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?

I'm finding the opposite. I'm 5'7" and after years of finding trousers too short, over the last few years I've had to start buying petite trousers! I don't know what people who are actually short do.

Even the 'cuddly' aspire to look good. Pictures of wobbly rolls squeezed into a sleeveless mini dress with paid flesh rolling out in creases from the armholes and cellulite lurking just below the hemline aren't generally flattering to the dress. Fat is not going to sell anything but plus sized clothing.
Its about sales, nothing more complicated.

Like other people said, its aspirational. Just like other kinds of adverts show happy people "living their best life" in lovely homes. Its what sells. I'm thin but far far shorter than any of those women and the clothes won't look like that on me. They don't represent me because my height is not aspirational. The fashion industry exists to make money not boost your self-esteem. On the contrary, insecure people buy more products.

I agree with this

It's more difficult to cut clothes for curves and designers are lazy.

I'm an hourglass shape with big boobs bum and thighs with a smaller waist. Buying clothes that fit is difficult, would love to see some curvier models so I know where is worth trying ...

They're not lazy. They're not trying to make you think 'If I buy this it will look like this on me', they're trying to make you think 'Oh shit, what can I buy so I look thinner/taller/my boobs look better/etc'. Because that is what sells more products.

Sorry but it's not about 'how they design the clothes'. We are biologically inclined to find slimmer people more attractive because it represents better health, and youth (younger people are often slimmer). The fact of it is, being obese is not healthy, and nobody actually wants to look obese. Clothing companies aren't trying to show what the clothes look like on different bodies, they are trying to sell them, and if they sell more of them by displaying them on slender bodies, then that's what they will do!

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

I've noticed that too. Personally, for a fitness brand, it doesn't really make sense. I support women's right to wear whatever makes them feel good but I question whether, if you're a size 24, you'd choose to wear Lycra leggings and a sports bra out in public.

You can say it's aspirational all you like but let's be honest the vast majority of women are NOT 5'8 + and therefore, it doesn't matter how aspirational they are they'll not be able to grow the 4/5+ inches to make them that height. Weight can be gained or lost...height can't. I personally like seeing Danii Monique on QVC are clothes are genuinely made for small people like me (5'1"). The shopping channels are much better at showing much more normal women - with greater diversity in age, height and size.

I don't really notice it so much now, perhaps it depends where you shop? A lot of places now use models in several sizes so you can have a better idea how things will look on the not super slim. Which was unheard of even five years ago.

A few years ago I was involved in a bit of research that looked at response rates to models of varying body types.

Now, this was menswear and male models so there may be some differences due to sex/gender.

We had three models. One standard pretty-boy athletic male model who was 20, 6’4, swimmers’ build, etc. One guy who looked like your mate’s brother down the pub; nice looking, not overweight but average build. And one guy who was again nice looking but was significantly overweight.

The outfits were the same, just correctly sized for each model and slightly pinned to shape as is normal on photoshoots. Same photographers, same lighting, same product descriptions used in the text.

The athletic pretty-boy male model got more than 99% of the page views and purchase clicks. Even the people who went on to buy XXXL sizes and 40” waist trousers ‘preferred’ him, even when they had another model who matched their body shape on the same page.

Most people know their own size and shape, and don’t need to see their exact form mirrored back at them in order to choose clothes. (Several posters here have said as much.) Most people also seem to accept, even prefer, seeing athletic/tall/young/conventionally attractive people modelling the clothes, even if they are not even close to that shape themselves. It’s a sort of cognitive dissonance I suppose.

I agree that obesity shouldn't be normalised however as a size 12 someone who exercises and has a pretty healthy diet I will never be a healthy size 8 I'd look awful.

It's not normal for some to be skinny, healthy yes skinny no. Designers should do better because the demographic isn't all tall and thin and says unless you're a waif you can't wear our clothes and look good.

We don't need a Dove type look at us being all inclusive just a varied range of healthy women healthy isn't just a size 8/10.

I'd just like there to be a better representation of all women.

@urrrgh46 completely agree. If the average height in the UK is 5ft4" then how can they classify petite as 5ft3? At 5ft size 12 with 30FF bra size it's been a PITA all my life finding clothes that fit, especially now as I prefer wearing trainers to heels. I'd prefer seeing the same clothes on a range of sizes

but I question whether, if you're a size 24, you'd choose to wear Lycra leggings and a sports bra out in public

Of course they would, with a t shirt. What would you expect a larger person to wear in the gym?

When I went up to a size 16/18 I was still fit and exercising (getting hormone balance/diet right was the issue) and it was hard to find sportswear to fit.

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.

Yes but a) the companies aren't doing it for altruistic, health-motivated reasons and b) it doesn't work. Skinny models have been used since forever and the obesity crisis has only got worse!

I'm going to don the hard hat too though. What draws me in and makes me want to buy an item of clothing is thinking it looks really good in my initial glimpse of it in the advert or on the website. I'm pretty sure that I, probably like most people, am conditioned to think clothes look best on slim people. However much I might agree in principle that they ought to use a range of models, I admit I'll like the clothes better if see them on a slim model.

Of course they would, with a t shirt. What would you expect a larger person to wear in the gym?

That's my point - with a T-shirt. But just a bra and leggings?

One thing M&S does well on their social media is their "M&S insiders", people who seem to be their staff members but also with Instagram accounts to show the latest clothes on them. They

Overweight is not putting out a good body image. Size 16 at 5ft4 is overweight.

I don’t mind a size 8 model/mannequin. I’m a size 6/8, I don’t actually look that skinny as I’m short, and I think it looks healthy.

my problem is with fashion models, I thought catwalk shows were meant to be eradicating the unhealthily slim, with new guidelines? but I have watched various fashion weeks this year where the models still look dangerously thin (bmi certainly below 18). It seems we’re no further forward.

Posted too soon... They have a range of heights and sizes. It does highlight how some of the clothes are not particularly cut for someone with bigger boobs or too long for someone 5ft4 as not all the insiders photos are all that flattering IMHO.

Normalising obesity is damaging to children

How I wish people would begin to realise this. It sets kids up for a whole host of health issues. The fact that child obesity rates are increasing is a worrying thing.

I'm a fatty and seeing clothes modelled on other fatties really puts me off buying as usually it's not a good look. And yes Snag looking at you.

On the other hand photoshopping and making models appear very thin and 'perfect' also damages children. We need to teach healthy not healthy = skinny.

@Trainfromredhill how can u aspire to be 5 8?

Some companies do, I bought an evening dress a few months ago and the company I chose (you pretty much have to mail order) was the one with lots of pictures for each dress including a plus sized (size 20+ by that shops definition) model from a couple of angles for those dresses that go to larger sizes. I'm a 16 so looking at both the circa size 8 picture and the size 20 I could see how it fitted on different body types. It also made me want to chose a forward thinking company!