Too thin models, has anything changed?

Posted Oct 1st 2007 at 2:09PM by Lauren Messiah (Subscribe to Lauren Messiah's posts)

Models have always been on the top of the controversy list. There is Naomi Campbell knocking people out with cell phones and Kate Moss' love drama with rocker Pete Doherty – but the real drama lies in the pencil thin no-name models that grace the world's runways.

Last year there was a lot of talk about models being too thin. Some countries considered banning underweight models from runway shows. The question is did it work? Are models putting on weight?

The answer, unfortunately, is no. A New York Times article called "Still Too Thin, and Getting Younger" reveals that not much has changed in the fashion industry saying that ".One might be startled to find, scattered on the makeup table alongside the iPod and the Motorola SLVR (a device that electronics blogs approvingly call the anorexic phone), other currently common tools of the trade like Vicodin, clenbuterol and Marlboro Lights."

In case you didn't know, Vicodin is a prescription painkiller that is used in the fashion industry as an appetite-suppressant. Even more horrifying, clenbuterol, which is a steroid that showed significant weight loss in horses (yes, horses people), is being used by models to keep their weight down. Then there is the ever popular nicotine (cigarettes), which also acts an appetite suppressant.

Sounds like the perfect recipe for death to me -- all of this for a career that, if you are lucky, will span for eight years. It's so very sad.

Source

Tags: anorexia, drugs, fashion industry, FashionIndustry, too thin models, TooThinModels

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

laron 10-02-2007 @ 8:07AM

From what I know a designer only makes one size so if the world wants models to be bigger, make the clothes bigger. This is telling women you can't wear this unless you lose weight cause it dosen't come in your size 2.

w 10-02-2007 @ 8:07AM

Don't forget heroin and cocaine - those have always been staples in the modeling world.

sarah 10-02-2007 @ 8:43AM

they look so old though!

dor3rich 10-02-2007 @ 8:48AM

they look like death.They look terrible.

yesiam2000 10-02-2007 @ 9:00AM

Want to know what would happen if people starting liking themselves (and others too) just the way God made them?

The fashion, makeup, hair people, Weight Watcher people, and everyone else who makes $$$$ off making people beleive they need their product to be "beautiful", these maunfacturers would go out of business quickly.
The only way they can make money is make you beleive you are not "good enough" "pretty enough" fashionable enough" etc. By fostering a negative image in the consumers, they keep raking in the $$$$ and getting richer.

J. Adams 10-10-2007 @ 5:52PM

edcantarella 10-02-2007 @ 9:13AM

They are waaaaaay too thin, IMO. I want some meat on my steak - some of these women are like a rib bone AFTER someone has chewed the meat off. Real women have some "back". Most of them look like praying mantis' - whose females eat the male after mating. No underfed chicks for me, thank you!

Big Al 10-02-2007 @ 9:24AM

Re: " It's so very sad. " No, no it's not. It's about freedom. To chose how you want to live and die. No one put a gun to their collective heads to make them be ultra-thin models, this is their choice. After all is said and done they were not destined to be rocket scientists now, where they? The weak and the stupid always get weeded out, it's called natural selection. So get a grip.

Patti` 10-02-2007 @ 9:31AM

I soooo AGREE with #4
WE are our worst critics....the fashion industry has dictated how we should look since the begining of time! Every magazine, has a lose wgt in a week, look like this, be like this....I thank my parents for teaching me that being ME is the best thing I could do for myself....no one else is me.
When we purchase these fashion magazines, and look at these malnurished models, alot of them very young girls, we are promoting this unhealthy state. I understand the designers don't want women with curves (That happens in ANY sized women!) because they people would see at beautiful women instead of their OUTFIT...ewwww wow! But isn't the fashion industry about making people "feel good" in their clothes?
I stopped buying "designer clothes" because my taste, and knowing myself, lets me make my own clothes that suit MY STYLE, not what designers want you to think "is in!" Long live the REAL Women, whether you are a size 2 or 22!

bill 10-02-2007 @ 9:31AM

who really cares?models look weird?like scrawny scarecrows and when do you see one smile?never on the cat walk.that must be a prerequisite?they look sickley. i think tghe sexyiest models are the victoria secret models.they have meat on ther bones,have a sexy smile always and something as a man you want to jump in the tv and grab one..lol or the cheerleadres on a sport team are very sexy looking not to skinny but just right.plus i alway get a kick out of the close they have theses so called super models where .they look like halloween costumes?who wheres this shit.i never see a women wearing this crap in the real world .all those desighners and there gay wears.makes me laugh.these woem look like fools so i guess thats why the long face.i know the clothes are not suppose to interest me because im a guy and i wouldnt buy any of it .i may use it to wipe up some spill i have in the garage?lolthats all its worth to me.you take the average women out there and put her in one of these things and people would laugh.i know i would.id probabley say wheres the circus???

