Hello, Sunshine.

I discovered Australian model Gemma Ward a few years ago when she was on the cover of London Vogue. Her name stuck in my mind because shes interesting, I like her look. The next thing I hear she is the next big supermodel. And recently, I hear there is a scandal because “she got fat” and that was the reason she didn’t work in Milan fashion week (not exactly hot news, I’m aware). So I thought I’d check it out. Here are the scandalous photos..

Gemma for Chanel ‘07:

Gemma for Chanel ‘08:

Bam — puberty hits and then what do these girls do?

even if the craaazy modeling world has a problem with her being a size 2 now and fashion insiders call it fat, but I say she looks fabulous. I would love it if all the models on the runway were more like her after photo (and much bigger!). I know the whole reason that designers use skinny models is so that the clothes fit better, but why can’t they design clothes to fit real women?

here’s some positive fashion news about less skinny models for Chanel this year. Gemma’s appearance is described in the article as “positively curvalicious.”

[edit: it seems the second photo of Gemma may or may not have been photoshopped. I don’t know, it could just be an angle thing, but thought I should clarify. if you realy care, there are photos from that show at style.com: http://www.style.com/peopleparties/modelsearch/thumb/person1001]

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This is why I don’t watch TV.

At 5′10″ and 150 lbs, Sarah Hartshorne is the plus sized contestant on this seasons America’s Next Top Model. That’s a size 8 most likely. While marketed as the plus sized contestant (who traditionally are a size 12/14 and up!) she is nothing but normal. Even beyond normal, in most circles she would be thin.

I propose that she be the new skinny model, not the new plus.

no wonder our perceptions of normal and healthy are so distorted.

(for more on this check out the post on the f-word)

Popularity: 9% [?]

I have stumbled upon another new and very cool blog: Raw Model.

Literally the blog of a raw vegan model, living in New York City, modeling for big businesses, and growing greens in boxes in his apartment.

His focus is greater than simply eating raw food for the sake of beauty. He’s also into becoming energy independent, eating local organic, and other cool things but you’ll have to read about it for yourself…

he’s cute too

but, i guess he knows that since he gets paid for it

I love seeing raw food enter the mainstream media through celebrities, and this man is another shining example!~

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I have came accross an interesting post by MamaV where she talks about very young models posing in ads aimed for older audiences. I never noticed this much in the past, but this weekend when I was at the airport, I picked up a few fashion magazines (they’re my little guilty reward during travel). I flipped through them and was surprised by the images. Not only were the models looking more like charicatures of the anorexic stereotype than ever before, but there were many ads where the girls could easily have been under 16. Not this is is wrong in and of itself, it’s the greater picture that these ads are geared towards higher age groups, yet depict young frail models. There is but a small percentage of 15 year old girls who shop at Dolce and Gabbana. Is this what twenty and thirty something women emulate? Adolecent youth?

My point in this post is not to point fingers at the designers, advertisers, and magazines. They are after all only creating images in the hope to sell products and image. Rather I think it’s important to bring light to images such as these, that young girls see daily, as a reminder that they are not reality. And that perhaps as women can further their own source of power, we can begin to create empowering advertisements.

Though it also just reminds me to stay away from beauty magazines. I always have thought, “Oh I can look at beauty magazines. They might influence other girls to want to be different, but I just tune them out.” Yeah right. My subconscious takes in everything I see, so I need to not look at disempowering material. And it really is. Pick up a magazine and earmark every image where a woman in degrated, adolescence is glorified, a model appears significantly under body weight, or beauty is used against the viewer to decrease their self image in a trick to influence them to purchase their product to get that self image back. Perhaps it is time I start bringing books to the airport.

Popularity: 11% [?]