*Sigh.* Am I writing about the same thing everyday? First Karl Lagerfeld then Christian Louboutin. Now, Ralph Lauren is on my “maybe you shouldn’t have a mouth” list or at least please, read the guidebook to know when to keep it shut. I was interviewed for The Daily News on this topic for today’s follow up article here.
Yes, Ralph Lauren has recently fired a gorgeous, size 4 model, because…wait for it, wait for it…she was too overweight! At 5′10 and 120 pounds, she’s quite the heifer. Now, if a size 4 model is too “overweight” to wear Ralph Lauren’s clothes, what in the world does that say to us?
I’ll tell you what it should say to Ralph Lauren…it’s time to change your clothes unless you would like to continue to alienate 98% of women. I don’t recall Ralph Lauren labeling his clothes “only for the extremely thin.” He puts out clothes to a wider audience than that– so what is he saying? He’ll make clothes for us but he thinks we’ll look bad in them? Too bumpy? Too curvy? Too…human?
And how about this lovely ad, obtained from Boing Boing, that was part of a campaign in Japan? It’s so nice of America to spread over warped “fun house” body image across the world. The model, Filipa Hamilton, was shocked when she saw this.
She should be. This doesn’t even look like 1% of America. it looks other-worldly. And…not in a good way. Her waist is thinner than her head!
Behavior: Fire a size 4 model because she is too “overweight.”
Translation: 98% of American girls and women are “too overweight” to look good in fashionable clothes.
Fallout: Girls learn that they must do whatever it takes to fit themselves into these clothes. They believe that they must fix their bodies rather than realizing that the designer should fix the clothes…and his brain.
Here is what it says in today’s Daily News:
Child and teen development expert Dr. Robyn Silverman said the touched-up image and the controversy surrounding Hamilton’s firing contribute to body-image complexes in young girls.
“I think we need to get a grip and designers need to get a clue,” she said. “If a stunning size 4 model is too overweight to look good in their clothes, then they need to change their clothes, not the model.”
We all know, as I said on the Santita Jackson radio show on Tuesday, that models are supposed to be walking clothes horses (pretty thin ones, of course) for their designers. No bulges. No bumps. No curves. We wouldn’t want anything to disrupt our view of the clothes, now would we?
But what these designers are forgetting is that clothes…are meant…to be worn.
At a time when Europe is finally realizing the models should better reflect the women who are actually going to be buying the clothes, America is so far behind it’s facing backwards. It’s time to get a grip folks. And while we’re at it, perhaps designers should get a clue.
Your take?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This is really disgusting! I coundn’t agree with your article more!
What is wrong with all these designers that are giving such a horrible message to the very impresionable teens. And then we wonder why there are so many problems with anorexia and bulimia?? wow!! A picture is definitely worth a 1000 words here!
I have also been blogging about this throughout the past week. It makes me so sick that the company did this to these poor models! (Another image was just released). I agree with your comments and these are exactly the types of images that mislead the youth of our world and the public as a whole. This is the main issue when it comes to body image and the media.