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Prefab77 Studio

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Prefab77 studio

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Prefab77 Target Audience Persona

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Inspiration from Prefab77 work collaged in a mood board by me, representing layers of multi-styled artwork

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Prefab77 Analysis

Prefab77 is a group of artists who create unusual yet elegant street art and prints, with an approach which is never simple. Prefab77 creates and sells creative art pieces focusing on historic figures with a twist; making the personality of the figure appear in contrast views to how they are normally versioned. A lot of the pieces are delivered in collage, with the effects added onto them. There are many different historical figures which have been displayed in the artwork of Prefab77 including The Queen, Geisha, Abraha Lincoln, and Winston Churchill – all widely recognisable across the public eye but also very patriotic symbols.

Beauty is not the destination which Prefab77 aims for, behind the beauty of the artwork, there is always some form of political or anti-establishment notion. The artists like to consider themselves as storytellers who aim to incorporate whatever they have learned about different areas including music, politics, history and fashion in their pieces.

The Prefab77 artists compose their artwork in a nondependent or routine procedure other than layering. The artists either find or shoot their own photos before drawing or painting additional layers onto them by using a range of media including spray paint, acrylic colours, wheat paste and several types of varnishes. The artists are therefore all familiar with working with both screen-print and hand-painting, as they combine both digital and analogue techniques to finalise their creative pieces.

The brand is promoted through conceptual visionary within the context used to describe the artwork on the Prefab77 website. Using selective vocabulary and phrasing such as “the underbelly of our modern culture” to make the customer read between the lines of the pieces and understand the artwork. It also helps the customer understand the cultures displayed within the artwork as well as the artwork itself.

Prefab77 is based in Newcastle, England however has origins in California and New York also, therefore opening opportunities to combine cultures and creativity of influence of surrounding areas and on goings in these areas including trends, news, music charts and fashions. This also helps to make refab77 appeal to a wider customer base than that of just one selected area. The price of the Prefab77 artwork is on the lower scale of the sector making it affordable artwork as opposed to luxury artwork, also opening the customer base. The average piece of Prefab77 artwork costs around £210. 

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Would you rather hurt someone’s feelings or aid them to an early grave?

Are we forcing the new fashion models of our society to go from one extreme of weight to the other? Where is the balance? Should models have to undergo fitness examinations to prove they are healthy enough to walk?

These are questions which you may have asked yourself in response to recent news of the fashion world. A few years ago, France introduced a new law banning extremely thin or “skinny” models. As time progressed, other countries began to pass the same laws. However, there is no current law which condemns the use of overweight models. Is this a double standard set by the industry? There are several health conditions linked to both lifestyles, examples of which are heart disease, anorexia, bulimia and stroke. And something needs to be done about this.

It is understandable that empowering other women and boosting body confidence by being proud of your figure is a healthy trend which is spiralling at the minute. However, sometimes it is taken too far and people are empowering overweight and unhealthy people and encouraging them to continue with the lifestyle they lead as opposed to helping them to do something about it before it’s too late. Society has become very sensitive, thanks to political correctness. However, that doesn’t stop it having a double standard. Due to political correctness, people cannot use the term “fat” as it could lead the victim to the direction of anorexia, yet for some reason it is thought that calling someone “skinny” or “scrawny” wouldn’t lead someone down the road of obesity so it is considered ok to refer to people with these terms. In fact, people are so concerned about hurting feelings, that they see it as priority over the concerns of health. People would now rather help send someone to an early grave rather than hurt their feelings.

In response to this issue, some Beauty Pageants such as Miss England are making the contestants undergo fitness testing as part of the rounds of the competition to ensure they are representing a healthy body image and aren’t just simply faking it. This is the kind of response to the problem that the entire modelling industry should embrace, not just pageantry.

I'm not trying to say that if you are over or underweight that you shouldn't model, Its not that I don't believe in body positivity; I do. I just believe in health more, So look however you wish, but make sure that you’re healthy.

 I hope that in the future all models should face fitness testing AND must produce a certificate of health from their GP proving they are fit to model.

I think we need to reassess what is more important, someone’s feelings or someone’s health.

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SHOPPING AND SCHOOL-RUNNING IN YOUR NIGHT-GOWN, DO YOU CARE?

