Super skinny models for M&S?

[CheeseDreamz]

I am really struggling to shop online at the moment as it feels like many retailers are using super slinky and very tall models to show clothes that are usually aimed at a more average demographic and body type. M&S being the worst right now.

Before people accuse me of body shaming I am observing the predominant use of what is actually quite a rare human shape - not about whether it is attractive, or healthy or possible to achieve. 5ft 10+ and size zero with very long legs is not that common, especially over 25. I have my thoughts on this, but my question is more around the widom of doing this and the difficulty of shopping.

It's making it impossible to tell what a piece of clothing might look like if you have boobs or bum, even at a size 12. And in many cases the clothes don't even look that great. Also has the model wears size x information now gone on many sites?

Looking over a few sites it seems to be increasing in mens clothing too.

I know that representation of a variety of body types has been adopted (for years by some retailers) but it feel as if that is really waning now - weirdly it seems to be better in brands I would consider for younger people. There is some discussion in the media about "the return of hyper skinny" (though a quick google reveals there are articles on this going back to 2022), so it's a perennial thing. But really, who the hell do M&S think shops with them? It's so off-putting - all I see is that these clothes are not for me.

I'm mystified by their trouser lengths these days. I'm tall with long legs and the regular length is sometimes long enough for me in M&S now. Sadly, with tops it's not the same. Even the short sleeved tops don't sit right. It was ever thus, even when I was a child I could not wear their jumpers.

I don't like the model poses. I bought a russety red/orange column dress there in the autumn. They also do it in black. I had to show my colleague the link to the black dress because the photos of the colour I bought were so weird that it wasn't possible to get a proper impression of the dress. NB sleeves are meant to be long, but sit bracelet length on me

I think we could all do with seeing more 'people like us' in the media, but M&S tried that a few years ago with their 'I'm normal!' campaign and it tanked... I wish it were otherwise, especially as there is so little stock in the shops to even try these days, but I can see they don't want to risk their profits on trying to educate us...

One I do raise eyebrows at is the woman in the current Dylon TV ad who strides around in a red trouser suit, tapping people's clothes to brighten their colour... I guess from her moves she's a dancer, so there's a bodily aesthetic there, and she's absolutely gorgeous, but I find her distractingly thin... 🙁

I have also thought this OP. It’s perhaps less the models and the bizarre poses they are asked to do. I find the angular legs a bit hard to get a sense of how clothes (especially trousers) sit.

I agree with you and I find the weird poses of the models off putting too. I want to see how lingerie and clothes fit the body, not when a leg is cocked up or at a jaunty angle. I'm not a fan of seeing chub either, if I want to see a mum tum I need only look at my own.

Distracting thin, or a healthy weight that a lot of people have forgotten the appearance of?

Yes I do agree. They're not as bad as some retailers

I agree with you OP. I do like M&S’s short trouser sizes though, which a lot of retailers don’t do for their mainstream collections. Would love to see clothes on a size 12 shortie like myself. I rarely buy dresses or tops online as just can’t be sure how they’ll look. I don’t have time to send things back.

I do find the model poses rather deceptive, and suspect they're to compensate for the often unflattering cuts... that typical 'massive placket' you get in M&S where there's a looong distance between waist and crotch... I've got a long upper body, but I find their trousers often impinge on my ribcage...

As long as they’re also using models who are short and dumpy like me, or some who have small boobs and some with massive bangers (also like me) then it’s fair game. We are all different aren’t we.

I probably wouldn’t buy something that looked good on a woman who was obviously 5’11” and waif thin as the chances of them looking any good on me is slim but some women are that shape and need clothes too.

<sigh> Just like the difference between a 28AA and a 28F, a 42A is not going to look the same as a 40G - whilst some clothes would make very little difference, in others the cut would mean that the woman who carries more of her weight on her waist or hips would be left with a large gaping top.

Can we just not do the 'fat women should be ashamed for existing in the sight of others, never mind buying clothes' thing for a couple of threads a week?

Op has made a fair point.
Odd that it's controversial to ask to see models that represent the target market for the clothes, especially in a place like M+S. I'm less bothered by the teen places.

I almost find it insulting that my body height/size is not deemed worth displaying clothes.

Love those shops that show a variety of sizes, and I don't think it would cost that much to have two models instead of one, they don't pay them that much and the extra costs of photography etc have to be minimal.

I think it shows a real confidence in the design of their clothing to do this.

The website I hate most is Zara. Impossible to navigate.

Distractingly thin. And I come from a family full of eating disorders... there's a typical look to the wastage of the arms... 😔

I have absolutely not made any judgement at all about anybody’s bust. I couldn’t care less what bust size anyone else has. I just want to be able to see how a dress might look on me before I buy it. I’d like to see it modelled on people with different body types so I can make an educated judgement.

Zara's photography is actually insane. I never buy from them now because I can't see what I'm buying.

I would really prefer them to be photographed on a hanger than on these women whom you never, ever see ( in most people’s) real life. Or they could be photographed on three or four mannequins of different sizes ( and they could all be green before anyone starts banging that drum). So that would get over oh it would be soooo ££££ to use more than one model.

You are not wrong, OP, just too sensible for the 😎 girls.

The clothes look best on tall slim models that's why they employ them. They aren't anorexic, they look a healthy weight and are very tall.
How on earth are they going to cater for an every size and shaped woman? I'm 5ft 4 with a tummy, flat bum average boobs and short legs. Should I be demanding this from the models? I don't think that will help sell clothes because they look better on the models than on me.

You're saying 30+ demographic cannot look like this? That is untrue; there are plenty of size 8s!

I feel for clothing retailers. I mean, where would it stop? I'm 5'6 but have short legs so I look ridiculous in some clothes that look perfectly acceptable on most 5'6 women. I'm a size 10 but have big boobs, so most models of size 10 would look better in clothes than me because everything hangs from my chest down and makes me look enormous.

They can't cover each and every body type. There's just no substitute for actually trying the clothes on and seeing how they look on YOU.

You literally said "the top of a dress with bust darts is just flapping around because the model is not full busted enough to fill it." That is a passive aggressive judgement.

I think what a lot of people on this thread are trying to say it's that it's bad enough that fatter people exist, but it's going too far to have a photograph of them in a dress on a website.

The world would end.

I think the issue is there isn't a balance with some. There is no question that both underweight and overweight are unhealthy, and imo neither should be celebrated in the medical sense. M&S are showing women that are a healthy weight.
I do think a range of sizes would help women to see how they would look in the clothes, and that inner confidence is important; we are all different shapes and sizes undoubtedly for many reasons; if you're happy as you are that is okay. I do however think that over weight women shouldn't judge healthy size 8 etc women as anorexic/unhealthy etc and we should still know what a healthy weight looks like, as evidently a lot don't.

In a world where retailers are losing huge amounts on returned online clothes, anything they can do to help shoppers make intelligent guesses about purchases would be a good thing. I'd like to see an average height, 24-26 BMI woman (obviously a gorgeous and toned one) modelling clothes alongside the more model-shaped one.

But actually I suspect that some canny retailer will be adding them in using AI any moment now. You type in your measurements and colouring and it gives you the images of "you" in the clothes in question. May or may not be helpful, but too trendy to resist.

Ive just been on their website and clicked on 'new in' and have to say that the models look entirely normal, not too thin. Yes, they're tall but they're models. I think most of them are 5' 8" / 5' 9" and size 8.