John Lewis Website models TOO skinny? TW

[Lovethatforyouhun]

Thought I would add one for John Lewis as people were discussing M&S models.

JL landing page really shocked me.
The arms.
I know we should celebrate all women, but I find this rather a disturbing and retrogressive look.
Disclaimer:
Yes I understand thin women are real women, no I do not celebrate morbid obesity and yes I am a tall slim woman who lived through heroin chic 90s and the stick thin 00s size 00 Rachel Zoe celeb craze and it harmed my body image and resulted in an ED.

Now even JL is trying to be down with the kids and high fashion, thrusting this look in my face. Has nothing been learned?!
Not sure why I blurred some of the faces. I don’t want to attack the individuals but the overall look of the site.
If JL see this- It reminds me of ED thinspo pages from back in the day!!!!!

CLICK TO OPEN PHOTOS FULLY.
Am I being unreasonable to expect more responsible imagery from JL?

Yes they are thin but not problematically so and I expect models to be thin.

Wth.

I think they look great. Not too thin at all. I’m fat and don’t like models to look ill. They look athletic and toned to me. Now the models for snag tights ……

Charming, imagine saying that in reverse.....

Most models are ectomorphs. Most women are mesomorphs. Google if you don’t know what that means. hth x

Those are very puny anorexic looking arms- definitely not healthy for JL to be promoting this look.

I know what you mean op. I have a history of ed myself and feel the same as you. You can see the flat shape of the bone!

I wonder if instead of "obese pp don't know what a normal person should look like" it's that some pp who have experienced and acknowledged disordered eating and/or body dysmorphia are more able to recognise it when they see it.

It's not to say everyone who looks the same as those models have are underweight or have an ed but it's definitely a possibility for these models in an industry known for causing eating disorders and promoting unrealistic body image.

Honestly those pictures set off my eating disorder alarms as well- I used to look like that when I was quite unwell with my ED. What mumsnet doesn’t like to hear because a lot of posters absolutely love bashing fat people is that being underweight is also unhealthy!

They are a bit thin, but then again, it could be natural? I knew someone that slim, they ate normally, just didn't seem to put it on. Twiggy said in an interview that she was just a skinny gir!, Just the way she was . Although 1960s portion sizes seem smaller than today and smaller quantities of UPF. I saw a daily mail article once about what women ate in the 60s, and often it was a small portion of bacon and egg for breakfast or half a grapefruit, maybe toast or cereal but not large quantities and meals were often meat and two veg. So small sizes of protein or fruit and veg, fewer refined carbs perhaps? Although that did seem to be more a middle class menu, I think perhaps more fat and starches for those in more industrial occupations, maybe?

I personally would love to see a range of sizes in models. People of all shapes and sizes need clothes after all. We aren't all the same. That said, I've heard it said that clothes designers prefer the way clothes hang on a slimmer taller frame.

Don't think these women pictured are too skinny at all. Just normal. I think it's more that people have become so much larger generally, that we've lost sight of what 'normal' is.

This can work both ways: seeing a much larger person in a particular outfit might also put some slimmer people off buying.

Swings and roundabouts.

That is so offensive. They are not “puny anorexic arms”. They are toned, slim arms. There is a big difference.

I've noticed this trend across all the sites I shop on. H&M is another bad one. Cos. &Other stories. They're all at it. I've noticed a lot of sites have the skinny model on the first few pics then a plus size model as you swipe through the last few pics. Bit of a cop out if you ask me.
I read an article about how skinny is fashionable again.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/12/body-positivity-era-over

The only woman I know with arms that thin in real life has an eating disorder.

Can you not? Loaded language like 'painfully thin' and implying these women are 'heroin chic' thin is so inappropriate and insulting. You wouldn't call someone 'painfully fat' although that would arguably be more accurate!

No, it isn’t shaming anyone. You just think that because of your unhealthy attitude towards weight and food.

She looks great. We are so used to seeing overweight and obese people that it's screwing our perspective of what a healthy person looks like.

I agree. It is not ok to comment negatively on another person’s body shape, whatever size that may be. It’s rude and unnecessary. Those models are probably naturally that slim; many people are. Posters being nasty about the physical attributes of anyone else should be ashamed of themselves. It’s no wonder we have an increasing mental health problem when posts like those on here are seen as acceptable. It feeds through to real life; slim people are seen as fair game for nasty, vile comments. Why do we accept it?

A naturally slim person is not “body shaming” anyone by existing. Many women, and men, are naturally that size. If a person feels upset that someone is a different body shape to them, that’s unfortunate. Perhaps they need support to accept their own body shape. Being nasty about other people to make themselves feel better is not ok. A slim person is not “shaming” anyone by having a certain body shape.

Not most of the ones I see!

People would be up in arms if this (and the M&S one) was a thread about using "fat people" as models. it's acceptable to "body shame" thin people but not fat ones.

The two you're showing do have very slender arms but their arms also look toned and just above them I'm seeing models in wedding dresses none of whom look skinny at all. n.b. I'm not saying they look big, they're just there looking somewhere between an 8 and a 12 and also looking lovely in their gowns.

I think people need to get over this stuff. Models are generally more slender than women outside of the industry. It has ever been thus, well throughout most of the 20th century anyway.

Agree. People seem to forget the fashion industry is about promoting an 'ideal'. And, like it or not, being morbidly obese isn't generally considered the ideal.

Yes, I must say I want to see clothes modelled on beautiful, slim women, not on everyday plain folk like me. Where's the magic in that?