Recently, a female shopper was photographed while shopping in leading supermarket Tesco, dressed in her pyjamas and dressing gown. This caused uproar from the public after the image was posted online requesting that Tesco ban shoppers in their nightwear.

A similar situation has occurred through several schools in the north east after letters were sent out requesting that parents do not turn up for the school run without being properly dressed due to setting bad examples for the children. There are mixed opinions on the situation; some people are fully against this while others do not see the problem with it.  “I don’t see the problem. I get my kids up, sort them breakfast, wash them, brush their hair, make sure they’ve got everything for school and get them there on time. So, what if I’m not dressed? I’m hardly a lazy parent.” (Anonymous parent, County Durham).

I decided to test the theory myself to see the reactions of the public first hand. I dressed in my bed-time attire and went to the local supermarket where I received some negative looks by fellow shoppers, yet simultaneously was given no attention at all by the majority. One of the employees was happy to share his view: “It doesn’t bother me personally, but I can still understand other people’s opinions.” (Tom, 29, Newcastle).

Based on my research, it appears that although it’s not classed as appropriate, most people don’t care how others dress to shop or school run.

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TOMBOY TURNED MODEL; MEET SOPHIA DEARDEN

Who is Sophia Dearden? Is she your average slim-fast beauty queen? Or is she princess of guilty pleasures…

Today, she is neither pouting, nor pulling poses behind the camera. Instead, Sophia Charis Dearden sits in my kitchen with a cup of freshly brewed tea whilst nibbling at a packet of mini-marshmallows. She resembles a squirrel with a packet of KP’s.

At just 18 years old, Sophia has achieved a lot from life. The teen from East Boldon, is a qualified fitness instructor, a previous finalist of a regional beauty pageant and has signed a contract with the North East’s leading model agency. But who is she?

Sophia plays with her long golden locks which compliment her pale pallor and rosy cheeks. She muses on what inspires her fit and healthy lifestyle: “My mam had a six-pack till she was 39,” she tells me, “-I’m so jealous.”

For over a year, Sophia worked at Eldon Leisure, Newcastle, where she led spinning and circuits classes, alongside personal training with clients. I ask, “Why is fitness so important to you?” She replies, “It helps my mood. I feel more positive and motivated when I work out. When I don’t work out for three days, I feel horrible.” Sophia’s favourite way to keep fit is going for runs along the beach. Sometimes she will bring dogs Teddy and Paris, but only when its warm enough. She runs quite far: “It’s about ten miles so it’s a long way for them.” “And do you run the whole way?” I ask. “Well… I try?” she laughs while her already-rosy cheeks flush.

Fitness isn’t just about exercise to Sophia; she maintains a balanced diet too: “I try to eat healthy Monday to Friday. I eat fruit or cereal for breakfast, and then try to have a salad for lunch. Again, I say try.” She laughs, “Chocolate is my worst. I just crave chocolate bars all the time!” unlike most models, Sophia isn’t afraid to indulge in a share bag of minstrels on a Saturday night.

Sophia participated as a finalist in UK regional beauty pageant, Miss Newcastle 2016. Shortly after, she was offered a modelling contract from Lesley Middlemiss, founder of Tyne Tees Models, which she chose to accept. Grateful for the experience the competition gave her, Sophia feels as though it has helped boost her confidence; “I used to be such a shy person,” she explains, “-during school I would be embarrassed to answer to my name in the register. But after the competition, it’s boosted my confidence so much. I’m like a completely different person.”

Sophia likes modelling bridal wear. “It represents a more realistic body image. Bridal models can have curves and look healthier for it.” Does it give her inspiration for what to wear when it comes to her big day? Her reply surprises me. “Honestly, I can’t actually see myself getting married. I know you might think, you’re only eighteen, but I don’t want children and I don’t want to get married. And right now, that’s just how I feel about it.” Getting married isn’t Sophia’s ambition; Creamfields festival is. Sophia plans to attend this summer with close friends. It will be a new experience, as she has never been to a festival before. “I don’t know if it will be for me or not, but I’m willing to give it a try.” She reminisces going away with her family. “We used to go to the Lake District and stay in a caravan. I loved it. Especially when we went hiking and climbing, I may be a big girly girl now, but I used to be a massive tom-boy.”

