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.

They want to sell the clothes and whether we like it or not, clothes look better on slimmer people.

But that's OP's point
Most people who shop at M&S aren't 'young women'
and it might be a healthy weight and size but it isn't a common one

I agree with OP - I appreciate that selling clothing is aspirational, so they want models that the clothes look good on, but at the same time when you use models with a body type that only 1% of the population have, it's really hard to work out what the clothes would actually look like on you.
There's nothing wrong with having some tall, slim models, because some women are tall and slim! But there should be a mixture.

Sometimes the models don't even show the clothes off to best advantage, which seems to completely defeat the point. Someone tall and slim is probably a good choice for jeans, but things like wrap dresses which are designed for boobs gape and hang weirdly on very slim, flat chested models.

to be honest, I think the bigger issue is that clothes are so often designed for those body frames.

Trousers seem to be designed to fit the model, who is 5'10 - but if the average woman is 5'3 then there will be a fair amount even shorter than that, and even those on the higher end of average will only be 5'6 or 5'7. So those trousers that fit the model perfectly are going to be way too short for 95% of the potential customers, which seems insane.

If, as a retailer your aim is to sell as many clothes as possible, surely the first step to achieving that is to ensure said clothes a) fit and b) ideally flatter, as many of your potential customers as possible, not just 5% of them?

Also, why whenever anyone types M & S (without spaces) - does it automatically turn into a link? it doesn't do that with other shops - are they sponsoring MN or something?

This thread has sent me to the M&S website. The clothes are surprisingly nice. I don’t normally buy from there (and am on a no buy 2025 anyway).

I think it is about aspirational marketing - I am a size 12, 5’7 and very average running to pear shape. Even though the realist in me tells me some things wouldn’t suit me/my shape, there is part of my brain which would aspire to looking as stylish as those women.

I think AI tools or customer uploaded photos could definitely help with crossing the threshold between liking something on the model and deciding to order it.

The most helpful thing I often find is other customer reviews advising on sizing/length/material/fit etc.

This isn't runway modelling, it's m&s website.

I know. It was part of a wider discussion

Agree, It is helpful when there is a small busted woman modelling if you are a small busted woman. But agree, slim and small busted seems to be viewed as some kind of failing and you are not womanly, especially on here ironically given that it's a site for women.

😂 I despise the word "neat", when describing anything other than the tidiness of somebody's house, or handwriting. I got told I had a "neat" bump when I was carrying dc1. Somebody I know got told she had a "neat vagina", during a smear. I haven't been told that, so I guess it must be an absolute state 😭
It is even worse when people say it about themselves!

There’s one particular model and I don’t know if she’s just in an odd pose, but I do think in some of the ads I’ve seen (I was after jeans so looked at lots of types) she looks really slim (thin?) She’s apparently 5”11.

The average height of a woman in the UK is 5ft 5in and the average dress size is 16. Surely common sense says use an average woman ?

Great big skinny women? How can you be 'great big' and 'skinny' at the same time? Do you mean tall?

Why is there so much focus on weight? A size 16 person can just be a bigger size person overall, not fat. Just like a size 6 person can be petite, not underweight.

I agree that the models at M&S look tall and slim, which makes it difficult to imagine what the clothes would look on someone of an average height and build. The positions they model the clothes in also make it very difficult to see what the clothes would look like in a normal standing position.

It's impossible to cater for every height and body shape so it would be helpful to see clothes modelled on models who are neither tall or short, big or small. An average sized model. But that will never happen.

I have noticed that there are a couple of underwear models at M&S who are more of an average shape and it's very refreshing to see. Just too bad that M&S still don't acknowledge that women can have a small band and large cup size. I haven't been able to get a bra from M&S for years. M&S clothes don't have darts in anymore and they no longer provide any M&S branded bra-sized swimwear.

Overall, I do think that M&S has improved massively over the last couple of years but there's still a way to go with catering for different body shapes.

The models on the M & S site look OK to me. I don't want to see the garment modelled by the 'average' person, who would be a woman of my height but about 2 or 3 stones heavier.

What on earth are you talking about, its a descriptor, not a judgement

You really do sound a bit odd to be honest.

The two sentences above are not comparable.

'fuck all' just means not very much, nothing there

Why have you equated a pejorative - the word saggy - to this? Its not comparable.

Why do you keep bringing 'saggy' into it, its like you cant comprehend what is being written, you sound incredibly angry

Im a C cup, that is not the definition of 'fuck all tits', so again, you dont seem to comprehend whats being discussed.

How do I manage to find small band big cup bras in M & S, when others don't?

Why is it if larger people think it’s a boost to see people of their size wearing clothes, we’re either “clamouring for overweight models”, or glamourising/promoting obesity?

I swear if I had a penny for every time I’ve read the words ‘we’ve lost sight of what a healthy weight is’ on this siteI’d be financially set for life.

There is no such thing as a healthy weight in the sense that people with all sorts of BMIs can be ill or unhealthy. And people of all BMIs can be healthy. But that’s a moot point anyway because fat people exist and are fat for a multitude of reasons and they bloody need to wear clothes. WTF is the problem with wanting to see someone the same size as them wearing what they might potentially buy?

The answer to this is to either have a decent variety of models or none at all and people can just take the chance in ordering.

I think thats a really good advert to show how your clothes look when you're digging over the lawn

The random poses are odd. I’m not sure of the point? I’d rather they stood straight and did a heel picture and trainers to show the difference in length for different shoes.

Giving the model’s height is all well and good, I buy long trousers, apparently I have very long legs, but I’m only 5ft8.

You're not being reasonable, you're laughable

Saggy is not a descriptor for big!! Fuck all, just means nothing there, its not negative or positive, its a descriptor.

Oh god a 'male tactic' eh?

Im not the one who needs to get over anything, you started ranting about someone describing themselves!!!

I honestly think they look fine - they're very slim but they don't look emaciated. Some women are naturally very lean, just like some women are naturally plumper. As for their height - I'm in my 40s and tall (taller than a lot of models) so again no issue there; I like knowing that a skirt isn't going to be an utterly indecent length.

The only way around this is to have a range of models of different heights/sizes. Some companies do this already. And yes, for a company that targets a more middle aged demographic it might be somewhat sensible to show models that better reflect their target audience - not just in body type but in age too.

However, models have always been outliers in terms of their looks, body type, height etc. So long as they're not emaciated then it's fine. It is nice to see a range of bodies through - but that range still includes very slim women.

I suspect the poster meant that she could tell from the pictures the difference between a slim arm and the arm of someone with an eating disorder. She wasn’t being insulting.