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Health & Fitness

A Weighted Issue

Model vs. Reality

Do I look fat in this paragraph?

Because if I'm going by Top Shop's ideal of a fashionable female, I weigh in two stone over the ideal. The British purveyor of cheap chic recently caved to cries of anorexia glorification and pulled a photo of super-thin model Codie Young from a recent ad campaign.

She went from looking like a human/bug hybrid with a wig and sunglasses in a shirt dress, to one where she looked much "healthier", buried in layers (a classic anorexia move to hide how thin you actually are). Although Young defends herself as "naturally thin" in her blog, which also exposes her as "naturally not big on grammar or schooling", this whole thing still stinks.

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It comes as no shock to most that models are thin. Crazy thin. The camera does add pounds, and models are there to make us aspire to something - a look, a purchase, those five pounds we swear we'll lose, and maybe if we buy said item, we will be all that and more.

But the recent use of 14-year-old actress Hailee Steinfeld in the Miu Miu 2011 fall campaign just makes me outright peevish. Top Shop—they cater to young girls with not a lot of money, so maybe using someone so young and too thin to hold a job involving any heavy lifting or thoughts—OK. Although I have always considered Miucia Prada the classic living example of The Emperor Has No Clothes, this one takes the cake.

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She is a short, not thin woman well into middle age, and THIS is her muse? Enough already. Women, stand up, be insulted, and let your dollars be counted.

So many well-meaning people suggest their daughters, nieces and friends to model at my shows—16-, 17-, 19-year-old girls, thin, tall, and ne'er a shadow of a wrinkle on their faces, nor a bump of celluilte on their rears. My answer is always a polite no thank you. Why? Because that would be an incredible insult to my actual customer, who with the exception of prom dresses, is NOT 16. And quite frankly, it's not only that I really enjoy the company of all the hot chicks in their 20's, 30's and early 40's, and sometimes pushing 60, that strut my cat walk - I think they look stunning, or they wouldn't be there - but I would quite honestly feel creepy using 'girls' to sell the clothes I work out in my finely aged brain. I design things I want to wear, and actually do wear. What would it say to my client base, and myself, to have teens in my clothes?

Getting back to the Codie Young thing, the shirtdress in that ad? It would look incredibly matronly on most women, but that's the trick of the camera - take a super-thin girl, the right lighting and make-up, and you may sell a lot of shirt dresses. But to what end?

Does realism belong in fashion advertising? Eileen Fischer uses 'real women' in its print ads, a mix of older, younger, and 'normal'. But they also have a huge (no pun intended) plus size following. Is that why? Or did women over size four innately sense "this label understands me" and make it a success?

And it goes beyond size. There has been a huge uptick both editorially and in advertising of the classic old school supermodels, who are all hitting their late forties. I personally find this heartening, because I grew up thinking these people were beautiful—so if they still are, while being older than me, do my ideals still hold up? Or am I delusional, the world has moved on, and a 16 year old smaller than my left thigh is the new it girl. Trust me, if my scale goes up three pounds, lettuce is my new best friend, and it is everything in my power to not have my workouts involved bench pressing my 11-year-old daughter shouting "Where is mommy's waist??" on the exhale like my own drill sergeant. But what would that say to her? There's enough mixed messages about sexuality, weight, women and power out there. As a responsible businesswoman, I owe it to the women who walk through my shop's door to 'represent'.

Miucia, Top Shop, I would like to see you put your casting where your money lies.

[Editor's Note: This blog post was updated with the correct spelling of "Miu Miu."]

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