures of someone in the queue at Maccas”.

You get what I was trying to say, right? Like I so often do, I was using exaggeration to make my point. But when the paper was printed and the quote was pulled out and made giant, my mother called me to say she was appalled at my attitude.

Then, years later, when I was at Channel 9 and a journalist was quizzing me about rumours that the hosts of The Catchup weren’t getting along, I waved away the question by insisting they got along fine and they hang out all the time and play with each other’s hair.

Well. You an imagine how good that looked. Duh.

So I think we can safely conclude that Kate Moss is probably best to remain silent and mysterious.

Are you outraged by what Kate Moss said or are you rolling your eyes? Have you ever had a major foot-in-mouth episode? Oh you SO have. Everyone has. It doesn’t have to become international news to make you feel like a goose. Fess up.

UPDATE: Here’s another question for you – what DOES taste better than skinny feels? I’m going to say freshly baked sourdough bread with proper butter. Mmmmmmmm.

ALSO NEW ON MAMAMIA TODAY:

1. Frockwatch: Best/Worst Dressed of the week – come vote

2. New Ask Mia video – FINALLY, I talk about my favourite beauty products

3. Twilight’s Kristen Stewart’s interview with Conan O’Brian (video). I like her. A breath of fresh celebrity air.

4. Who Wants To Be A Horny Millionaire Quiz Show Host (video)