Will there be a return of extreme thinness in fashion and pop culture?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Just musing really. I love the nineties look that's around at the moment (have such nostalgia!) but remembering that the nineties brought us the heroin chic look, and a general trend for rather extreme thinness, and arguments in the fashion world about how thin was too thin when it came to who could do runway shows. Followed by the size zero trend in the early 2000s. There did seem to be a time when there was no such thing as 'too thin'. To my mind, models look much healthier nowadays.

Will body positivity, and a move towards talking more openly about mental illness, mean that we don't see a return of the more extreme side of nineties fashion?

It would be good if society aspired to healthy weight, fit/strong physique and not obsessing/judging ourselves all the time, caring less what other people think... but that doesn’t sell clothes.

Yep, no bubble butts round here... just pearshapes

I don't think being skinny has ever really gone out of fashion in reality. We are supposedly more inclusive now and there are more plus sized models represented in fashion and media but if I'm brutally honest, I don't look at the plus sized models and think they look good. I completely understand that we should embrace all sizes but you can't force people to find something attractive when they don't.

I've personally gone from being a chubby child to fat teenager to finally slim and healthy in my early twenties (which took 2-3 years to achieve) and now suddenly in my mid forties I'm seeing the creeping weight gain around my middle which I was working hard to control... but then came the pandemic and now I'm in need to lose weight properly for the first time in 25 years. So I've been different sizes and even though I'm at my most relaxed and accepting of my body thesedays, I have never and never will think being fat looks good on people. Of course I would never say so or think critically of others about it, it's a fact of life that the majority of people are overweight now and I'm back in that struggle myself right now.

‘Extreme thinness’ sells, and will be considered ‘desirable’ or ‘fashionable’ for as long as women are daft enough to buy into it.

@OneRingToRuleThemAll whilst I wouldn't want a return to "heroin chic", I would like the media to stop normalising morbid obesity. All this "love your curves" crap is discouraging healthy eating and will ultimately put a huge strain on the NHS in years to come.

I'm just waiting for the day when 'slightly chubby round the middle' becomes fashionable Unfortunately it never happens. Today's desirable shape is even harder for me to attain than 90s think as I don't have the right shape for it (apple shape). Previously I could just eat less, now I'd have to shape and sculp myself (would probably require plastic surgery tbh). Hence why I don't bother since it's too difficult and all bollocks anyway.

*90s thin

@Borntohula

Fat will never be desirable. Nobody sees a fat model and thinks 'i want to look like that.' Even on here, it's not as though there are multiple boards dedicated to 'how to gain loads of weight...'

Disagree, fat has always been desirable in times of famine and thin is desirable in times of plenty, this last year has shown how fragile our Time of plenty is.

I've always loved this. It's the Rick Owens show from a few years ago. Strong, athletic, fierce women of many shapes and sizes:

I think with Coronavirus and the higher likelihood of catching it if you are heavier, will push us even more towards the ideal of the ‘perfect’ slim body. I don’t think heroin chic skinny will come back though, more like a toned gym bunny type look

if I'm brutally honest, I don't look at the plus sized models and think they look good.
Afaik plus size for models starts on size 12/14. That's actually pretty good size for moat if I dare to say.

I would class these models from the most recent London Fashion Week as extremely thin - not 'heroin chic' - I'm sure they are healthy, but they are certainly not curvy by any stretch of the imagination.

Picture didn't attach but if you google images of London Fashion week you will see what I mean.

Oh, it's there now.

[quote Gil55]@OneRingToRuleThemAll whilst I wouldn't want a return to "heroin chic", I would like the media to stop normalising morbid obesity. All this "love your curves" crap is discouraging healthy eating and will ultimately put a huge strain on the NHS in years to come.[/quote]
The way the media, tv dramas in particular, try to normalise obesity, is almost as sinister as the fashion industry trying to normalize size zero heroin chic back in the day.
Ive see two dramas recently where they've had extremely overweight characters portrayed as being very popular with the opposite sex.
This isn't the norm in real life.
Obviously there ate exceptions, but in real life, given a choice, most people go for the 'fit' person.
Sadly these programs arent fooling the public , even though theyre trying to do the right thing by having fat acceptance type storylines.
It's too try-hard.
I don't think the public are that stupid or gullible.

