To be shocked by how thin this model is?

[Happyland8]

This model struck me as being particularly thin/ underweight. Topshop is a store that sell clothes to teens and anything upwards of that and my gut reaction was to think that young people really aspire to be like the models they see online/ in magazines, at least I did when I was younger. I thought that we should maybe be promoting a more healthy figure.

But then, I thought about the fact that many companies also have plus size ranges modelled by those who are overweight so maybe this is how things should be. We should have underweight, average weight & plus size models, in order to fairly represent society and to promote that people come in all shapes and sizes.

I'd be interested to hear what you all think?

I struggled with eating disorders when I was younger so I'm very much interested in this topic and how we go about promoting a healthy body image to the younger generations.

Was I being unreasonable to think that this lady is too thin or should we have models of all shapes & sizes?

Looks ok to me

I agree that there should be a wider range of shape and size models across the whole industry.

However, this model is still an accurate representation of some women, myself included.
I don't starve myself, nor do I have an eating disorder, I am just naturally petite.

There's nothing wrong with that or her.

Doesnt look underweight to me.

She looks fine to me!

She's not too thin or underweight. She's skinny and tall.
The pic was probably modified in some way though as some of the angles(particularly the elbow) look a but odd

Her legs look very thin - but also airbrushed perhaps?

I don't like her arms. Foreshortened due to angle but even so.
Ugly dress thing she's wearing.

That was my natural body shape before dc. And I used to eat like a horse. She's a size 8, which isn't abnormal or especially skinny (although the site should definitely have a range of models in different sizes of course).

She's about the same size as me by the looks of it. People say I'm anorexic all the time, not the case, just naturally skinny.

OP I find it very offensive that because just because I'm skinny people say that I'm unhealthy and promoting a bad image. I know a lot of people do starve themselves but a lot are also naturally skinny.

her body shape is very similar to my daughter when she was in the grip of an eating disorder, had heart palpitations, low potassium levels and no periods for two years She’s gained three stones since and is a healthy weight now.

I think her arms have been photoshopped a bit too much. They look strange. The rest of her looks okay to me.

She's fine.

The photoshop job on her right arm is all wrong. Apart from that she looks normal to me.

I disagree and dont think we should be promoting over-weight at all. Why normalise over-weight?

What dress size are you op?

My fiancé and I were out during the day yesterday having lunch and a few drinks after and we people watch. In the space of a few hours I saw very few women this thin. Most I saw size 16 and over! I am 10 - 12 myself.

She looks fine to me also. She certainly doesn't look unhealthy and I would assume was in the normal bmi range.

Happyland, I see you struggled with an eating disorder too. I agree that top shop have a responsibility to show more average sized and non skinny females. Whenever I go shopping there with my teenage daughters, the images all around the store and the teeny clothes (size zero for God’s sake) do affect my girls. I’ve seen the effect they have. They comment on the images in the store and the fact that the fashions are mostly designed for people with no bum or tum whatsoever. It worries me.

It isn't fair to the women who are naturally slim to erase them from modelling because 'healthy women don't look like this'. It's not any more true than saying everyone over Size 16 is unfit. In fact many girls who are naturally slim and tall look just like this but a bit less Photoshop

They normally state the height and size of the model. Dd looks similar but is size 4/6 and thinks it's fine. She has difficulties getting clothes that fit , most of her wardrobe currently comes from h and m who are about to resize larger.

She looks normal to me. Slim, not thin. I think we are all so used to seeing fat people that we are losing sight of what a healthy, lean shape looks like

It’s clearly been photoshopped to within an inch of its life.

She looks fine to me

She is thin, but I can't get worked up about it.

Most people, by far, are at least overweight, if not fat or obese.

So thin models doesn't seem to be having anywhere near as much of an impact on people as processed food, over-eating and sedentary lifestyles.

I was away to say she has been photoshopped she is a weird shape even for a skinny girl her arms are all wrong . I dunno top shop seems to cater for tall skinny i was always short skinny and nothing fitted me right i had boobs that got in the way of clothes

She doesn't look unhealthy. Unhealthy looks gaunt, bony. She looks like she just has a slender frame.

We should have models of all shapes and sizes but that includes this model.

Of course we should have models of all shapes and sizes, but I must also echo what other posters have said. I am naturally skinny and petite, and I am healthy with a very good appetite! I hate when people accuse models this size of "not being real women" or "not representing real women". I am small but I am just as real as everybody else thank you very much!