to not want all models to look like 'real' women?

[beattieedny]

Just that really. I am much more likely to buy clothing if the model looks like looks slim. I don't care for the current thing of showing clothes (aside from specifically for plus sized ofc) on fat people. It's not as attractive.
I am a thin person but have been fat by the way.

I find it's more than diversity to companies largely seems to mean obese. There should be a range of women- from petite through to tall, muscly, slim, overweight- it's impossible I know to cover all bases but this diversity they harp on about still just means a small number of bodies represented. Model like and unhealthily overweight, none of the inbetween.

Snag make many many products, not just the Chub Rub shorts you’re presumably referring to (which come in small sizes too btw) and they use a whole range of models. Not just fat people (I say ‘people’ because they’re not all women either!) they have some very slim models too.

They also use models of different sizes in their design process so they don’t just design on a small model then scale up the pattern for larger sizes. That shouldn’t be revolutionary but apparently it is!

Companies don’t seem to realise that larger women come in different shapes!

I’ve seen so many larger models used to advertise clothing.
9.5/10 times companies use extreme Apple shaped women - very large bust & torso, no waist, small bum, thinner legs and arms.

I am a size 24 and they don’t look anything like me.

I love it when ‘average’ sized models are used because I can work out how the clothes will fit/ hang.

Why are the majority of posters ‘overweight’? Is that a comment on posters on MN in general?

because most people in the UK are overweight, so logic dictates if the population are proportionately represented on here, they are mostly overweight.

it’s also pretty telling from the comments

I think slim people look better. That’s not “prejudiced”, that’s just my opinion on the matter. “Prejudiced” would be if I disliked fat people based on their weight. Which I don’t.

Christ, no one sensible is saying that slim women aren’t ‘real women’ - it’s just a euphemism - like ‘curvy’ because the terms ‘fat’ and ‘obese’ are so weaponised. It’s not saying those who are slim therefore aren’t real or can’t have curves. But I think you know that really.

Making larger women feel crap about themselves by using only negative terms and not allowing them any positive representation is not going to cure the obesity epidemic - it just drives people down a negative spiral where they may keep overeating to feel emotionally better.

Deakin and Blue (a swimwear brand) is another good one that, while not as size-inclusive as some, takes the radical approach of having three different styles for different body types/bust sizes as well as dress size. And a range of different women with different body types too. Buying from there was probably the first time I’ve seen a model that I thought looked roughly my size and shape!

Perhaps it’s my industry, but the vast majority of women I know are very health conscious and not overweight - certainly those in the age groups that these fashion brands are aiming for anyway. But I do also know some wonderful, gorgeous women that have a BMI classed as ‘obese’.
However, it’s not a case of one or the other as the vast majority of people sit somewhere in the middle between ‘model thin’ and ‘obese’.
You are entitled to think slim people look better, but you should probably think about how your public remarks come across. So many people have a negative body image that causes issues, and it’s very sad.

Apologies, my nephew was staying last night and I had almost forgotten how hard it is to get small children settled! I enjoy reading through the replies. I think it's like some said, style is aspirational and I want to see how things look on slimmer frames. I also love Boden etc where customers show how it looks on them. Best of both worlds.
As I said I have been fat myself and it was bloody miserable and uncomfortable. It's not healthy, but lots of things we all do are less than ideal, and for many it is tied on with more complex issues. It's not just a case of starving oneself. But slim people do, asthaetically, look nicer. Whether that is innate or cultural

I also love Boden etc where customers show how it looks on them. Best of both worlds.

I’ve not seen Boden but I also love this!
You get a much better idea of what the clothes are actually like - minus all styling that goes on during a photoshoot - safety pins at the back etc!

You know I love george for this!

All sizes are together and I don't have to go to a separate area for plus size. They make shopping so much easier and nicer.

I like new look clothes but they don't have a plus size in every store. And I live in a big city! They closed down the one I used to use and only one in the city centre has plus sized.

@Merryclaire
Phrases like real women also drive thin women to overeating and emotional spiral. I know it wasn't used in that context in this thread, but it's naive to think only bigger women get insulted based on their appearance.

You sound absolutely amazing. Would love to know your brand. I might even buy from you once you expand.

I don't feel like we're normalising obesity. I feel like we're normalising a better shopping experience.

I still need clothes to wear when I'm fat. Surely you wouldn't want to look at me naked? Lol. I sure as hell don't.

At the moment, I am trying my best to lose weight. I'm going to the gym a few times a week and my friend is personal training me.

But guess what, I still like to look nice and in fashionable, flattering clothes.

I would just like to see average sized models! Everything is to the extreme. Just a regular height, size 12 woman.

I am short, just shy of 5’2 and I don’t need to see clothes on a carbon copy of me - but at least in some way I can envision actually what the clothes would look like on me!

On a side note, for anyone into sewing, Tilly & the Buttons uses a very diverse range of models to show off each pattern, which is great.
I do think dressmaking is an amazing hobby for anyone who finds it hard to buy clothes that fit well as you can adjust every element of the pattern - e.g short torso, big boobs, wide shoulders, etc etc.

I absolutely agree it’s not just bigger women that are impacted. Let’s face it, women of all shapes and sizes have body image issues - even the most ‘attractive’ by society standards. And people can be so thoughtlessly critical.
But I do think it’s the overweight who are particularly marginalised.
I’m just pro diversity and representation for all body types really - would love to see this being more widespread so no one has to feel like they are unattractive and not worthy.

I think it's great that this has become almost a norm now - it helps to see how things will look on women of different sizes. I'm also glad that labels are starting to move away from just using perfectly-proportioned 'hourglass' shaped larger girls and using some who have big tummies as well - a friend of mine was asking a few years ago why she didn't see larger models who were her shape in that way.

I think different heights would be useful, not just different sizes.

A size 8 woman at 6ft looks very different to a size 8 woman at 5’6, it’s just the same for every other size.

Given the average height in the UK is 5’4 it is bizarre to me that clothes are modelled by women far and above the average height, regardless of size.

The advantage of separate plus size ranges is that the clothes are not just scaled up from a smaller size (which starts to become distorted and out of proportion around a size 16)- but I agree that it shouldn't be a separate section should be able to look in the same place.

its not shaming to say that models should be healthy looking

You can't tell if someone is "healthy" just by looking at them. You just mean thin. You assume thin equals healthy. Which is doesn't.

I'm 5 feet 2 and would like to see how clothes look on fellow short-arses and not just tall types (fat or thin).

The models are hardly Jabba the Hut op.
People come in all shapes and sizes, and all need clothes.

I wonder how many women 16 and above truly love their curves and celebrate

I do. Stepping away from diet culture has genuinely changed my life. I have pity for people with nothing else to talk about but calories and keto and clothes sizes and obesity. The threads on here are so sad. Hundreds of women who spend their lives desperatelt striving to be thin because they've been told thin is good and thin is the only way to achieve "health". Tearing down other women as they go and all for male approval. So men, mostly strangers, will nod their assent and say I approve of your body shape. Just sad.

I mean as a size 10, 5'3, pear shape the 5'10 size 4 models give me absolutely 0 idea of what clothes will look like on me... so I'd like a variation

www.sugarhillbrighton.com are good for showing a range of sizes/different models.