As a pp pointed out. There are loads of weight loss threads on MN.
I've never seen any threads aspiring to get fat.
Slim will always be fashionable.
In these times of abundant, delicious, instant food it takes a certain amount of grit, willpower and dedication to stay thin and fit.
I think people kind of admire that.
Not saying it's right but that's how it is.

Well there is more weightloss threads because generally more people are overweight rather than underweight and asking for advice.
Plus I can imagine how "I need to put weight on, help" thread would go down on AIBU...👀 I am sure I saw some in other, calmer, section though.
I mean how did the thread go down when someone needed to lose a stone (omg how dares she if she isn't 400 stones). It's brutal in here sometimes.
If I was in a sitiation when I would need help putting weight on, I would never, ever, post here.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Well there is more weightloss threads because generally more people are overweight rather than underweight and asking for advice. Plus I can imagine how "I need to put weight on, help" thread would go down on AIBU...👀 I am sure I saw some in other, calmer, section though. I mean how did the thread go down when someone needed to lose a stone (omg how dares she if she isn't 400 stones). It's brutal in here sometimes. If I was in a sitiation when I would need help putting weight on, I would never, ever, post here.

Imagine the responses

'Eat more and move less - it's not rocket science'
'You are underweight because you don't eat enough. Simple'
'You're not eating enough carbs - have you considered high-carbing?'
'Try the Eat 18 diet - you have to eat constantly for 18 hours in every 24'

But seriously, I have an underweight DH and nothing seems to make him put on any weight. V. frustrating for a fattie like me!'

Lol at high carbing😂
Be careful you will give some people nightmares😂

Eh? it's never gone away has it?

"It's a matter of willpower. If you're tempted to eat a biscuit, you have to force yourself to eat the whole packet. Put the biscuits somewhere really easy to get, like sellotaped to your forearm, so you won't be tempted to forget they're in the house."

Yes I think so. I also think the "body positive" promotion of extreme obesity will be short lived. Literally. These super plus size influences will not have long healthy lives and I think people will be put off by that. It's not going to be so positive and instagrammable when knees and hips start going and mobility becomes a problem.

These super plus size influences will not have long healthy lives

This. I have never been 'super plus size' but my weight yo-yos and whereas when I was in my 30s I could be 3 stone overweight and feel fine, the older I've got the more excess weight exacerbates my aches and pains and menopause symptoms. For that reason I really want to get back to a healthy BMI.

I think in an ideal world we would have models/influencers showcasing a range of healthy body types, from the very thin through to the athletic, the muscular, the short and stocky, the curvy, all of which can exist within a healthy weight range.

The problems start when people aspire to the 'very thin' body type even though they are a healthy weight because they want to be a size 0 or whatever. But if you have the wrong frame, you won't ever be a size 0, however size 10 or 12 might be perfectly attainable. That's what we don't tend to see - we see either the size 0 type models or the obese influencers, but very little in between.

Urgh I hope not but fashion goes in cycles. I think the next time thinness is super fashionable I will fortunately be too old to care, cause I'm too old to care right now!

And I say this as someone who was a size 6 in the early 2000s, solely though youth and genetics.

Tbh it's always extreme bodies that get the most attention - very thin, very fat, odd proportions...like people laud 'curvy' shapes that are in fashion now, but tbh a tiny waist, huge bum and skinny thighs are not realistic without surgery

@OneRingToRuleThemAll

Things are moving the other way now and a lot of models are overweight. People have lost sight of what a normal weight is, and view normal as too thin. For example when I am the top end of a healthy BMI that is a size 10. Often people say that my current 12-14 is normal but that is actually hugely overweight.

Apart from those who are deliberately plus size models, could you point to a model who is overweight?

@OneRingToRuleThemAll

Things are moving the other way now and a lot of models are overweight. People have lost sight of what a normal weight is, and view normal as too thin. For example when I am the top end of a healthy BMI that is a size 10. Often people say that my current 12-14 is normal but that is actually hugely overweight.

Don’t be ridiculous. A 12 is not ‘hugely overweight’.