V Magazine’s “Size Issue” hits newstands on Jan. 14. Especially at this time of year – when so many of us are setting new bogus resolutions to be supermodel skinny by swimsuit season – let these previews stand as a reminder that are are different types of beauty (and health!).

It will be interesting to see how well the issue sells and whether it will translate into more full-figured models in mainstream fashion magazine. Somehow, I doubt it. We might complain some seasons that the catwalks are whitewashed, but open a mag and you’ll see some racial diversity somewhere. On the other hand, search that same mag for a woman over a size 6 and you will fail. Month after month everyone pictured in party/street style/user photos is thin (and the models, of course).

Photo: Sølve Sundsbø
Styling: Nicola Formichetti
Make up: Frank B (The Wall Group)
Hair: Esther Langham (Art + Commerce)
Models: Candice Huffine, Marquita Pring, Michelle Olson, Tara Lynn (Ford NY), Kasia P (Click)

Photos: Models.com

V Magazine’s “Size Issue” hits the newstands January 14, 2010. Judging from the preview (courtesy of Models.com), the magazine will face the size-ist realities of fashion head on… but with polite preservation of the status quo. Is it just me or has Crystal Renn shaved off a pound or ten? Seems like cheating…

In the photos you see here “plus sized” model Renn is juxtapose a model of standard size (i.e. skinny). The two wear identical outfits to show how thick body compares to a thin one in the same get up. Depending on what side of the fence you’re on, you can use these to argue your point: “women with meat on there bones are sexier and more beautiful,” or “clothes look better on women with slight figures,” or “they both look great and there should be diversity of size in fashion,” or WHATEVER.

Photog: Terry Richardson
Stylist: Mel Ottenberg
MUA: Frank B (The Wall Group)
Hair Stylist: Peter Gray for Cutler Salong and Redken
Models: Jacquelyn Jablonski and Crystal Renn (Ford NY)

Source: V Magazine via Models.com

Every few years there’s a bit of buzz around the fashion industry about the lack of minorities on the runway. And it’s true that fashion models that reflect the going Western standard of beauty fare better in their careers… but I can’t help but think that’s the least of the fashion world’s ills. The bigger issue: WEIGHT. The fact is if you want diversity on the runway, you need to present diversity of size. And frankly I think it’s in the industry’s best interest to move in this direction. Fashion has become very, well, fashionable, but people still regard high variety as frivolous and even irrelevant at times. I think this could change if more people could relate to the runway. That’s why I’m giving a big round of Cult applause to designer Mark Fast for present his Spring 2010 collection with some average-sized models in the mix.

And what’s more the models were not draped in yards of fabric to hide their lovely natural curves. On the contrary, the clothes were extremely body conscious. And it wasn’t gimmicky. It was simply here are some great clothes on some great-looking girls. Period. In addition the “standard” models, though thin, were not emaciated but very healthy looking. Now… if only Fast could have sprinkled in some melanin

photos: wwd.com

Lizzie Miller, the 20-year-old model in question, agrees that it’s astonishing that, at 5ft 11in and 12.5 stone she’s considered a “plus size” model. “It’s sad,” she says. “In the industry anything over size six is considered a plus-size.” Miller, who is around a US size 12-14 (that is, either average or slightly below average) lost about 60lb when she was 13 but today she is considered too large to model for plus-size lines Marina Rinaldi (she says, “they like girls who are an 8-10″) or Elena Miro. She says that the overwhelming reaction to the tiny photograph, buried on page 194 of Glamour magazine “shows that the world is hungry to see pictures of normal women.”

One wouldn’t have thought this would be news. As Miller says, “pretty much every picture in a magazine or ad is airbrushed . . . I don’t think the public understands how much smoke and mirrors are involved in making women look like that.” Source

(12.5 stone = 175 lbs, for we yanks)

It seems folks are really starting to take this weight thing head on. Could there really be some revolution in the fashion industry? Are people fed up with coke-fed skeleton’s being the style standard? Well… not quite. That day will come when a 150-lb model does NOT make an international splash simply for her size.

So all you fashionistas and fashionistos out there starving yourself for fashion week or any other silly event, carry on with your starvation and purging… for now. Mmmm, can’t you hear the lovely sound of chew & spit?

Check this out: model Crystal Renn used to be anorexic. Now she’s being featured in Australian Harper’s Bazaar in all her real woman glory. Lately there’s been attention to the whitewash that is the currently model breed. But, truthfully, diversity is less needed via color, than via size representation.

Honestly, I don’t understand why the fashion powers that be don’t see how using a more diverse range of sizes would be good for business. If you’re the average American woman, these photos are far more identifiable and therefor more likely to inspire you to imitation.

I mean, c’mon. When I see the toothpick-legged chick in UK Elle’s May issue, I don’t wonder where I could buy the clothes… I wonder how much coke I’d have to do to look as starved as she does. Booooo!

Photo Source