21 September 2006

The Skinny on Skinny

The New York Times has an article on the ongoing issue of too-skinny models.

Everyone knows models are too skinny, but it seems that people are making such a fuss that things are actually being done about it. I wouldn't be surprised if strict rules and regulations regarding the health of models were instated this year.

If casting directors have to walk out of the room from nausea after seeing a model, you know there's a problem. Even Jessica Stam is complaining.

I knew a model in LA who was absolutely stunning. She was 6ft tall and couldn't have weighed more than 130lbs. She moved to New York and was told by her agent she had to drop 10lbs.

Hana Soukupova is one of the models who looks especially as if she should be in an article in The National Geographic on famine in The Sudan.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just feel sorry for them, stuck as they are (?) into this ugly business.

Bernadette Pasley said...

Well, I wouldn't say "stuck." No one's holding a gun to their heads making them stay in this business. That being said, I feel sorry for them, too.

Anonymous said...

that model in the photo does look really sick and by the way i really like your blog.....

Laura McLaws Helms said...

What did Stam say?

About Me said...

Stam said, “There are a lot of girls doing the shows who are very thin and frail. I don’t know if they are healthy or not, but I don’t think the frail, fragile look is very feminine, and I don’t think it’s attractive.”

daddylikeyblog said...

Oh my gosh that's such a sad picture. I hate the idea of these women acting as clothes hangers for the clothes, that if they actually have boobs or a bit of a stomach or some womanly curves that it interferes with the "drape" of the fabric. These are people we're talking about! Great post. Keep it up.

Anonymous said...

who horsie...mind you that half these girls are 13, 14 till sixteen, run from show and absolutely do not eat candy. When I was 16 I was 6ft tall and smaal as size 2..and I couldn't help it....it's the older or older getting girls that have problems, when they gain weight as they leave their teens and become twenty. Sure i have seen Lily Donaldson tthrow away bread from a sandwich and just eating the inside, but other girls like Bette Franke drink their hot coco at home and are just the way they are. It's 50?50 on girls that are natural like that and that aren't.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, she looks like she is about to topple over.

Katie said...

Oh my goodness!

What makes it even worse is that her skeleton around the hip bone is larger than that of an average model, which makes her bones prod a lot more.

Definitely not sexy.

Anonymous said...

According to the latest ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders) newsletter, there IS going to be some sort of legislation to mintor models' health. It was put into action in the Madrid Pasarela Cibeles show and is being supported by the top people in London and Milan. I don't know anything about fashion and more than I'd like about eating disorders. At the fashion show in Madrid, a medical team evaluated each model and found that 30% weren't in good enough health due to their weight/eating patterns. A lot of people are quick to blame models for the epidemic of eating disorders, but I see them as the most renowned victims. There's a bigger problem going on here and it can't be traced to one source. Sure, it would be nice for me (and my recovery) to see some normal-sized people in magazines, but I don't blame the models for doing everything they think they have to do to get ahead in their business. Other people do everything they can to be successful, but the results don't usually cause long-standing physical problems and/or death. I don't know what the answer is, but starving isn't it. I already did that for 25 years and for that, sure I got to be skinny until I had to gain the weight to save my life. Kidney failure and osteoporosis is now a part of my life at 35 years old. God bless!

Anonymous said...

I am (really, not an excuse... I'm not a model :-P) naturally tiny and slim since I was a child and I don't resemble at all those skinny skinny girls!
Raf

Anonymous said...

will people start remembering the runway is about the clothing, not the models? models are simply walking coat hangers, no more, no less. most of them are quite dumb to boot and have no real talents other than the ability to walk well. if these are the role models young girls have today, then the world has become a very sad place. it ironic as well that the US, with the highest number of obese people, happen to squawk the loudest about anorexia. obesity is a much widespread health problem today than anorexia, so come on. get off the couch and go eat some vegetables!