Sophia wants to take part in this year’s Miss Newcastle competition, and has already been successfully selected for the Miss GM Hair heat, which is in Whitely Bay this February. The winner will be crowned the first official finalist of the regional pageant

All images photographed by me.

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A Fashion Memoir - Kirsten Challand

The Wicked Witch of the West said: “Those slippers will never come off as long as you’re alive.” She was almost right.

I was 5 years old and the Christmas holidays were approaching. Because of the season, my school put on an annual fancy dress competition. As a child, I wasn’t quite the sweet and innocent little girl that most are. In fact, I was the opposite; a stubborn, competitive child who strove to get her own way. Therefore, it was probably best to not upset me. I always loved the Wizard of OZ, and although I identified more with the Wicked Witch, I was digging Dorothy’s look more. So, I planned to dress as her for the competition. But there was just one problem; you couldn’t buy red ruby slippers and they didn’t come with the costume. Therefore, my devoted mother took it upon herself to fix this problem by ruthlessly transforming my old scruffy school shoes into dazzling red slippers. My poor mother spent hours on end trying to create the slippers. She had to glue, cover in red glitter, then leave them to dry before adding the next coat. She did this about five times before they were perfect. And perfect they were. I wanted to jump straight into them when I first saw them, but I couldn’t as I was told they needed to dry. But when I did out them on, they didn’t come off for a while – just like in the movie. The day finally came for the big fancy dress competition, and I was sure to win; I looked absolutely-fabulous; blue gingham dress and all. Besides, the amount of time that my mother spent making these slippers ruby red it would just be an abomination for me to not win. AND AN ABOMINATION IT WAS! I didn’t win, instead another little girl who wore a Jesse from Toy Story costume stole my crown and my applause. I was not happy. But I handled the situation professionally and appropriately… I refused to clap for her and threw a tantrum. 14 years later and I’m still that stubborn little girl that I was back then, some things never change I suppose. However, one thing that’s certainly different is that I probably dress more like the witch now, I mean black just goes with everything; she totally had it all figured out.

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Some of the shots from todays filming for my fashion film for a new module on my course

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An interview with Katie Knowles

It was an eventful day. The horse was too excitable; it bucked and bolted while throwing model Katie Knowles into the air along with the £4000 dress she was modelling. But while Katie was more concerned over the wellbeing of the dress, everyone else was concerned for the wellbeing of Katie. “I just remember shouting ‘IS THE DRESS OKAY?!’” she laughed as she pushed her long blonde hair behind her shoulder.  

Katie Knowles is an ambassador of campaign ‘Models of Diversity’ – a campaign for disabled models to try and become more featured on the Catwalk –  and part time model for Headline Models. She faced several months of rehabilitation for her spine and, proving the doctors wrong, is now able to walk around with the help of her jewel encrusted crutch – or as she calls it: her “Glam stick”. “It makes them more appealing than your lovely NHS grade crutches.” she said as she twirled her sparkling silver crutch towards her.  

“I have what I like to call: the granny sort of disease. I might be 25, but my spine is about 60 on the inside.”

At just 15 years old Katie Knowles from Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne, was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a rare case for someone so young. In fact, she was one of the youngest in the country to be diagnosed with the disease.  Spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the bone channel occupied by the spinal nerves or spinal cord. It is a condition that you are either born with or develop as part of the degenerative cascade. It is easy for the condition to go unnoticed in the early stages as the effects develop with part of the aging process. At the age of 22, Katie was paralysed from the waist down and was told by doctors that she may never walk again. However, Katie was determined to not let it get the better of her: “I wasn’t going to let it stop me.”

She was first introduced to the ‘glam stick’ when she attended weight watchers or “fat fighters” as she refers to it, after gaining an excessive amount of weight – a consequence of the disability through exercise becoming less attainable. It was the founder of Models for Diversity Angel Sinclair who introduced Katie to the glam stick Angel then asked Katie if she had ever considered becoming a disabled model before, “As ignorant as I was I’d never heard what one of those was,” she laughed “what the hell is that?”.

Katie hasn’t always aspired to be within the modelling or fashion industry, as she studied a law degree at Northumbria University Newcastle for several years. “My heart lies with law, but this is something which I am very passionate about and feel like I need to make a difference on.”

