London Fashion Week Size Zero

[Scott_Fraser]

Well folks its London Fashion week again, where the small army of Stick Insects that are todays Models strut there stuff.
Surely in this day and age, promoting girls that are a size zero, is no advert for young girls. Its not natural to see a model whos bones are sticking out and that these girls are forced to starve by the Fashion Industry, is an absolute disgrace.
What ever happened to girls that have curves, like size 12, 14 and 16, these girls are normal. Look at Kelly Brook, and Angeline Jolie, these are the role models that young impressionable young girls should be following. Not the likes of Kate Moss, who is so high on coke that she doesn't know what day it is, and as for her boyfriend Pete Docherty, well need I say more.
The Fashion industry needs a good kick up the arse and made to design clothes for the normal size girls. Did you hear about the young Brazilian model who starved her self to death the other week, because a fashion house wanted her to be a size 4. Absolute scandelous.
What are your views on this.
Scott

[batgirl]

Well Scott, I'm a size 0. I'm a very small person though. Under 5'1" and less than 45 kg. Part of it is being sick in my case, but even if I was well I wouldn't be much bigger. Maybe a size 2.

But I agree with you, I think women with curves are much more attractive, and are what most men want anyways. Being only 23, I've grown up with the idea that girls should be super skinny, everyone I knew in school was dieting by age 10 or younger, it's been very emphasized and it makes me sick. I even thought I was fat in highschool when I was a size 3. I think I was borderline having an eating disorder. I think all this stuff in the media encourages us to have eating disorders, and that's tragic. I don't know who ever thought being so skinny was attractive. I guess Twiggy was one of the first, but I think compared to some models today Twiggy looks pretty healthy.

[Scott_Fraser]

Hi Evie. Yes I agree with you, Twiggy does look positively healthy, but, she was always like that even before she was a model. But you only have to look at the last 10 years and look at the likes of Elle MacPherson, Christine Brinkley and Rachel Hunter, they were curvy beautiful girls and still are. They think that todays young models are going over the score by being that thin.
Here in the UK the national newspapers have started a "Say No To Size Zero" aimed at stopping this trend, before it kills more young girls.
Scott

[GR-ass]

I'm a curvy size 14. I am one of these girls that are the good ole hourglass shape.
It has taken me a long time to accept that this is my body, and I am actually happy in it :shrugs:

I love how I look because I am finally comfortable in my own skin :D

Yes, I'm proud of me. I can say that and not feel like I'm lying

[GR-ass]

Oh, in the words of Anita Blake (Laurell k Hamilton charactor) Anything under a size 4 is a boy with breasts

:erm:
sorry evie.

[batgirl]

No offense taken. Actually when I'm well, I look quite good at a size 2-3. At size 14 or even 12, I would be obese. I am very petite just naturally, a lot smaller than most women. And short too. But I was born that way... this is my natural body type. I think that's the problem. Most women are taller and not so petite, yet they are trying to look like a very small fine-boned person, instead of accepting themselves the way they are. I think women of all sizes are attractive personally, as long as they are not skeletal or morbidly obese.

[vcc123]

One word... PASTA!!! ok.. another word.. BREAD!!.. I'm still in the 'control' phase.. my weight is the only thing I can control.. (or so I say) I'm a size 6.. I'm fine with that.. thats normal for me.. (except for a couple of extra pounds that came with age) but I know that if I gain weight I start to panic. soooo.. not so many carbs.. mostly protein shakes.. oh.. and I gotta have my Java. :rolleyes:

[Nam]

Batgirl, I'm also petite at 5'2" and in a non pregnant state, I'm a size 2-4. I don't work out extensively to keep the size nor do I starve myself. I just happen to be thin. I don't agree with starving oneself for image but I know that there are some women, no matter how much they eat, will always be on the thinner side.

Cass, it's so funny you mention that quote because I used to buy boys jeans because the girlie ones had too much room in the hip and butt area! After children, well, that changed :).

