They Did It Again: Fashion Magazine Slims Curvy America

by Elegant Plus Magazine

They just can’t seem to help themselves.  Fashion magazines, I mean.  Schizophrenic messaging …… one minute they are celebrating women of all shapes and sizes, the next they are photoshopping [is that even a word?] a celebrity or model to shave off any signs of a real woman’s body.  It’s as if they just can’t reconcile the need to sell magazines which requires bowing to a bit of public pressure and demand for more realistic body image and their own, silly concepts of beauty which only embraces one body type………the thinner the better, baby!

Glamour is the culprit this time. But we all know it could be any of them.  September’s issue features the super-hot star of Ugly Betty, America Ferrera.  Yay!… right?   Well, maybe not.  See the little photoshop elves in the art department, rubber stamped if not outright encouraged or directed by the Editor in Chief, worked a little of their digital diet magic.  And poof!  America is no longer a healthy size, what, 8? (She isn’t plus-size by anyone’s standards but Hollywood or fashion). She is now miraculously somewhere between the coveted fashionably sized 2 to 4 on that glossy magazine cover (see above, left compared to un-slimmed right image).  Maybe they thought we wouldn’t notice.

What’s even funnier is that the tag for their on-line interview with the star states:

 “America Ferrera, star of Ugly Betty, is climbing Hollywood’s A-list—and she’s ignoring the unwritten rule that says stars must be blond and Twizzler-thin.”

Now, did someone forget to watch Ugly Betty?  Or are they just too dumb to get the message?  How about The Devil Wears Prada?  Nope, the irony in that one went flying over their heads too. Hmmm.

I thought maybe Glamour was starting to get it with spreads like this one back in April of 2007:

Plus Model Kailee O’Sullivan in Glamour, April 2007

I guess I was wrong.  America - keep doing your thing. Ugly Betty, Real Women Have Curves, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants….. they are all inspirational roles compared to the air-brushed ‘perfection’ these fashion magazine tout. And, oh…. take a page from Kate Winslet: raise holy hell over this manipulation of your already highly attractive body.

And for a little education - check out this link on fashion and digital image altering: If Looks Could Kill: Digital Manipulation of Fashion Models

So what do you think? 

Did Glamour go too far?  Or did America need some slimming to become “Hot”?  And even if she did, do you think fashion, magazines and the media play a part in girls’ body image issues and maybe even a role in the rise of eating disorders?  Is it ethical to digitally alter images to make celebrities and models thinner?

Popularity: 24% [?]

Could you be the next new face of Torrid?

American Idol, Jordin Sparks, was a Torrid model. Are you the next hottest face of plus-size fashion? Last year the model search took them to Chicago, Charlotte, Phoenix and Philadelphia.  This year it’s new locations and new cities, giving an opportunity for more curvy cuties to try out.  No registration fees, plus great shopping discounts the day of the model call and prizes.  So what do you have to lose?  Flaunt your curves and show the world your full-figured charisma, beauty and camera ready smile!

Torrid Cover Girl, Katie (left) 
Model Search Winner, Jordin Sparkes (right)

Registration for the Model Search will take place on-site at the day of the event.  There is no on-line registration.

Each Model Search begins at 10 A.M.  Get there early to get your place in line.

Dates and Cities for the Torrid 2007 Model Search are:

Saturday July 28, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Stephenson Galleria

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Saturday,  August 25, 2007

NORTH ATTLEBORO, MA

Emerald Square

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Saturday, September 22, 2007

ORLANDO, FL

Florida Mall

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Saturday, October 27, 2007

REDONDO BEACH, CA

Galleria at South Bay

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For more information visit Torrid on-line.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Season Three is almost here………..

By Guest Contributor to Elegant Plus Magazine

 Paris has always been fabulous. It’s about to get Fabulous and Thick.

Mo’Nique and Oxygen are taking their hit show to a worldwide stage!  They’ll continue the Miss F.A.T. tradition by taking on the world capital of couture– Paris, France. It all begins with a nationwide search for 5 big beautiful contestants willing to take on the challenge of their lives. We’ll follow their journey as they transform into divas ultimately strutting their stuff in a high fashion Paris runway show.
At the end of the night, the judges and Mo’Nique will evaluate the contestants on their entire journey and the winner will be named Miss F.A.T. 2007!

Judges this season include ground-breaking plus-size model Velvet d’Amour whose ample curves have graced the Paris runways in haute couture fashion!

 Tune in to the Oxygen Network on July 28th, 2007 at 8pm/7C and let the fun begin!

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Enter the Mo’Nique’s Let Them Eat Cake Sweepstakes for your chance to go to Paris Mo’Nique style!

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 To find out more visit the Oxygen Network F.A.T. Chance Paris website.

To contact Mo’Nique hereself, visit her website.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Towards the end of the latest round of American Idol, it became obvious that a curvy woman was a likely winner.  After Mandisa,  a visibly plus-sized woman, was so ridiculed by Simon last year in spite of her powerful talent, it was refreshing to see the very same Simon champion the fuller figured Melinda Doolittle and kiss the voluptuously proportioned Lakisha Jones.  But in the end it was  seventeen year old  Jordin Sparks, that took the day.

A tall, size 14 bodaceous beauty, Sparks has recently come under fire by the National Action Against Obesity as too fat and a poor role model for children and teens.  (See video below.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svxLdNsxPSw]

But of all the full-figured contestants to make a splash over the years including the likes of Frenchie Davis, thrown off for posing topless in college who then went on to sing in the Broadway smash hit Rent and Jennifer Hudson who went on to star in the on-screen hit, Dreamgirls and win an Oscar,  Jordin is probably the least plus-sized and most photogenic of the lot during their American Idol stints.   At her height, her curves and size look better than the average woman (hence the former modeling gig with trendy plus-size retailer, Torrid) and as Ellen DeGeneres rightly observed, she looks “healthy” for a celebrity change.  (See video interview below).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQuAEUJ_JU8]

While childhood obesity and diseases like Type 2 diabetes may be on the rise due to unhealthy and sedentary lifestyles throughout the USA, it is precisely the extremist views of the  National Action Against Obesity and others like them that are fueling an equally rising health problem in teen and young adults - eating disorders and obsession with appearance. (See the NEDA video below.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESQlryualZ4]

Jordin is young, vibrant, curvaceous, and yes *healthy*.  We need more role models of her ilk, not fewer.  In fact, her win illustrates but a small step in the thin-obsessed, size 0 celebrity pop world that serves as role models most of the time.  Who do you think parents would prefer their young daughters to look to?  Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie….. or the more wholesome, all-American Jordin Sparks?  I know whom I would prefer.  Furthermore, this step toward broader size and looks acceptance is really quite small.  When the set of pipes and singing power of an American Idol contestant are the sole criteria on which the public makes its final judgement, then true acceptance will have been achieved.  But, even with a little extra “meat on her bones”, there is no doubt Jordin is a looker  - the public still looks for the shiny package in making their final judgement and isn’t ready for figures like those of Mandisa, Frenchie and LaKisha.

 But there is hope, with the rise of such edgy rockers as Beth Ditto of the band Gossip willing to pose a la nude in all her apple shaped, 5′ 2″  glory on a magazine cover complete with all her fat rolls on display. Such a brash move is winning praise from more feminist viewpoints while Ditto is quoted ranting against the size 0 fashion world.  It’s possible times are starting to change.  And in direct opposition to the nonsense being spouted in certain quarters, we think talent no matter what size body it resides in should be rewarded and celebrated.

Congratulations Jordin. Well done!  Please resist the pressure and keep healthy and curvy, we beg you.

Popularity: 11% [?]