Body Image: Runway versus Reality

by | Feb 20, 2011 | Beauty, Fashion | 10 comments

After my last week’s Friend Friday post, Nothing Compares To Me, I continued to think about body image; and how no matter what size a woman is, she should be accepted and feel good about herself.  So many women, thin or plus size, feel that there is some flaw that makes them unattractive. Models in the fashion magazines are looking  thinner and thinner. No wonder why we have so many issues with body image.

When will the fashion industry start to truly show all sizes and shapes of women and men in the media?

I came across the article, Beauty and the (Media) Beast by Layla Revis on Ogilvy’s WomenOlogy, the Anatomy of Marketing to Women website.  It was good to read an article about body image from a person who works in the marketing industry. We often here that sex sells and Ms. Revis straight up stated that “we have been lied to.” It’s a known fact that the media industry uses sex to sell everything from fragrance to handbags. What is profound is that Ms. Revis shows fact that the more sex in advertisements, the lower the brand recall.  Did you hear that? The lower the brand recall.

According to Revis
“In fact, a study conducted by Steadman found that brand-name recall was significantly lower in sexual advertisements than non-sexual advertisements. Still, we can continue to tell our clients and our kids that same played out line.”

So the media industry is pushing sex in their advertisements which paints a body image of what the consumer should try to imitate.  These so-called standards or fairy tale high expectations are unachievable and a complete facade.

Revis in her article mentioned the famous video below from the DOVE Campaign for Real Beauty with Ogilvy that went viral in 2004. It’s been almost seven years and we are dealing with body image now more than ever.

It is a shame that even with a viral video that is so pivotal and groundbreaking that we still see models that have low BMI’s and are under body weight.

There’s nothing wrong with being thin if you are at a healthy weight for your height and body frame.  What is wrong is that all sizes are not represented on the fashion runways and in fashion magazines.

Chanel Designer Karl Lagerfeld in 2009 said of women complaining about only seeing skinny models on the runway “that the women complaining about too-skinny models were just fat and jealous.”  Well in 2010 Mr. Lagerfeld did a photo shoot for V magazine of Burlesque star, Miss Dirty Martini whom happens to be a plus size.

Stylist.com

He still looks like he is defending thin models because she does not have any Chanel clothing on, only accessories.  If he felt that she was worth photographing, he would have put some clothes on her. The Chanel fashion shows that I have seen did not show any models wearing what she is wearing on in this shoot.  Does he really have a changed heart? I suspect not!

Designers are creating fashions for women. Don’t they realize that if they tap into the market of misses and plus sizes that it’s a win-win situation here.

Many sources state that the average American woman is 5′ 3.7 tall, weighs 152 pounds and wears a size 14. This corresponds to a Body Mass Index of 26.3. In comparison, Revis said in her article, “the typical model 5′ 9 and 110 pounds, which would mean a BMI of about 16. Far less than the 18.5 BMI which is considered to be underweight.”

Women, whether thin or plus size, want to see models that look like them so that they can picture what the clothing will look like on their bodies.

I have hope that one day we will see all sizes of women and men walking on those runways and strutting their stuff and feeling proud.

According to Merriam-Webster Self Esteem means: a confidence and satisfaction in oneself. However, when a young girl or a woman sees a tall, but underweight girl on the runway, her confidence and satisfaction in herself can be destroyed. The fashion industry has created a fake reality on the runway that many women are believing to be true. It is time to bring the real reality back to the runway by including women in every size range.