Why don’t online models have normal shapes grrrr

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Disappointedly wrapping up 4 dresses from John Lewis to return - all looked horrendous on me but lovely on the models and I was excited to try them on. Why can’t some models have breasts, a tummy, be nearly 60 etc. grrr. They could eg have one perfect model and then a couple of other more normal people wearing the dresses. People’s’ return rates must be so high, unless they are a perfect shape.

Pretty much everyone who has walked down a high street or round a supermarket in the last five years. Where are all the six foot tall, size eight with very long arms and no breasts or hips women? ( and the pout and threatening stare).

still, at least most of them are women, which is more than you can say for Nike or Adidas.

Boden reviews are very useful. People are honest about how the dress etc looked on them and whether it worked with big boobs, no boobs, large arse etc. They also have a section on true to size/ comes up big/ go a size bigger. Very useful. I find them very helpful and returning things is very easy so it's no hassle.

I am sorry but websites magazines etc have been doing this for years. Read reviews, look at the measurements, follow bloggers who do hauls etc. Yes you are going to have to send some things back but then you will get to know what styles suit you and dont and what shops cater for you

@waterlego This is a massive issue - if you click on the size guide on websites it gives you a generic table of measurements for each size but they bear hardly any relationship to the actual size of the article and are therefore almost completely useless. I don't know why this is never called out but there's just no way they're accurate.

Because they will sell more clothes that way. I know people say the return rate must be high but a large portion of people can't be bothered returning or think they'll "slim into it" etc etc

Now I'm old I am quite good at knowing if clothes will look ok on my shape. Years of experience of seeing clothing on slim models then getting the clothing in real life has helped me. Retailers want to sell clothes so will obviously put them on whoever looks best in them. Always been the same. It doesn't bother me in the slightest.

I get so sick of online shopping because I agree with you it’s always some gangly 6’1” bald model doing stupid poses where I can’t even see the bloody dress

OP, you are being unreasonable. Models are a normal shape, they are just a different 'normal' shape to you. And as PP's have said, clothes tend to hang better on a tall slim shape and retailers want to to sell clothes.

Personally I loved it when most online pics said 'model is 5ft 10 and is wearing a size 10' in the blurb because I am also 5ft 10 and a size 10 and I can assure you am not a freak of nature.

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen you are describing my (almost) 18 year old daughter. I can assure you she is normal, just very tall and slim like her parents and siblings.

Just because there aren't lots of something doesn't mean it is 'normal'.

Where are all the six foot tall, size eight with very long arms and no breasts or hips women?
Shopping online 😁 joking.

Fyi most webaites now have model's measurements on so one can kind of gather how it might look on them.

Isn't not is !!

The average (mean) UK woman is size 16 and 5ft 5. Size 10 and 5ft 10 is definitely not freakish, but it's not smack-bang average in the middle either.

The point is that retailers don't sell the clothes by showing them exclusively on all, slim model-type figures - they get bought, posted, tried on and returned. It's a waste of time and money for everyone.

I think it's best when retailers use a range of models so you can see clothes on different figures. You'll never cover everything though, there are too many variables of bust size, height, torso length, hip size etc etc

The problem with using a range of models is a) cost and b) because it gets ridiculous trying to cater for every possibility.

Ok fine let's say you have a model in a tall size 8 and a model in a short size 16. But what about the rugby players or the weightlifters? What about the short size 6s or the tall size 18s? What about pre- and post-pregnancy bodies? What about the women who have big hip dips and who are insecure about them? What about the size 22s? What about women with very large or small breasts or hips? What about all the different skin tones?

Learn what works for you, and be prepared that online shopping is going to be a bit hit and miss. If you don't want to manage that and doing returns, shop for clothes in person the old fashioned way.

Now, this is a classic example. I'm most happy in a 36D or 38C bra and I virtually have no breasts. Nothing to bounce anywhere 🤣 I've also been an Asda size 12 and a Coast size 18 in the same week. It would be impossible to find a model that everyone can identify with as everyone is so different!

They pin the clothes to make them fit better. The amount of times I've got something and it's like a sack. Also the models pulling those ridiculous poses is because if you just stood normally in the outfit, it looks shit

I know what you mean. And I’m a size 10, but short and curvy. Clothes on me look nothing like they do on the super-tall, athletic models so I don’t find those photos helpful when trying to find something online. I don’t think all clothes necessarily look amazing on the typical model body shape either, they just hang differently.

I check the measurements against things I already own before ordering, and expect to have to get things taken up, but I still end up sending lots back because they just don’t fit my body shape. I wish there were more clothes (not just plus size but in general) designed for women who aren’t straight up and down - petite ranges are bad for this!

AI will surely solve this eventually? We'll all have our own aviators and these will model clothes? Maybe it could hunt out outfits from a shop for us? Ask for a look and it brings back outfits showing exactly how it will look on you?

I hate this too. M&S are particilarly bad at the moment with the models they are currently using. All are stick thin with collarbones jutting out and no (and I mean NO) boobs at all. Could be a skinny tall man wearing the dress given the body shape. The clothes certainly don’t look the same on my HH cup chest 🙈

Is it just me who gets the ads featuring “curvier” women, then? I think clothes, as a general rule, look better on slimmer people and I always scroll past the ones depicted on the curvier models. I’m neither especially tall nor slim myself.

I am sure the AI could actually easily get shoppers image of how dress would look. Sure I've seen video with it! Pic of the dress, pic of the person and combined it

I get loads of those ads which is ridiculous because I am the opposite of curvy. I’m straight up and down. I thought our devices/soc med algorithms were supposed to know everything about us?!

Thanks, I'll take a look...

Some of these comments are utterly ridiculous and actually just nasty.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/floral-tie-neck-midaxi-waisted-dress/p/clp60595768?color=BLUEMIX#intid=pid_pg1pip48g4r8c2

https://www.marksandspencer.com/cotton-rich-striped-slash-neck-t-shirt/p/clp60582536?color=NAVYMIX#intid=pid_pg1pip48g4r1c3

https://www.marksandspencer.com/cotton-rich-floral-square-neck-maxi-dress/p/clp22565178#intid=pid_pg1pip48g4r12c4

All from the top page of M&S new items. All perfectly healthy body types.
Which of these might as well be a man??
Not all women have a HH bust, and it doesn't make them a man if they don't.

Again why must women resort to the insults? Comparing women to men because they have a different figure?

That's why I don't follow 'what's in' I just buy what I like and what suits my body and character.

Some online retailers have a cover picture of the garment on a model and then you can flick through to others including if regular sized women wearing.