Katie became an ambassador for the campaign Models of Diversity to make disabilities more of the norm in the modelling world. After her first photoshoot campaign, what she didn’t expect was the press that came from it. “I wanted to throw my phone out of the window!” she exclaimed. “I was getting contacted from Tokyo, Australia, Greece, parts of Europe and most of all America.” However, Katie saw a problem arising from the attention she was receiving from America: “Press globally (as opposed to just the UK) you know, is a lot more accepting of not fitting in the norm of the fashion industry. America is leading the way for disabled models like myself.”

Katie felt discriminated for being disabled within a lot of her modelling career: “I was booked in for 4 bridal – runway shows but was pulled out at the last minute due to concerns for liability on the catwalk. I understand that there are insurance costs, but anyone can have an accident and fall off the runway.” Katie feels like the disability is a massive issue within the fashion industry in the sense that “myself and you guys shop at the same place likely, but there is a lot more chance the mannequin will look like you as it’s not going to look like me.”

London is built on ‘cool’. If you don’t comply by the image of cool, then chances are you won’t be accepted very easily. Katie believes that if someone were to see the galmstick as cool, then it would stand a chance at becoming a trend in London. And therefore, make a difference in the UK for disabled modelling.

It was asked what Katie’s favourite modelling shoot has been so far, she fidgeted in her chair as she thought about her answer. “I think a probably favourite would be the animal related shoots. I’ve once had a tarantula crawl across my face, and have done birds of prey with bridal. But I think my favourite would have to be the horse bridal shoot.” She laughed. “I got put with this really excitable horse, with this £4000 dress on and a gun went off in the background and that was it: the horse was gone, the wedding dress through the air and me on the floor!” Katie has been a horse rider since she was 4 years old and one day wants to be able to bring that into the disabled fashion side of things. “I want to tackle the sports side so like the equestrian disabled fashion, like the riding boots… really expensive boots.” She giggled.

Katie couldn’t imagine her life now without the disability.

“No. I wouldn’t change it. I mean I’d probably take that back on a bad day in bed, but I’ve met so many amazing people because of it and I wouldn’t want to change that.”

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MY AN(ELLE)YSIS

Elle is a fashion-based monthly magazine that sells around 100,000 single copies per year. In 2015 it sold 102,576 single copies which was 9.2% of its total circulation that year. It is a high-end magazine going by the number and quality of advertisements presented within the magazine such as brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton. The target audience of Elle is 18-34-year-old women who are style, fashion and beauty obsessed. The magazine targets this type of reader through the content of the magazine and the content on the cover. The cover will always have a public figure such as a model or celebrity which would be appealing to this type of audience, and the cover will also include headings for editorials and features about topics such as fashion and relationships to relate to the reader to create a connection between the magazine and the reader. For example, the largest headline on the cover of the 2016 December issue includes three headlines: “Fearless Femininity: Wear it/Say it/Own it.”, “Stranger Things: How a psychic changed my life.”, and “29 Dresses: Frills, Florals, Satin, Graphic.”

The content of the magazine will include more than the headlining topics and more than just fashion, style and beauty related topics. For example, there is an article within the magazine called dating decoded which gives dating advice while also telling the reader a story to retain their interest; this also lets us know that the magazine presumes that their readers are single – especially given the target audience being young to approaching middle aged women who of this age range are majoritively single.

The style of the articles is very descriptive; they seem to want to give you a good visual so that you can understand the writer’s perspective more and perhaps in some cases even relate to the writer to understand the articles better. The tone of the articles is very conversational which makes the reader feel welcome and more relaxed therefore more able to enjoy the experience of reading the articles: ‘I’m tired of staying out late on a school night, I’m bored of sitting through long descriptions of video games and frankly, I’m annoyed that I’m still single in my late thirties.” Here the writer has talked about personal feelings nut described them in such a way that lets the reader feel as though these thoughts are just coming to her as they are read which is what would happen within conversation. It is presumable that the magazine believes the reader’s attention span is quite long as going by the issues within this month’s December issue the articles are on average between 3-4 pages long, which again shows that their target audience is obsessed with the need-to-know gossip and updates on the topics which they provide for their audience, as they will be the type of people who are or likely to take the time to read articles of this length.