[Scott_Fraser]

I don't agree with someone starving themselves either. I know that with you Evie, after your operation you've got to watch what you eat. But once you are able to eat solids start with a bowl of vegetable soup like Scotch Broth.
What is a size 2 or 4, in British sizes.
Some girls that I know are a size 10 or 12, and they eat everything thats going and still stay thin, it makes you sick doesn't it.
The thing is to eat, if you don't, well you all know what happens.
Scott:hello:

[batgirl]

I
What is a size 2 or 4, in British sizes.


Clothing sizes are rather confusing. As far as I can tell, UK sizes are 2 higher than US sizes. So, a size 2 in the US would be a size 4 in the UK. That's disputed though. There doesn't seem to be any standard sizing. If you're interested in me personally though, I have a 22" waist, if that gives you an idea of my size.

Oh and I did have Scotch broth yesterday and today Scott. It's one of my favourite soups. :)

[Scott_Fraser]

Well done Evie, thats the girl. Before you know it you'll be on to sirloin steaks with fries, or Chips as we call them.
Why don't you try something simple like Macaroni Cheese, its easy to make and delicious, plus its soft as well.
Scott:hello:

[Scott_Fraser]

Hi Evie, you are a size 8 in British size. That is not to bad considering your height. That is about average size for your height. For instance the Canadian singer Shania Twain is about your size and a size 8, so you're in good company.
Scott:hello:

[cookie]

hee-hee, curvy i am. sort of a reverse hour glass, though. i look at some of our teen girls at school, 1's and 2's, and they are so thin, but you should see what they eat! they are definately not starving. my daughter is 22, and thinks she is fat, she wears a 6-8, and is very pretty. at least she doesn't starve, though. she and her husband are working out at the gym every eve.

[jods]

I have never really been skinny!

At one stage I was an aussie size 20 (thanks alcohol!)

I'm about a 16 now but it depends on where I shop.

My size doesn't really bother because I'm a such a hottie anyway!LOL!

[veiled]

Don't see the hoopla... young women who are very active are skinny (models in that industry are always on the go). Now after 3 kids I was bitched at because of my size I was under weight. Now again 3 kids I ate like a horse, I was just that busy working non stop. No diets. Big ole' burgers and fries was all I had time for. Now #4 things changed and the more I eat health concise food for my heart and brain and over all well being I am obese by standards here at a size 11 and about 140lbs. Before and for ever 98 lbs. And wore children pants. I am OK in my skin but would not mind shedding a couple pounds for me. But at 100 lbs I am "ideal weight" over 115 I am considered over weight. being short not much wiggle room. Hell, I think it is BS people do not just teach their kids to be healthy and start it at home. Also at home click the TV off and restrict MTV and BS mags. Cool thing about being a parent, you can control *some* aspects of your kids lives and censor nonsense, but to knock people for being skinny. ehh BS. Some people are just that way and they make a living from it... Hell we all have to make one.

[Scott_Fraser]

Maybe you don't see all the hoopla as you call it, Veiled. But young girls are dieing because of this size zero nonsense. Why! Because teenagers will think that its ok to be that size. And also to the torment of there parents watching their daughters doing this to themselves, and whats worse, watching them die. So come on Veiled have a bit of thought about this please. You and I will never agree on most things, but I think you have got it wrong this time. No offence eh.
Scott

[anthony]

I actually very much see veiled's point, and concur, in that it is the idea behind being skinny that is the issue, not a person being skinny as such, male or female. Some people are naturally very slim, regardless how much they eat. If any person lives on junk, they will eventually put on weight with age. Now, under weight and over weight both have there health issues. So what is the right thing? To simply eat healthy, exercise, and your body will take over naturally for your correct weight balance. To starve yourself to achieve size zero is one thing, but to eat healthy regular meals and be a size zero is another. One not healthy, the later quite healthy.

