Plus Size Models
By Swtrose
@Swtrose (3385)
Canada
May 27, 2007 10:53pm CST
50%, give or take a few, of American women are size 14 and bigger according to an article that I read.
One store in Britain used a 5’8” size 12 model to promote their 2007 swimwear collection. They said they wanted someone who looked like an every day average woman.
In 2006 Gaultier used a size 20 model in his fashion show in Paris. He was making a point that big is beautiful. Here is the model he used.
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/10/gaultier041006_468x692.jpg
More larger women than ever are becoming models. I think that it's fantastic that more plus size women are being used in advertising.
Did you know that Seventeen Magazine readers chose a size 12 model as their representative. The girl beat out 11,000 applicants.
Do you think advertisers should start using women who are a size 12 and above to promote their clothing?
16 people like this
18 responses
@sirensanssmile (3764)
• Netherlands
30 May 07
Where it is true that bigger women can be beautiful too.... They should not glorify being obese or overweight. It is true that now adays it is a common thing that doesn't make it a healthy lifestyle.
People complain that using skinny models makes girls annorexic because most women are not that skinny, however I can say the same for using overweight models!
They should not bombard young girls with the image that obesity is okay and normal. They should use models who are proportionate to their bone structures. If models are who girls look up to then they should show models who are fit and athletic. Not emaciated, not obese or overweight.
It does NO good to go to another extreme like that.
1 person likes this
@Galena (9110)
•
31 May 07
it is. and what people are saying isn't that the models are fat, or unhealthy, (I have't looked at the picture linked, so I couldn't say( but that models should be a healthy weight. not unhealthily overweight or underweight. for different people, different weights will be healthy.
@meljessxena (2315)
• Australia
28 May 07
yeah models that are like size 8, all the time, it brings bigger people self esteem down i think, im size 16, and i have been offered to model bridal dresses, it made me blush to think that someone would want me to model since my size. i couldnt believe it. it would change so many people and countries etc etc if larger people were to model things.
2 people like this
@professorxang (201)
• United States
4 Jun 07
bigger people only have self esteem issues becase they are that way not becase of models. that is serious cop out.
you feel bad to belarge then you need to stop computer and go outside. you say feeling change if big girl model things that is just bad.
big people model for weight loss and that is where they belong.
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
28 May 07
I think they should use all different sizes. Not one person is the same size. There is just so many different sizes out there.
So I think it is a good idea, because big is just as beautiful.
I think it wouldn't hurt to use a mixure of different sizes like size 8, 12, and 20, or bigger.
Every body shape is uniqe.
:)
3 people like this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
29 May 07
Then maybe they should have chosen a size 14 model to do the clothing swimwear promotion. Yes I do think they should start using bigger size models because then maybe they would sell clothes more because we or people could actually see what we would look like in a outfit or look similar to them. When they use those skinny ones we think that will never look right on us but if we see the larger sizes models then we would see what we would look like and buy more if we liked what we saw so maybe theya re finally catching on.. bigger is beautiful just because your big doesn't mean your ugly..
1 person likes this
@cloud_kicker_32 (4635)
• United States
28 May 07
i Think its about time! For crying out loud..ya know what makes me mad? The fact that people have always been heavy..or should isay bigger than a freakin size 3!! even back in the western days,and way back,,now in our time..too many people think because one of heavu there fore they are unhealthy and MUST LOSE WEIGHT..well helloo..i have been my whole life and im healthier than most people..they just take the few cases and make it out to be a bigger problem than it really is..and yayyy! to plus models..and magazines that wil use them..i think we are evolving back tot he way thigns should be..it may take time..but im soo sick of skinny mini models....
1 person likes this
@Marie2473 (8512)
• Sweden
28 May 07
i do belive that this would help more young people to belive that all people are beautiful. today there is such hysteria about beeing skinny and so many teens have eating-disorders coz they wanna look like the covergirls.