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If the shoe fits? Wear it. If not? Don't try and force it.

When shopping, it is easy to become attracted to a particular item; whether that be clothing, accessories or shoes. You may have even seen this item in the past but never felt that connection to it before...until now. But now you have the real need to buy this item; for example a pair of shoes. You pick up the desired pair in your size and then you see the price tag and realise that, actually, they may be a little more expensive than you had anticipated and are unaffordable at the time. You think about it and come to the conclusion that sometimes we have to take the time to invest in situations such as saving up our money to buy these shoes, and so we do. We spend all of this time, all of our effort working and working and working just so we can reach our goal. And we do all of this to find that when it comes to the day when we are ready to walk into the store, find our perfect pair of shoes and make the commitment to buy these shoes: the only size available isn't ours. Therefore we try to work around the mess; we ask if they have our size available in the back? We check online to see if they have it in stock? But no luck. And yet, we convince ourselves that we really can make it work with the available pair of shoes; we try so hard to squeeze our feet into these tiny sized-shoes and make all of that hard work, time and effort pay off. But in reality? its just not working. The shoe isn't going to fit. Sometimes in life, we put in effort, time, hard work and money into something that doesn't pay off, no matter how hard we try to make it. You cant force something; if something is meant to be it will be. We cant force the shoe to fit; and we just need to be ready to accept that.

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Kris Jenner - the mastermind behind the Kardashian empire.

Since 2007, the Kardashians have taken over the world. Some are happy about it, others are not, and the remainder of people just simply couldn’t care less. Those who are unhappy about their status feel that they have no reason to be famous as they don’t produce any talent, but those who do (myself being one of those people) see them for the pure genius that they are.

Different brands all promote and sell certain products; take Adidas for instance, they promote sportwear. Celebrities like to promote their own fragrances, batiste sell dry shampoo, urban Decay and makeup, the list goes on. But what makes the Kardashians so special, is that they have branded themselves; they are their own products!

Now the genius of the Kardashians had to appear from somewhere, or in truth, someone. Meet Kris Jenner (formerly Kristen Kardashian), the mastermind behind the phenomenon. It is because of Kris Jenner that the Kardashians are where they are today, they weren’t born famous, the legacy had to start somewhere.

Kris first met Robert Kardashian (Father of the Kardashian children) when she was 17 and he was 11 years her senior, they fell in love. However, Kris wanted to explore the world so she didn’t accept his offer until she was 22. By the age of 30, Kris and Robert had 4 children: Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Robert, but Kris still felt young and vital and therefore had an affair with a soccer player which ended the marriage. Before the divorce was finalised, Kris met Bruce Jenner (ex-Olympian and father of the Jenner children) and they instantly fell in love. They were married only a month after the divorce with Robert was finalised, and went on to have two more children; Kendall and Kylie Jenner. However, they weren’t exactly wealthy, in fact, they were the opposite.

Bruce set up a business on motivational speeches but it wasn’t very successful, that is until Kris became his manager. She put together press kits and contacted speakers’ bureaus, they then released a series of workout videos together where Bruce would train Kris. Bruce was her first project; their children were the next.

In 2006 Kim Kardashian’s (the second daughter of Robert and Kris) sex tape with Ray J was released which sparked a lot of media towards the family as Kim had recently spent a few years studying by Paris Hilton during the Hiltons tabloid heyday, where she then learned all about fame and how to work with the paparazzi.

In 2007, Kris paid a visit to Ryan Seacrest where she discussed setting up a reality TV show based all around her family, the camera crew then went to the Kardashian household to film a barbeque to see if the show would be a hit. After watching the footage, they decided it would be. 898,000 viewers watched the first episode of the first season on Keeping up with the Kardashians, and due to recognition over Kim’s sex tape, 1.9million viewers watched the last.

 Unfortunately, in 2013, Bruce and Kris were divorced after 22 years of marriage, after failing to make the marriage work. However, they ended on good terms and are still very close.

Ever since the rise of keeping up with the Kardashian, we have seen more of the famous family; in 2015 Kendall Jenner walked in the Victoria’s Secret Runway Fashion Show, and has since become a full time professional model where she has worked with brands such as Chanel and Calvin Klein; Khloe has since released a line of Waist trainers to help shape women’s, bodies; and Bruce became a woman!