I know women who are extremely petite, to say the least, some eat like horses, exercise lots, and simply can't put on weight, as that is their bodies natural build and size when eating healthy, others eat little to maintain a figure for societies value and perception, all the while their body is craving minerals and nutrition, thus they tend to become sick and unhealthy eventually as a result.

Big difference in how you word what is, and is not healthy, for any size IMO. Talk with a dietition, and you would likely get the same type of response.

Its like 99% of over-weight people who try and tell you that its hereditary, when in fact you watch what they eat, and its exactly that, what they are eating and the quantity of food they consume. I used to hear it all the time in the military, with people being over-weight, and when you looked at their diet, you could see the issues immediately. Amazingly enough, when they changed their eating habits and stuck with them, suddenly the weight fell off them, they became fitter and found life much easier being healthy, their ideal weight. Very few people are naturally obese from genetics, the same as very few are naturally a size zero from genetics.

[YoungAndAngry]

I have an interesting question for anyone who has read this thread...

Would it be appropriate for me to start talking about how 'gross' and/or 'unhealthy' obese people "look"????
or would it just end up making larger people feel like shit???

[Scott_Fraser]

Yes please do, as people who are morbadly obese have the same problems tho on a slightly larger scale. They are eating themselves to death, for as the size zero fashion models are starving themselves to death. Yes I've seen the size of these people, some who weigh as much as 40st. And obesity is one of the biggest problems in the UK. People are eating the wrong food, eg. to much fries. People rely to much on convenience food that do not have much nutrition in them. The days when the family sat down to a proper meal with meat and vegetables are quickly dieing out. A British tradition is Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding with all the trimmings, Roast Potatos and vegetables plus lots of gravy as well. School kids are relying on the Fish & Chip shops for a school dinner, and school dinners have very little nutritional value in them either. Does anyone remember watching on TV, Jamie Oliver's School Dinners, and his campaign to improve school meals.
I don't know what school dinners are like in the States, Canada or Australia, probably not much better than the UK.
So Y&A please have your say on people who are obese as well, it makes this discussion more open and interesting.
Thanks
Scott

[YoungAndAngry]

Meh, my 'say' is that I hate the fact that it is not socially acceptable to tell a larger person that you are "suprised at how fat they are? Maybe they should stop eating burgers"
... and yet...
Strangers feel that it is OK for them to publically point out someones 'thinness'.
I have been told thousands of times "Wow! Your soo skinny!! You should eat a burger or something!"

I am one of the few that are genetically tall and thin.
From a baby to present time.
My mom even had afew people rude enough to ask her if she fed me!!!
And these were people at the grocery store, etc.

Yes I agree that eating disorders are a horrible serious issue that we need to address.
But society should be concentrating on proper nutrition and exercise...
... educating the public on the risks of both under and over eating...
rather than banning a body type because it can be associated with unhealthy diets.

[veiled]

Just thinking out loud and not surfing the forum but since this is not PTSD related am joining in... the ladies who are starving themselves, or on drugs to maintain being a hanger as that is all they are when showing clothing lines... They have disorders and addictions. But some are just built like that. The outfits come in a certain size to fit a certain body type so all can fit in it, so no room to wiggle, they are not making one size fits all to hit the runways in.

This is where good ol' parenting comes in to prevent some of these issues (but am fully aware some kids will still have them)but parents can and do make an impact. My teen did not stress over her looks (one of the few griefs she did not give me) and she did not stress that during her growth spurt she could only wear my pants for a very brief time... since then those jeans have been tossed as I know I have matured as my body has. So no she won't be looking like and "insect" like her mother did until about 28 or 9. She is naturally curvy and has hips. Which BTW have an ass is very much the in thing now. Everyone wants a J Lo butt. She will be most likely a very tall woman.

And the boy comment with boobs cracked me up as so many times I sat in front of a mirror thinking that is what I looked like LOL... But I was consuming no less than 3000 calories a day. And wishing I had an ass LOL.