I do belive that they should use a healthy, normalsized woman more than they do today.. I think what Gaultier did was great =)
There was another designer - i truly do not remember who it was but a very famous one.. H&M - a clothingstore bought the rights to sell some of his clothes and they made some in size 12,and he got so pissed off that he actually cancelled the deal they ahd.. Coz his clothes were not designed for FAT women.. That just made me sick and I would not wear his clothes even if they paid me for it (I will remember the name if I hear it)
1 person likes this
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
29 May 07
Yes, to use a 12+ size model is certainly more realistic in terms of the average woman. To promote these sizes, rather than the size 0-7, will perhaps do something to decrease the amount of anorexia and bulemia in our country. Sadly there are little girls in 5th grade who are already discussing diets and beginning to purge after eating.
1 person likes this
@66jerseygirl (3877)
• United States
29 May 07
I think that's great! What really aggrevates me is when I see thin models that are modeling clothes for plus size women.I never understood why they do that.they need be getting more plus sized models out
1 person likes this
@flpoolbum (2978)
• United States
30 May 07
I think it is very forward thinking of clothing retailers to appeal to the more realistic view of the comsumers. If they want to sell their clothing, then why alienate the consumer by featuring skinny models, who probably starve themselves before the shoot to obtain that thin look.
I read that during the making of the movie "Annapolis" the male actors were cutting carbs before their shirtless scenes, and a female actor joked, "Now you know how we feel."I also think of the cartoon strip "Cathy" where some of the main character's stuggles include clothing designed for the very thin women.
1 person likes this
@4cuteboys (4099)
• United States
29 May 07
I think it's a great idea. I think it looks better. I honestly think I looked worse when I met my husband--I was a size 0, 5'10 and about 118-120. I looked sickly. Now generally I am a size 6 and 130. Much better. The too thin look doesnt look attractive to me. I think they should use models like this. I wish they would make it happen all the time and not just sometimes. I think it would help people that think it's a goal to look like those girls.
1 person likes this
@tina12679 (1126)
• United States
29 May 07
I personaly think this is a great idea, i have alway been a fuller figure girl and when i was younger it made me sick to open up a magazine and see all these size 3 or smaller girls and woman. It made you think that it wasnt ok to be the size you were. I dont even really know any woman anymore that are smaller then a 7 or 8 but i also certainly dont think that a size 12 and 14 should be classified under plus size either. it used to be that plus size wasnt a plus size until you got to 18 or 20.
@vmoore709 (1101)
• United States
28 May 07
I think a "normal" size woman should be used, but I don't want to look at someone "fat" either. Also, a 5'8" size 12 woman looks very different than a 5'3" size 12 woman. We're not all tall either.
@professorxang (201)
• United States
4 Jun 07
i can not agree more with vmoore709. i also dont want to look at fat models. size proportion is better becase as vmoore said someone who is 5'3 and size 12 will look very different than someone 5'8 and size 12. i think size 12 look fine on tall people but not short people. it is about proportions.
@Galena (9110)
•
29 May 07
I think the thing is, some people are healthy at a bigger size, and some people are healthier at a smaller size.
when someone starves or overeats to get to a particular size that isn't natural to them, then they don't look healthy. their skin isn't right, their hair isn't right.
they should hire models at their own natural weight, and then they will be attractive and healthy.
@sirensanssmile (3764)
• Netherlands
30 May 07
I agree with this.
They say that teenage girls idolise models then they should use models who are obviously fit and maybe athletic to encourage the girls to be active!
Maybe use models that are proportional to their bone structure.
I think that using overweight models is just as bad as using emaciated models though. It is just another extreme they are showing the girls out there.
I am sorry though, that model in the picutre that the original poster linked to is obese and does not look healthy.
1 person likes this
@professorxang (201)
• United States
4 Jun 07
no that women in picture does not look fine. she look like she struggle to even walk. i bet she can not climb stairs without break. that is not healthy to weight so much on your heart. she is obese woman you can easily see that.
@madhusalen (7)
• Fiji
4 Jun 07
I strongly think that all sizes of models should be used so that all feel beautiful and as iam myself size 16 seeing thin girls being made beautiful and sexy makes me personally feel very disgusting I could say at times..and it would be a favor for girls who has get thin and get anorexia etc just to become a model..
@brendakaya (2332)
• United States
23 Jun 07
Sure, there are pretty women of all sizes, and a woman that wears a size 16 or so, can better see what something will look like on herself, by looking at a model that's similar size. If you're a size 16, and see a model wearing something that's a size 2, there's not much comparison.