Following the divorce of Bruce and Kris, Bruce announced that he has and always will be a woman on the inside and therefore went through surgery to become the woman she was always destined to be: Caitlyn Jenner – she could’ve at least spelled it with a K!

Caitlyn received plenty of support and love by her family and the public through the change, and reciprocates this love back by supporting her children in their career paths.

Call me crazy, but I think that Kris Jenner is an absolute genius. I hold my hands up in respect for her as she has stood by her family and managed their careers to get them where they are today. Being able to brand your own family as your product is not easy to do, because if it was we’d have all done it by now.

Well done Kris.

 References:

France, Lisa. "Http://Edition.Cnn.Com/2016/06/01/Entertainment/Caitlyn-Jenner-Anniversary/". T.umblr.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

Brodesser-Akner, Taffy. "Where Would The Kardashians Be Without Kris Jenner?". Nytimes.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

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Calvin Klein and The Never-Ending Plus Size Controversy

Following on from my previous post about body image and the runway, I have decided to prove that yes, it is possible for a designer brand to use a model who is healthy and the ideal size and shape.  

Everyone meet Myla Dalbesio, Calvin Klein’s first ever plus size model.

Back in 2014 Myla, size 10, landed a major advertising campaign with the famous lingerie brand. Now take a brief pause to re-read the last two sentences…No, you didn’t read it wrong; I said it: size 10, plus-size?  Shocking I know, but as it is in the high fashion industry, size 10 is often considered plus-size. Calvin Klein as a brand itself has not referred to Myla as a plus size model (for the simple reason that she is obviously not) but Myla actually refers to herself as an “inbetweenie” in an interview with the Today show, she says: "I am one of many girls who are 'inbetweenies.' We're not skinny enough to be straight-size, like these size-zero and size two girls, and we're not big enough to be plus-size."

The campaign image has been turned into a meme with the quote “Calvin Klein’s first ever plus size model”. This has caused Major uproar from the public, and even though Calvin Klein have never actually referred to Myla as plus size and do not own the text or memes, it’s certainly not holding back the public from shaming them for it.  Angry tweets have been written naming and shaming the brand by members of the public and even by celebrities such as Coronation Street actress Catherine Tyldesley, who tweeted:

But how must Myla feel about the uproar of the public? Or to even be classed as plus size when she is clearly not in the slightest? Well as always I like to do my best to answer these questions for you, and it appears that Myla happens to approve of the controversy which has been created by the campaign as she feels that it will help the future of the fashion industry: “This whole controversy is starting a greater conversation towards more inclusive fashion” she said.

Well, all I can say to that is that I totally respect the girl for her positivity, and that her figure is fabulous and is (in my personal opinion) NOT plus size. Let’s just hope that one day the fashion industry will see the things from the same point of view.  

References:

Edwards, Jess. "Calvin Klein's 'First Plus Size Model' Is Making People Angry". Cosmopolitan. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

"The Truth About Calvin Klein's 'First Plus-Sized Model'". Mail Online. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

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Super-Skinny or Super-Sick?

So France has recently passed a law banning excessively thin models. (Good move France, it’s about time someone did). The law states that models will need a doctor’s certificate to show that “their health is compatible with the practise of their profession”. The doctor will decide whether a model is healthy by taking into account their weight, age and body shape.  Any employer who breaks this law could face up to 6 months in prison and a €75,000 (£67,000) fine. The bill also passes that any digitally altered images of these models making their silhouettes appear “narrower” or “wider” should be labelled “touched up” so that the viewers understand that the promoted body image was only achievable through editing and isn’t something that should be strived for. But France is not the only country to have set this law as Italy, Spain and Israel have all done so also.

So what’s with the big clampdown? Why after all this time promoting a super skinny body image, have these laws passed? Well to answer that, back in 2006 during a fashion show in Montevideo, 22-year-old model Luisel Ramos died of anorexia-related heart failure just minutes after walking off the catwalk. It was said that the model had adopted the diet plan of lettuce and diet coke for 3 months before the show. This really caught the attention of the media and caused an increase in awareness of super skinny models and the health issues that arise with using them.

