French Elle took a brave and rewarding leap forwards - putting three models on the cover of their new issue in their natural raw and beautiful state - no photoshopping, no make-up, no over styling.  

Viva la revolution!

The covers feature Monica Belluci, Eva Herzgova and Sophie Marceau

I even sat in Court today in my job as a lawyer and while we were waiting for the judge to come in we all heard the court clerks talking about how fat they were and how they used to be so thin. One of them said how "hippy" she was and how bad she felt about it. It was totally weird that there, even in a court room where you usually keep silent before the judge comes in, it was totally acceptable to engage in this self-hatred so publicly.

What has happened is that "Fat talk" has become completely acceptable and normal.

It's so sad.

That's why Fat Talk Free Week has to be a good thing.  Here's the link. http://www.endfattalk.com/

A seriously distorted image of Fillippa used to advertise Ralph Lauren in Tokyo

The Times reported on 15th October 2009 that a Ralph Lauren model, Filippa Hamilton, is claiming that she has been dropped by the brand after six years working with them because she was supposedly too heavy and couldn't fit into the company's sample sizes.  A size 8 too heavy?

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article6874826.ece

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article6874990.ece

This move follows on from Glamour's announcement last month to show a more diverse representation of women.

When two big successful magazines take steps like this and when we hear about the new charter in Canada (see below) it really seems like something in the air is changing and that people are cottoning onto the fact that the fashion industry has not been doing women's gorgeously diverse bodies justice.   

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/6263810/German-womens-magazine-Brigitte-bans-models.html

Lizzie Miller pictured in Glamour magazine

Anybody is very pleased to hear that the province of Quebec has drafted North America's first Charter to
promote healthy and diverse models. Here is a link. Let's hope others follow suit.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/10/16/quebec-charter-fashion-thinness.html?ref=rss

 Jo Sykes 2009 London Fashion week presentation

Anna Wintour, editor of US Vogue next to Alexa Cheung and Pixie Geldof front row of PPQ's London Fashion Week presentation 2009

Fashion week show by Mini Feu using all ages

By Elise Slater

When the fashion world's latest obssession is with 13-year old blogger Tavi and the latest issue of LOVE magazine ('The young and the reckless' issue) profiles only those under the ripe old age of 21 what hope is there for the rest of us?

Is life really over and dried up once you hit 22? Do you cease to exist? If you haven't made the big time by the time you are 18 you may as well give it all up? Where once older and wiser was the rule and the way to treat the elderly was with respect it seems increasingly the young rule the world, and the only products produced are either for the young or to make us look young.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter...well, ok maybe I am. But I am only 30 myself, and active in the fashion industry, so to feel like I am already old really is ridiculous, and I know it. I can turn my thinking around - but when you are completely surrounded by this adoration for youth and there is a complete black hole when it comes to anyone over the age of 25 it really is disconcerting.

At London fashion week, where the scenster brat pack of rock star offspring rule the roost (namely Pixie Geldof, Daisy Lowe and Alexa Cheung) It was great to see Anna Wintour - a woman with real fashion experience and talent sit aside them on the front row - and looking rather perturbed about the whole affair!

At a point in history where fashion's obsession with the young is literally reaching an all-time low it is refreshing to see some older models making a debut - with London Designer Jo Sykes using models up to the age of 81 - who looked fabulous in their clothing. She put a silver haired Daphne Selfe into silver jeans - modern and contemporary clothing for all ages.

Young people are great, don't get me wrong, I was young too once! Young people are full of energy and aspiration and unfulfilled potential. We should celebrate youth - but we should also celebrate women who have lived and experienced and earned their stripes - women who have had careers, and been mothers, who have wrinkles from smiling too much and who grow more beautiful and wiser as they grow older. 

I think it's time we gave these youngsters something to aspire to and created a few older role models in the world!

From far left: Crystal Renn, Amy Lemons, Ashley Graham, Kate Dillon, Anansa Sims and Jennie Runk. Bottom Center: Lizzie Miller.

US Glamour Magazine (November issue) has made a commitment to showcasing body diversity in their magazine. They conclude the article: Let’s start that revolution right now. Here is the link to an article about using diverse sizes in fashion that concludes with their commitment. The also have a beautiful editorial featuring seven top curvy models. And with a quote from AnyBody member Ben Berry in the mix this may just be the start of the change we have been campaigning for...

'Who says supermodels have to be superthin? There’s a new definition of gorgeous—and you’re about to write it.'

 GLAMOUR MAGAZINE
September 21, 2009
by Genevieve Field

The cavernous photography studio in New York City is bustling with fashion assistants, hair and makeup stylists, and models chatting in white terry robes. All typical on a photo shoot, but when the robes come off, you see what’s different. Kate Dillon, Ashley Graham, Amy Lemons, Lizzie Miller, Crystal Renn, Jennie Runk and Anansa Sims— some of the top “plus-size” models working today—have beautiful curves, round shoulders, belly rolls and lots of other womanly stuff many of us see when we look in the mirror. Oh, and there’s lunch, which the models actually eat. “Gosh, it’s so nice that they’re feeding us,” says Lemons. “When I was doing runway, all I was ever offered was water and champagne, all day long.” But it’s not the food the models are excited about—it’s the mission. They’ve been assembled to help Glamour continue an extraordinary dialogue on body image that you, our readers, began.