Now my ex is obese - morbidly. He cannot eat near as much as I could and never could. Heaven forbid replace the damn french fry with a carrot stick once in a while! Though it is important not to deny splurges in moderation. Dark chocolate is good for you long as you do not eat a whole box.

School lunches have had major over hauls here. But I still don't see why can a parent now buy stuff for kids to make their own with better alternatives. Not schools fault. Some are stuck fat just like some are stuck skinny (it happens but not that damn often). If you don't like what is on the menu be a parent and make lunch or inform your child to eat the better choices (you can go through the cafeteria if they are like where I was and see what their card was used to purchase). When mine would buy they ate grilled chicken salads. They had a bigger problem over how the animals were raised and processed than they did with mom saying eat the salad and fruit bowl and get a light dressing more along the line of oil and vinegar. They offered this in the upper grades, my younger ones... Yech, after visiting for lunch while they were too little to be embarrassed I saw the food and would not give it to my dog. So I always had lunch fixings he took and it continues with his grandmother packing for him now I am gone.

I am just thinking how fast paced that life is I could honestly see falling over from malnutrition simply due to time schedules. BTW I supported the bigger run way models I believe they tried to force in madrid was it? Hell, I might watch a fashion show if beauties were doing it... Well, most likely no, not really LOL. As still you are not normal looking.

And as far as fashion mags and the like *parents* should make it clear that hey a computer was used to shave off the fat on her arms and ass. I have worked with tall insect creatures you describe, and they ate the same as I did. The same crap that made people slower just gain and gain.

Teach children health and how it is fuel for your body and brain and what certain foods do what. My thing I point out to my kids a pizza here and there won't kill them as neither will fish and vegetables with fruit. If a child develops an eating disorder I think it is wrong to blame society as a whole. They have a disorder that needs medical attention. If they use drugs again medical attention. Not society's fault or Calvin Kliens.

If a model who is making $$$ should use that to invest in school as her stay will be brief anyway and she is simply an idiot. Not one to be pitied.

My fat ex points out "I am eating better" but won't listen when I tell him after all the dressing (type he uses) just got dumped on I said yeah, you got fiber and the right idea, but that crap you chose to pour on your salad just made it just as fattening as a cheese burger. Not that I care really, I care to see him around for my sons sake to at least get him through school.

When the meds first started making me gain and some peole saw me I got comments like damn, you have an ass... I never saw you with one before. It was not my eating or exercise or anything remotely good for me that did it. It was drugs! So just remember we all come in different shapes and sizes. They are doing well in the industry to make different looks be OK and I think they are doing fine with big names to make people see not everyone is a waif.

On the runway they are nothing more than hangers and those women know it. They are not stupid. Well, in a sense they are but they know their job is to be a hanger and look like one. They have other choices. This was theirs.

[Jim]

Veiled, not much to add here, but must say I agree with you 100%. You certainly have your head screwed on correctly. Well said.

My Evie is a very small person. She is that way regardless of what she eats. Her mother was the same. Genetics.

Jim.

[Scott_Fraser]

Scotland has the worst record in Western Europe for heart disease, and the city of Glasgow the worst city in Western Europe as well. The fact is, too many people are eating the wrong food, smoking and over drinking to name but a few. The Scottish Parliament last year banned smoking in pubs and clubs. First Australia did it,then Ireland and now Scotland. And the benefits are slowly starting to work. You can now go into a pub for a pint and not be hit by a cloud of cigarette smoke. If you want to smoke, the pubs have put special places outside the pubs where you can light up. I would like to ask Anthony how this has affected Australia.
But trying to control peoples diets is still a problem, too much fat in food and the British love of Fish & Chips is still a problem. As is also eating at MacDonalds or Burger King. The days of the family sitting down to a family meal are dieing out. Its only then that people can eat a properly cooked meal with the recomended 5 a day of fruit and veg. To much is laid upon Microwave food, which is high in fat.
Scott

[anthony]

