size queens

[anotheranon]

I recommend this rambling post that covers, among other things, the inconsistent, shifting nature of women's clothing sizes and the ban on too-thin models from Spanish fashion week. Lots of interesting linkage throughout about smaller than zero sizes (!), Jamie Lee Curtis' efforts to expose the glamor for what it is, etc., but one I especially wanted to point out is that the SizeUSA National Sizing Survey is using a scanner to attempt to find out how Americans are REALLY shaped, on average.

Preliminary findings: less than 8.4% of women scanned have the idealized hourglass shape. Indeed, they've found 4 basic types - I myself am either an inverted triangle or a rectangle. Kind of reminds me of the shape icons in Land's End swimwear catalogs (alas, not available on their site).

Random thought on the too-skinny models debate: IMHO it comes down less to pressuring designers and advertisers to use more realistically shaped/sized models, and more to do with improving the health/safety standards of the modeling business itself. The Spanish decided to use BMI (body mass index) as a standard in an effort to prevent eating-disordered women reaching the runway, but I think it's also worth pointing out that a lot of the girls look thin and underdeveloped because they ARE girls - 14, 15 years old. Maybe another starting point would be agencies restricting representation only to women 18 and older?

Comments

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I'm more of an inverted triangle than anything else...never was an hourglass, even when I was thin.

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Hurrah for Spain and some sense! I am puzzled though, by the four body types being treated as a "new" discovery ... books on wardrobe planning, sewing, and even on exercise, diet and weight training (if you look in the sensible ones and not the fad-based ones) have been stating this for many years. ***wanders off, humming "Everything Old Is New Again*** and fantasizing about having her own personal bodyscanner/pattern maker*** :p

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Indeed, it's not new news, but it's certainly information that isn't often put to use when designing clothes. Note I'm not even talking about "designer" high end clothes, but shapes/sizing for mass production.

If clothing manufacturers start making clothing that takes people's real shapes into account, that will, regrettably, be noteworthy :/

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

True enough ... wasn't thinking that bit all the way through (what can I say except it's been a looooonnng week).

Yes, that it has taken this long for the manufacturers to clue in is regrettable in its noteworthiness, but hopefully we WILL get to celebrate it happening in our lifetimes. And just think ... this might/should also pay off in a shift away from B-cup as standard ... :-)