By NICKY CHAMP
It’s one of the biggest frustrations of the female population that the fashion and modelling industry continues to refer to models larger than an Australian size 8 as “plus size”.
It’s a sad indictment on our culture when skeletal models on the brink of starvation and hospitalisation are held up to be the ideal feminine form. I don’t know about you, but I certainly admire -and want- clothing more when the models are attractive rather than hollow-eyed and emaciated.
Given the admission this week from former editor of Vogue Australia, Kirstie Clements about the prevalence of anorexia in the modelling industry – and the disturbing information about models eating tissues to trick their stomachs into feeling full – we understandably rejoiced when we saw these images of size 12 (and above) models being circulated on the internet.
In her interview with Richard Fidler on Conversation Hour, Clements stated one of the reasons why Vogue didn’t use often use ‘plus size’ models in the pages of their magazine was because there simply “aren’t that many plus-size models working”. So with in that mind we bring you twelve gorgeous models considered to be ‘plus- size’ (not by us) in the gallery below.
Now, we’re not model agents or anything but we found these pretty easily. Take a look:
Are you more or less likely to buy clothes from a label or magazine that uses models of a variety of shapes and sizes?
Top Comments
it is not unusual to be overweight, most women are.
Yes and America is 2nd in obesity. It's no unusual, but still not preferred. Hence the "plus size" title. And marketing ads know that psychologically, women prefer to buy clothes when worn by thin models, in hopes that it'll make them look thinner, too.
You know what really grinds my gears about the whole 'plus size vs starved' model thing? It's that people all of a sudden start throwing a beat down on those skinny models and say that what they are and how they look is 'gross' or 'unattractive', and then sympathise with larger models, saying that their 'chubby' physique is gorgeous and that they shouldn't listen to the media because they're 'beautiful'. Granted some larger models are quite pretty in the face. But, going off most of the pictures shown in the reel, those models are over-weight. If a person has rolls, they are definitely not healthy. Rolls indicate excess amounts of fat. I'm not saying that models need to have visible ribcages or anything. But what you people are calling 'healthy', is someone who is slim, toned, glowing, eats right and exercises regularly. I'm not trying to be the bad guy and trash both types of models for looking the way they look, sometimes you can't help how you look. For example, I'm that type of girl who looks really thin, and all through high school people would call me 'anorexic' or 'twig', but it wasn't something i could change. Anorexia is a disease, and I had no disease. I ate healthy and exercised regularly, and never gained any muscle or weight. No matter what I did I couldn't get any bigger. I could sit on the couch all week eating nothing but Maccas and Cheetoh's, and wouldn't gain a kilo. I figure that goes the same for larger girls too. They just have a slower metabolism, so they gain weight easily. It's just genetics. You can't always change how you look, those who can are the lucky ones. We're all born a certain way. We shouldn't sit here judging people on how they look and wanting them to look different, we should be judging ourselves for doing that. We need to be accepting of one another!
Anna, have you not seen skinny, healthy girls that when sitting, have rolls in their belly, but when standing up they don't have rolls?? Maybe not. And in my opinion this model stuff about having to be size 4 is just ridiculous! Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, and no one should be judged or ridiculed over it because you know what happens to their self esteem and their self confidence? It goes down the drain, I know because I am one of those people. So I am sorry, but I don't agree with what you are saying about rolls.
Maria,
If a person has fat rolls when they're standing they are overweight. No one should be made to feel bad about their appearance, but no unhealthy bodyweight (over or under) should be celebrated. Celebrating an obese body type could be just as damaging as celebrating an underweight size. Just as idealising skinny can lead to eating disorders, so too can an acceptance of excess weight make people too comfortable with a physical state that is detrimental to their health.
Any beauty ideal that encourages unhealthy behaviour is bad. We should love ourselves and we should take care of what we love, which means taking care of our bodies.
I hope you recognise your self worth and your self confidence blossoms x