It works well here Scott, most of the time. Some pubs and clubs still allow smoking inside, some not. Some are simply ignorant and want the bottom line profit, ie. they will make two rows of pokie machines non-smoking, then 5 foot across, the rest smoking. Do they think it doesn't travel those few feet? Public bars are generally smoking, as they are full of generally regulars, and its not a family environment. The family areas of pubs and clubs, meals and so forth, all non-smoking. You can't smoke inside pretty much 99% of buildings here in Australia, which is great. You can't smoke in heavily public places outside either, ie. beaches where you have families, kids, and the litter problem with butts. Some towns have banned smoking on some sides of the streets, ie. where all the shops and people are, non-smoking, you have to cross the road to the open side, or go outside of the shop zone where people are crowded in to smoke.

I am a smoker, and I think these are all good things, and make much more pleasant environments to be within, especially with my kids. Not even many Australians smoke in their homes, instead they go outside, because the smell goes through a house, and even smokers walk into homes that are smoke within and fall over from the smell. It goes through everything, destroys fabric, carpet and the like. Yuk... I would rather live in clean air, not smoke ridden air, and I smoke. When I smoke, I expose myself to the smoke, the rest of the time I live, I do not... simple IMHO!

[Scott_Fraser]

Here in Scotland the Scottish Parliament also banned smoking on buses especially on double deckers, on trains and smoking in shopping centres, and even bus shelters that are enclosed. Unfortunatley in Edinburgh they go to extremes, they have what the locals call the Fag Gestapo. Its these jobsworths in uniform that follow smokers about and if they drop a butt on the ground rather than a bin, they give you an on the spot fine.
When I smoke in the house, I go out to the door or hang out of the window and have a smoke. Because I don't want my kids breathing in my smoke, plus my wife is an avid non-smoker.
But as for not smoking on the beaches, that's a bit extreme.
Scott

[Jen]

You cant smoke at the footy up here there is a special designated area outside the ground you get a stamp on your arm so you can return to the game when you gave your smoke!
All the pubs and clubs have a special fenced off area outside.
Its funny when you drive past the pubs through the day there are more people outside than inside!
Jen

[Scott_Fraser]

You can take the man out of the pub, but you can't take the pub out of the man.
Scott

[anthony]

Yep, you can pretty much say, anything that is public here, your not allowed to smoke within. It is accepted though, as those who smoke do so at their own peril, and people know the risks of smoking, and anyone with respect for others, would not argue it anyway, because why would anyone want to push something that is proven to be harmful onto others? I totally agree with our laws here and accept them. I think its all about respect, nothing much else.

[mac]

"Cosmo says your fat... well I aint down with that"

It's sad that female models must conform to what the industry portrays as sexy

[Scott_Fraser]

I totally agree with you Mac
Scott

[GR-ass]

No offense taken. Actually when I'm well, I look quite good at a size 2-3. At size 14 or even 12, I would be obese. I am very petite just naturally, a lot smaller than most women. And short too. But I was born that way... this is my natural body type. I think that's the problem. Most women are taller and not so petite, yet they are trying to look like a very small fine-boned person, instead of accepting themselves the way they are. I think women of all sizes are attractive personally, as long as they are not skeletal or morbidly obese.

True. Like my mum being a healthy weight in a kids 12 whereI am most definately (at least) a womans 12.

A foot in hight has something to do with it :eat-me: OMG i love this smilie

[batgirl]

Yup definitely height has a lot to do with it. I am very short! Actually I think tall women look very attractive with a bit of extra weight. They carry it well.

[Scott_Fraser]

Yes Evie thats right, you only have to look at Rod Stewart's girlfriend Penny Lancaster to see that. She is over 6ft tall and looks absolutely stunning, especially after having her first child last year.
But small girls can be beautiful as well, like yourself Evie. Its whats inside the girl thats important as well isn't it.
Cheers
Scott

[GR-ass]

:D

I think people are georgeous, no matter what size they are. I mean, just so long as they are comfy in their own bodies.