The French National Assembly passed a bill that would make it illegal for anyone — including fashion magazines, advertisers and Web sites — to publicly incite extreme thinness.
Of course the couture folks are against the whole thing. "Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny," he said. "That doesn't exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France."
Of course the couture folks are against the whole thing. "Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny," he said. "That doesn't exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France."
Well actually it does exist in the world, but the way this law is written it has no chance of working. The law is designed to help the estimated 40,000 anorexic women in France and the women who see the images from the Paris fashion shows each year.
Look. I don't think that watching a woman's bones pop or seeing her ribs or the coffee she drank for breakfast sitting in her stomach is sexy. I understand that designers feel like clothes hang better on overly thin women, but you know what, who cares?
I think this is what France needs to do. To work as a runway model in France you have to be within 5% of whatever the government decides are the normal height and weight proportions for a woman. Simple, easy and effective. Will overly skinny women be out of a job? Probably. But you know what? Lots easier to gain some weight, and if it is just five pounds, it probably won't kill you like losing 40. The other thing this will do is that women won't be forced to chain smoke all day to fight food cravings thereby increasing their overall health. Plus, if France does it, then every country will do it. It will also force print models to gain weight because they will look ridiculous in clothes that are too big for their skinny frames.
I also think that the number one supporter of the bill should be Donatella Versace. She should be out there everyday realizing that there are maybe a million people just like her daughter in the world, and that there will be a million more after those die.
Just because a bunch of designers in Paris who don't even like women think that bone thin is sexy, somehow the world has just followed along and said yes. We wouldn't listen to these guys for anything else, but somehow we believe them when it comes to what makes a woman sexy.
So true. Your comment about how France doing it will have everyone doing it was a good point. I have heard of similar proposed bans in other European countries (anti-size 0 regulations, etc.) but France is a center of the fashion world and will have a huge impact. I have to say it makes me cheer a bit. I don't have anything against women who are naturally that skinny, but I am extremely tired of every runway show having the same set of models that look like they were cloned from some "skinny" gene template. Hopefully a ban would force some designers to be more creative. It's the body's fault if the clothes don't fall right, it's the designer's lack of imagination and technique.
ReplyDeleteEL-
ReplyDeleteYou sure you're not a woman? I haven't heard a man say something so sexy in years...
Love,
Not a Fatty or Skinny
joanna-
ReplyDeleteyeah. Your last sentence speaks volumes about the fashion industry. Before factory automation, clothes were actually constructed on living, breathing "fit models" and although those ladies were slightly thinner and slightly taller than average (I'm talking 5'7" and 110--115 LBS)they weren't as extreme. Not by a longshot.
And think of all the innovations in fashion, the TRUE classics that were born of that era: the Chanel skirt suit. The bikini. The collections of Halston and Calvin Klein (back when CK started, not now).
The clothes now are just so....disposable. And unattractive. And instead of muses like Ava Gardner and Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, we get the Olsen twins. Ugh.
excellent proposal.
ReplyDelete>>It's not the body's fault if the clothes don't fall right, it's the designer's lack of imagination and technique.>>
ReplyDeleteAmen to that, Joanna.
Back in the late 70s to late 80s, the average size for a model was a 6-8.
And Enty? This is but one of the reasons why I adore you.
OG
Did you see "Make Me a Super Model?" Holly won, and she was by no means a skinny minny -- in fact, they layed into her because she wasn't a stick. She is a very healthy-looking girl and am so glad she won!
ReplyDeleteafter this post EL- dinner is on me sweetcheeks!
ReplyDeletemy future bro in law is a famous Spanish designer and he won't use skinny models because as he puts it "i design for women not the fucking hanger"
amen...amen.
as for Donatella..where you think her daughter learned it? you're a Versace and your daughter is wasting away to nothing- make the connection!
I detest that a bunch of gay men who want some lifeless dolls to play dress up with, get to dictate what women should look like. They just want androgynous (sp? rough morning) droids, breathing mannequins, women who's faces are so plain that it "doesnt detract from the clothes". Its disgusting, insulting, and infuriating. I think with the rise of equality among the sexes, we'll see more of these initiatives and I applaud France for being the forerunner, as the world's leaders in fashion. If anyone was going to do it, it HAD to be France.
ReplyDelete"It's not the body's fault if the clothes don't fall right, it's the designer's lack of imagination and technique." Spot on!
Anyone else see Nicky Hilton lately? She is in DENIAL! She says she doesnt have an eating disorder, but anytime you see someone's thighs get thinner (instead of wider) as they reach the pelvic area, has neither muscle nor fat, and is unhealthy. You can tell a LOT simply by looking at the girls' thighs. Skinny and fit girls still have a woman's thighs, unhealthy girls do not.
Yes, government is soooo efficient in everything they do, especially France.
ReplyDeleteMore government! Yeah!!!
we can't blame just gay men, women design too and let's not forget Anna Wintour and her ilk.
ReplyDeletetrix i agree a women's thigh should getting wider as it goes up above the knee not concave back in.
nasty.
Jax, I think doctors would agree with us too!!
ReplyDelete