Divanna 10-02-2007 @ 9:32AM

These girls - I don't think they are old enough to be women, look haggard. Look at the skin on the fingers and neck - when the makeup comes off - is that what's left ? They remind me of used-up street hookers. Hardly inspiring for the fashion industry ....

j.d.a. 10-02-2007 @ 9:42AM

J.Adams #4 comment lists Weight Watchers as one of the problems. You must not know anything about Weight Watchers. None of these models would be welcome at a Weight Watchers meeting because they are too thin. Weight Watchers is about taking care of yourself so you can live a more productive and/or healthy and/or happy life. People who have success with Weight Watchers do not end up looking like heroin junkies.

Jeanne 10-02-2007 @ 9:48AM

This is the way it's going to go. Women, you need to wake up. Look at other countries and how they treat women. They're getting you to think you are only beautiful if you starve yourself, sort of a self hatred. Guess where they're taking you next? Does anyone think Burkas R Us is a good business name?

Diana 10-02-2007 @ 10:29AM

Way to thin! Agencies should use the worlds average size person for models. Some ppl are way too skinny just like some ppl are way too fat! Make it normal! Use variety. The world comes in different shapes, colors & sizes. GET REAL! Our world is into real not fake!

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kirk johnson / b.-VAIN couture 10-02-2007 @ 10:06AM

I am a designer and when I started out my main clients were size 12 and above, when I did my samples the models were a size 8. When and why a size 2 became the sample size? I do not follow the industries sample size because the average size is not a 2!!! A size 2 dosen't have the curves to fill out, If you want the garment to hang, just put it on a hanger!! About the models getting younger, this is true. I think that with the RIGHT people working with these girls, it can work. So Lets get it together!!

Kirk johnson, Founder and Head Designer of b.-VAIN couture

Audrey 10-02-2007 @ 10:13AM

These skinny models make the clothes look unappealing and gaudy. So if the designers didn't use starving models the market they want to target would go up.

asdalford 10-02-2007 @ 10:13AM

Let everybody be the weight that they choose to be. If someone tells a person that is overweight to put the twinkies down, they crie and act as if they are mistreatet. Stop the double standard. I am 5'11'' and weigh a 140 lbs. My BMI is 19. And i have overweight people telling me that I need to gain some weight. Let me tell you fat does not equal pretty.

layla scott 10-02-2007 @ 10:35AM

I must come to the defense of some of the models out there. Not all thin models are anorexic. Some women are naturally just thin. I know it's hard to believe because most American women are overweight. When you have a fast metabolism, you can pretty much eat ANYTHING you want and not have to worry about it. Have any of you ever experienced that? It's wonderful! Who's to say that being thin is wrong? If you are naturallly thin, be proud and feel blessed. If you have to starve yourself to become a model, maybe consider another profession. I am in the fashion industry and know plenty of healthy, naturally thin girls and women. People are very quick to insult somone thin. Making negative comments. When you are naturally thin and are surrounded by so many unhealthy, complaining, overweight people, it would be easy to say just that. Most thin people say nothing in the way of retaliation. If we did, we'd be frowned upon. What's the difference in someone thin calling a fat person fat? Overweights do it all the time and no one says a thing.
When you pick up that next shake, put it down and just remember...less is more!

ibrn1 10-02-2007 @ 10:32AM

The scarey thing is our 12 year old daughters emulate these anorexic women.

Jen 10-03-2007 @ 1:21AM

layla scott-
You're right that some models are just naturally thin--and I have nothing against them. The problem, though, is that most women can't be that thin naturally, so presenting a size 2 or size 0 as the ideal body size encourages bad body images (and sometimes even eating disorders) in women and girls.