Fashion Faux?

My mornings are a definite routine.... medication to take on an empty tummy, time to kill before I can eat food, then the rest of medication to take after I've eaten.  I also like my cups of tea... the day has to start on at least 3 cups.  One lot of medication can't be taken with milk so I take that last of all......

During this time I let my joints slowly wake up while watching the news and GMTV....  I enjoy the banter, the gossip and the laughs...


One item that has left me with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth is GMTV - Face of 2010.  It was touted as the chance of a lifetime model competition which would find one very special person to be the 'Face of 2010'


You can view the original launch on GMTVs YouTube Channel

The rules were that you had to be between the age of 16-24, completed secondary school and be at least 5'8....


Got to see the six finalists this morning, and they had the task of creating an outfit themselves.... One thing that struck me was how slender they all were.  I wouldn't say they were absolutely skinny but I'd say none of them were bigger than a size 10.


I guess at a time when Debenhams has decided to use size 16 mannequins in its shop displays and has used an array of people in its campaign photography, I wonder why model competitions are still very much aimed young, tall, skinny models.


We are a society of different sizes, shapes, colours and cultures.  People are young, old, disabled and non-disabled yet fashion houses, retailers and media still seem blinkered to the World around them....


The one person who saw beyond the blinkers was Lee Alexander McQueen.  He became one of the first designers to use Indian models in London and in 1998 Aimee Mullins modelled his designs on the catwalk... She is a double amputee and modelled with hand-carved prosthetic legs.

I get why fashion houses want models to be at least 5'8... Its so clothes hang better and everyday human things like lumps and bumps will just distort the 'lines'

Its the same with retailers, they use tall, slim mannequins because the clothes  hang better... but do they not realise that if someone sees the outfit, loves it and goes in to try it on, it's not going to look the same, especially if they are shorter and a few sizes bigger.  This is where feelings of inadequacy kicks in, self esteem is affected and women in particular feel the pressure to be the same as those in the magazines, shop windows etc.

We should be celebrating who we are individually... 

To wish you were someone else is to waste the person that you are...