It's Blog time again, sweethearts. And I'm going back to the heart of what all this Blog stands for: women's issues. No, I don't mean "Shit I'm late: I've got time to either shave my armpits or my face" or "I can't find the string, does that mean it's stuck inside?!". I haven't done one of these Blogs for a while and I've quite missed it, and I've hoped you have too - if not, why in Zod's name are you still reading this?
At the very least, it's not a moan this time. I was just perusing the local paper (as you do) and I stumbled across this little gem. (The Herald isn't actually my local paper, I just couldn't find it on the local paper's site, fact fans). For those of you too lazy to click yet another button, here's the story in a nutshell: Debenhams of Oxford Street, London, has started displaying Size 16 models in its front display windows. The tagline poster on their shop front reads "I'm a Size 16. Do you want to see more of me?"
Harking back to an article I wrote a little while ago about the average UK womens' size, surely this is a plus (pardon the pun). Allegedly, retailers feel they are responsible for the amount of women who come back to their shops after purchasing a garment, dissatisfied because it didn't look the same on them as it did on the shop-standard, size 10 mannequins.
So this is a great move for all women and retailers alike. I mean, if we can have size 10 and size 16 models, why not dummies of all different sizes? I'm sure there are a few women out there that can buy an outfit straight off of the rail, take it home and look as good as the mannequins (slightly plastic skin tone, weird stances and lack of head aside); but I sure as heck don't know any. And I do know quite a lot of women.
The smart idea now is once we've got the ball rolling, we pass it on. Models of different sizes in catalogues, press advertisements, womens' and young girls' magazines. Less coverage of celebrities in this derogative tone. And please, for God's sake stop referring to size 14 and above models as "plus-sized". It's patronising.
(Just a quick warning: the latter link may make you react in this manner - "What?! WHAAAT! She/He's not FAT!")
2 comments:
I definitely agree, I saw that article as well and did a silent cheer for women who are not stick thin, which is most of the females i know. It's nice to see the fashion industry, even if it is only debenhams, finally seeing the bigger picture (hehe couldnt resist the pun) and start making larger mannikins. Lets just hope other clothes shops catch on to the idea as well.
Quite frankly, I'm not going to be impressed until midget or thalidomide mannequins come along.
Az
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