Why are companies still choosing to use only very slender models?

[WildFlowerBees]

I get it, the clothes look great and I can choose not to buy etc but it's not representative of all of the market, maybe that's their target market.

For instance I was having a look at Me&Em not one model over a size 8/10 I want to see what lovely clothes might look like on all different shapes and sizes or is it that their clothes will look shit unless you're tall and willowy.

Why in 2022 are companies still allowed to discriminate in this way because choosing very slim models only seems like discrimination to me.

I'm a size 12 I'm 5ft 7 but not willowy I have big norks and I feel invisible a lot of the time when it comes to clothing.

Am I being unreasonable with my little rant?

It's so pathetic isn't it.
They can have every ethnicity under the sun, but every one must remain young and skinny.
Really NOT representative!

You answered your own question in the first 7 words.

You do see more diversity in size, and age, nowadays, but the majority are still as you say, very slim.

A well known brand I won't mention uses majority of older models, and those of different sizes, from slim to larger, but on their store fronts and promotional material only the tall slender models feature.

Because people are still aspirational.
I absolutely believe that people of any size can dress well and look fabulous, but most clothes look best on tall skinny women (or men). I’m 5’2 size 8 and tried some lovely dresses on last week. They’d look gorgeous on someone 5’8 or taller, but just looked frumpy on me. And I’m sure if they’d photographed them on a 5’2 model they’d look awful on them also. And honestly, if I saw a dress on a size 22 model, I absolutely wouldn’t buy it.(I’m going to put my hard hat on and hide now).

If companies were able to dress all different sizes and make their models look fab I'd be more inclined to buy them because I'd have a clue and I'd be happy that their clothes hung nicely etc.

It's hard when you don't fit into the very slim category to know how to dress for your shape. Well it is for me anyway! I believe all sizes can look amazing dressed the right way but I've no idea what that looks like because seemingly everyone is under 26 and a tall size 6.

Because the clothes look better on a slimmer person. And I say that as a fat women who wears a size 24.

@Trainfromredhill I'll share your hardhat.

In a lot of shops it's not just sizes it's everything from conventionally attractive face and hair to perfect accessories. That's how marketing works really. If I buy that I will feel like X. Aspirations. People can look absolutely stunning / beautiful / fabulous at any and all sizes but does anybody actually aspire to be a size 18? If you were a size 6 - 8 right now, and you maintained it quite easily with your current lifestyle, would you go out of your way and work really hard to be a size 22? Show me a woman who would and I'll show you a liar.

Basically, big can be beautiful but it's never aspirational.

They want to make money and they sell more clothes if they use skinny models.

@Tha thank you!

If companies were able to dress all different sizes and make their models look fab I'd be more inclined to buy them because I'd have a clue and I'd be happy that their clothes hung nicely etc. yes that's the thing though, they probably can't so go for "standard" model size.

That was meant in a the company probably don't know what they are doing way.

Or maybe if they used even just a few more shorter models, designers would make more dresses that look good on shorter people. (Or even shirts with shorter sleeves!)

This is it. The designers either can't design for different body types or can't be arsed. So buy from someone who does.

The average uk woman is a size 16 and 5'4" I think. That's the size and height models should be IMO.

I take my money and spend it on companies who make nice clothes that look good at any size. Rather than companies that try to hide their badly made clothing behind an aesthetic. And charge you extra for the privilege.

Next used to be terrible for it. They actually used models that were so thin the clothes just hung off them like a bag and looked shite.

I agree. Just today I saw a minimiser bra - specifically made for large breasted women - modelled on the thinnest, tiny breasted girl you ever saw. Ridiculous.

Some, like Snag tights, show nothing but overweight models. I would just like normal and average.

I'll wear that hard hat too... I'd never buy from snag tights because I find their campaigns too extreme. I'm short but don't have petite proportions so all clothes will always be slightly long. I'm ok with that

Some companies do use bigger models. Nike have larger women in some sports kit for example. I'd be really interested to learn how it affects sales. Do larger women really buy more when the models look like them or do we all want the clothes that look good (ie the ones on the models who can make anything look good).?

I do also think there's an issue with normalising being over weight. Just because it's so wide spread doesn't mean it should be OK. Practically all the things people say about being fat but fit are untrue. If you're overweight you're harming your health. Unpalatable and not easily solved, but still a problem.

I don't think very skinny models are used now, the way they used to be?

It would be good to have a mixture of people and not in a dove advert LOOK WE ARE DIVERSE way

Putting clothes on average looking people would make the clothes look very average. Tall slender people are more striking and they make the clothes stand out.

Perhaps then, the designers might make a bit more effort to create beautiful clothes. I know it'll never happen but I can dream.

1. the clothes look better
2. they may not be the average size, but the are the healthiest size - the size we should be. In that sense they are the ‘normal’ size for a woman.
3. having fat models doesn’t look as good and normalises being overweight.

I’m a short arse, lots of the clothes I see make me look like a stumpy peasant. It has never occurred to me that they should use short models - and being short is not something I can change, unlike weight, which is a lifestyle issue.

Donning hard hat...

They're showing people with a healthy BMI. Size 16 is not a healthy body shape or size, and will have health implications from visceral fat. Normalising obesity is damaging to children, and I would much prefer a push to help families/women lose weight to become healthier.

I say this as someone who used to wear a size 22 and paid for a gastric bypass to lose weight and get healthier. There's no clothes that ever flattered me as a size 22, as a size 10, the choices are endless! I promise I'm not being goady or judgmental but I don't want overweight models in mainstream advertising as it's not a healthy body image. (I also don't want anorexic models either!)

I don’t understand trousers. My DD is 5ft 10 which is not an unusual height for models but while trousers seem to fit them in the photos, mostly they are too short for her. For shops that only sell one leg length, I don’t know if the trouser models are shorter, they have shorter legs for their height or they let the hems down for the pictures.