Which part of Victoria’s Secret do I disdain most deeply? There’s the catalog! The fashion show. The website. The storefronts. All with their models with exactly the same body type — not the body type of most healthy women on the planet. It’s incredibly awful for girls’ development and women’s mental health, and harmful for… Continue Reading →
Contrary to the belief of the fashion industry, the average American woman is not 5’11” with measurements that befit starving children. However, the mannequins used to display the clothes they are attempting to sell still have those proportions. I look up at them every day, styled so carefully and tastefully, extra-small shorts trying to grasp… Continue Reading →
Last week on Cosmopolitan.com, assistant fashion and beauty editor Brooke Shunatona published an article in which she chronicled living like Kylie Jenner for a week (because who else would a successful, apparently functional adult want to live like?). After a week dealing with extraordinarily long nails, walking in extraordinarily high heels, and wearing an extraordinarily painful waist trainer that resembles… Continue Reading →
Does anyone else feel exasperated with the whole “women must cover their grey hair” message? Daily, we are fed images of grey haired men, being told they are distinguished, successful, powerful and that they are even sexy, mature “silver foxes”, yet at the same time we women are taught to be horrified at the thought… Continue Reading →
Meet Rick Guidotti. He’s a fashion photographer who takes pictures of some of the most beautiful people in the world—but they’re probably not who you’re thinking of. In fact, it’s not even who Guidotti would have thought about even a few years ago. At that time, beauty was epitomized by the supermodels he photographed every… Continue Reading →
Being in my late 20s, I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few years going to weddings, including the weddings of a lot of my closest friends. I’ve watched as they stressed out about their extended families and worried about what music to play; I’ve talked with them as they picked dresses and… Continue Reading →
Summer is here. The season conjures images of sun, sand, and relaxation. Unfortunately, it also conjures up thoughts of poor body image in girls and women. We race to the mall, trying to find the most flattering swimsuits that will make us look “smaller.” We scroll through our Facebook newsfeeds and find posts and status updates… Continue Reading →
Recently, I was working on a part of my PhD thesis wherein I had to describe why my research about body image is important for the broader public. Piece of cake. But my supervisor wasn’t pleased with the final product: “You need to make it crystal clear that body image is a hot topic in… Continue Reading →
The protruding edges of hip bones used to be a defining feature of most fashion runways. Jutting collarbones, visible ribcages, and minimal curves have long made up the standard body type used to showcase what fashion designers have created for their next season’s clothing line. This body type, possessed naturally by a very small portion… Continue Reading →