It started in our September issue with a small photo of Lizzie Miller sitting au naturel—confident, sexy and clearly unconcerned about a little belly overhang. We loved the photo, but it was just one of more than a hundred of full-figured women we’ve run in recent years, so we were surprised when it hit a nerve. “This is true beauty!” wrote one commenter on glamour.com. “A woman that eats!” Added Megan Fehl, 23: “Because of my own belly, I always thought I was some deformed woman, but not now. Holy hell, I am normal!” And in the words of another reader: “I’ve struggled with eating disorders and body image since I was 12. Seeing this picture is the first time I have felt good about myself and comfortable with my body (just the way it is) in a very long time. Thank you for the self-esteem.”


Why did this particular picture, at this particular moment, resonate with so many women? Some possible reasons: The recession has us all in a back-to-basics, tell-it-like-it-is mood, so realer images of women’s bodies seem appropriate now. Celebrities like Kate Winslet, Jessica Simpson and now, on page 182 of this issue, Scarlett Johansson have spoken out against a culture that nitpicks a woman’s every thigh dimple. First Lady Michelle Obama dresses to accentuate rather than camouflage her regal curves, and has the entire world swooning. And maybe, as Emme, a pioneer plus-size supermodel and host of More to Love, believes, “we’ve just had it with the beyond-slender, airbrushed-from-head-to-toe models and actresses who’ve dominated [newsstands] for over a decade.”

Glamour has been on this wavelength since the early nineties. We’ve put Queen Latifah on the cover twice and frequently feature other fuller-bodied celebs and models (including all the women you see here, with the exception of Glamour newcomer Jennie Runk). But the phenomenal response to the Lizzie Miller photo shows there is a thirst for an even more inclusive view of women’s bodies. So what’s keeping the fashion and media worlds from portraying as many size 10’s and 14’s and 20’s as we do size 0, 2 and 4? And what ratio of fantasy to reality does the average American woman really want to see in magazines and ads?

It All Starts With the Clothes


Let’s say you fit the most popular American dress size, a 14, and you want to wear high-end designer fashion. Good luck to you, because most designer fashion labels don’t make a size 14 (they stop at 10 or 12). That’s an aesthetic decision, not a business move, says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the market research firm NPD. “We know that larger-size women will pay almost anything for good-quality clothes that fit, and luxury brands could benefit greatly from serving that need,” he says. “But there remains a deep stigma against going plus-size in the high-end fashion market. Find a brand that’s willing to bet its image and licensing revenue by doing this, and you will find a progressive company.”


Such companies do exist, and kudos go to Michael Michael Kors, Isaac Mizrahi for Liz Claiborne New York and Baby Phat, among others, for making chic clothes in sizes larger than 14. But even if more designer fashion came in plus sizes, you’d still rarely see it modeled in a magazine by plus-size girls. Why? It’s the sample-size problem. When fashion editors do photo shoots, they can’t simply buy clothing that’s in stores now. They need samples of clothing that will be available when the magazine hits newsstands—samples made by the manufacturer and cut, almost always, to fit a woman size zero to 4. When Glamour uses models and celebrities who are larger than sample-size, getting of-the-moment fashion for them “can be a challenge,” says Maggie Mann, senior fashion editor. “We’ll have a tailor standing by, doing alterations and opening up seams. And we might buy clothes off the rack if we can find something that’ll be available months later when the issue comes out.” Major celebrities have it a little easier; a designer will occasionally make a dress in her size as a courtesy, as happened when Queen Latifah was Glamour’s cover girl.


In June, Alexandra Shulman, editor-in-chief of British Vogue, wrote a letter to top designers, begging for reform. “We have now reached the point where many of the sample sizes don’t comfortably fit even the established star models,” read a portion of her memo, quoted in The Times of London. She charged that designers were forcing magazines to hire models with “jutting bones and no breasts or hips.” Strong words. Will they make an impact? “We hope so. It will take a season or two before we know,” says Glamour deputy fashion director Sasha Iglehart. “Crystal Renn has already graced Glamour’s pages multiple times. It would be a dream come true to work with beauties like her dressed in our

Artwork by Magritte

How brilliant that French politicians are seeing sense and taking steps to protect us from false airbrushed images that make us feel we can never live up to expectations - even though they are fake. Here is link to the article. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6214168/French-MPs-want-health-warnings-on-airbrushed-photographs.html 

Alexander Cabanel - The Birth of Venus

Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym.  It said:

THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans).  They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.  They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp.  They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs.  They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans.  They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist.  If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis.  Fish or human?  They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex?  Therefore they don't have kids either.  Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who's skin is all scaly and smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me... I want to be a whale.

P..S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my grandkids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a latte with my friends.  With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies.  So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.  Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good gosh, look how smart I am"!