So why do we use these models, despite the risks? Well according to sources the “models are made to fit the clothes, clothes are not made to fit the models”. The clothing is designed to drape and hang in the way that is the most appealing to the human eye, therefore the longer, and better draped the article of clothing appears the more likely it is that a retailer will feel the desire to place thousands of orders on them. For this reason, models are often referred to as “hangers".

The second reason to use excessively thin models? There’s not all that much going on to distract you from the clothes; they aren’t going to have the bust-and-butt factor going for them are they? The idea is that the models are going to disappear into the shadows while the clothes shine in the sunny glow of press and paparazzi. Also, models are hired because of their beauty, though many people think that beauty is required to be a model. They are hired because of their stage presence and the way that a designer’s garments will be carried by them, the typical designer doesn’t hire a model whose beauty will stand out as it will distract people from the clothes. To put it one way:the model isn’t supposed to look good in the clothes; the clothes are supposed to look good on the model.

But let’s face it, having an ultra-skinny model is still going to shock the audience no matter what the designers say; it’s fair to assume you’re going to get a bit distracted by a walking skeleton. But let’s not forget, we live in a society where body size is a danger not only when it is too small but when it is too great also. Being honest though, society is double standard when it comes to body image, and I don’t think anyone is going to jump at the chance to body shame if a designer uses an excessively overweight model. In fact, the designer would probably get some kind of sainthood just for thinking of the idea. But no! This is NOT the right kind of attitude! Are people losing their minds? Being overweight is not a healthy body image, it is just as bad – if not worse – than promoting a super skinny figure. Where are the healthy models hiding?!

All in all, I think representation of the female figure should be based on how healthy the model is not how over or underweight they appear to be. If the model is certified fit and healthy by the medics? LET THEM WALK!

References:

Benozilio, Shira. "Armani Used Rail Thin Models In Milan Fashion Show — Is This OK?". Hollywood Life. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

Ruper, Stefani. "Two Shocking, Dehumanizing Reasons Runway Models Are So Thin, And Why We Should Never Aspire To Look Like Them - Paleo For Women". Paleo for Women. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

"France Passes Bill Banning 'Excessively Thin' Models - BBC News". BBC News. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 Nov. 2016.

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Limited Clothing for Limitless Legs?

For as long as time, runway models have been tall; we have watched them strut down the catwalk strong and powerful, and we have watched them fall gracefully – though sometimes not so gracefully - and watched as their long legs fly into the air; but to state the point here, these models are tall and they are tall for a reason.

It is necessary for a runway model to be tall is because the clothes will hang better on them than they would if the model were small. In a sense, the model is used as a hanger, when the garments are hanging from a tall the clothes will flow, stay pressed and smooth and generally just look how the designer envisioned the garments to look, whereas if they were displayed on a rail that was lower to the ground the clothes face the risk of bunching up, creasing and looking droopy. Now this isn’t to say that smaller people cannot wear clothes as well as taller people, it just means that from the first initial glance, the clothes will look more attractive on a taller model as the tall posture will show more confidence and attitude.

Now think about how many fashion brands there are in the world, and then think about how many fashion shows each of these brands have per year, and just how many models will walk in each of these shows – it’s fair to say that its going to be a pretty big number - and the mass majority of which are going to be tall. And so it leads me to question: 

If there are so many tall models, why aren't there many tall clothes?

As a tall woman myself of 5’10” I know from personal experience that the struggle is real when it comes to finding a pair of trousers to reach my feet, or even just to find a long sleeved top that is actually long sleeved. And the amount of times I have heard people say to me; “why don’t you try the next size up?”-  waist size has nothing to do with the length of your trousers; just to put that out there for anyone who thinks it does. And even if it did (which it still doesn’t) are we expected to live in clothes two sizes too big just so that they are an appropriate length? Or are we supposed to let the fabrics of our garments sway around our ankles (or in some cases like mine, shins) and pretend its “supposed to look that way”?

Must we feel ashamed of our long legs?

As a gal that loves fashion and wants to pursue a career in it, it is extremely hard to dress that way through the barrier of being long legged. If you are a tall woman like myself reading this post, then you will know my pain. Let’s just hope that one day the tall section will be more than Topshop’s four pair of Joni jeans, a parka coat and a bodysuit – tall people need fashion too!