Oh yes, take my word for it; the majority of models in the actual catalogue are a UK size 12 at the very most. In fact, I'd put many of them in a size 10, after they'd polished off steak, chips and hot chocolate fudge cake. Which makes the curvaceous in our midst wonder if indeed any of the clothes will suit at all. Granted, there are some lovely outfits and accessories, albeit a little pricey in my humble opinion, and if I were a size 12 I would be happy to browse through and write myself a list of item numbers. But how on earth is it possible to visualise yourself as a size 16 (there's my secret) in an outfit worn by an early 20-something, slim model who is able to carry it off to perfection? My boobs are more Dolly Parton than Kate Moss, my legs are more tree trunk than stick insect and my curves are more Michelin tyre than drainpipe - type. So I buy an outfit that I've seen a 20 year old stick insect wearing, get it home and it makes me look totally ridiculous. Easy enough to return it I guess, but why do these catalogue companies do this? It's misleading the customer and making bigger women feel out of place. What's really rattled my cage about this is how I feel I have been misled by the television advert in so far as the catalogue would indeed portray the larger model showing off clothes for the larger lady, which in reality, just isn't the case. Yes, I do want to be slimmer. Yes, I am overweight. And yes, I am doing something about it. But women come in all shapes and sizes. Including my well-endowed size 16, as my mother likes to point out.
A couple of posts on this subject by fellow bloggers:
Great post, Kathryn and I totally agree!
ReplyDeleteI also have an issue with the perception of "fat" and "thin" as portrayed by the media and I wrote about it a while back. I'll send you the link on twitter so's not to spam your comments here.
Thanks for the link, Nickie - have included it in the post :)
DeleteI can't ever shop online/from a catalog. Clothes sizes are just too screwy; I have a range of about 4 different sizes hanging in my closet and they all fit. Or, at the store, I'm swimming in a size 8 skirt here, but these size 8 pants fit great, which makes it impossible to know what I'd be getting if I ordered from somewhere. It's frustrating.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of frustrating, so's this....http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/07/03/victorias-secret-photoshop-fail-thighs_n_1645735.html
I notice this a lot in shops too. Some size 16's are too big and some fit just right. I like the shops where they're too big ;-)
DeleteIt has taken me years to realise you can be a size 10 and be fat - if you carry to much body fat - or a size 16 and be thin if you have a large frame and don't cover it with enough fat! Being healthy and not obese is all we need to keep any eye on I think and not fitting a perceived 'acceptable' size range. this was a good post.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Betty. I think a lot of the time these models do look undernourished but they are probably perfectly healthy. And people who are very big are healthy as well, so it's a swings and roundabouts game sometimes.
DeleteI agree, it's impossible to visualise how those clothes will look on oneself. The only catalogue I've ever bought form was Boden, and the stuff was size-appropriate, and did look good on, even though most of the models on their pagesa re also very thin.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere recently that the average size of models now is 2 sizes down from 20 years ago, whereas the average person on the street is 2 sizes up!
I've never tried Boden, Mimi. Never really fancied it if I'm totally honest. It doesn't make sense that models are so skinny when the average size of women is much bigger!
DeleteAnything I order online gets sent back. I'm short and a very womanly size 16 - clothes are very hard to find: if I do find something that fits, its usually about 20 years too young. Lately I've managed to find a few things that fit and are relative to how I like to dress at Klass (www.klass.co.uk). Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shirley. I don't often order from catalogue these days but I used to.
DeleteLast year I lost nearly 2 stone. Not by choice but through serious illness. When I joked with my consultant about not putting the weight back on because clothes hung beautifully he almost bit my head off!!! There is such an emphasis upon losing weight that a lot of people don't realise that being too thin can expose people to serious illness and that includes cancers! Anyone who doubts me can contact my oncologist! I've regained my weight now and shudder when I see healthy women frantically trying to shed what they perceive to be excess pounds. The drive to being thin is dangerous and self defeating in the end.
ReplyDeleteI know where you're coming from, Fiona. Having an illness like you've had puts a whole new perspective on weight issues. I know someone very well who is about a size 8 and is constantly worried about putting weight on, even though she's the same height as me at 5ft 6.
DeleteI'm constantly amazed the shops here don't carry more 'normal' sizes. The other day in Gap, there were loads of size 0 trousers. Size ZERO!
ReplyDeleteThe reason there were loads of size 0 is 'cause no one buys them.
DeleteI don't think they make size zero up here in the north east! I've never seen that size on the racks!!
DeleteI was around 12 yrs old and could fit in UK size 6 trousers. I was a kid. Then, you've got grown women that fit into that same size that I could hardly fit in back then. Grown women. What the hell?!!
ReplyDeleteNow, the bottom half of me is a size 12 (what can I say, I'm well-endowed back there) and I no longer want to shop for trousers. I hate putting something on and it looking terrible on me, emphasizing every bit of fat I'm carrying there. Funny thing about the whole case is that even though I don't look fat and have people honking at me when they go past me in their cars (I always thought I'd like it but I find it annoying), I'm a perfectionist and I want to be thin. If there weren't so many pics of ridiculously thin women around, I guess my perception of what is thin would be different and I wouldn't be so hard on myself.
I've been body-obsessed and constantly trying to diet since I was nine. That's precisely half my life. I've never been completely happy.
I'm sure the day will come when you will be happy with your weight. I was very slim when I was 18 but mainly because I was really sporty. After having my daughter I started to put weight on and have never done anything about losing it. I regret that sometimes because I know if I worked hard enough I could get down to a size 12/14 again. But I also have a large frame so being that size may make me look ridiculous.
Deletei think we are sold a slim image, but there is some def beauty to curves....
ReplyDeleteNice to see a man commenting on this, Brian!! When I met my husband I was a slender young thing - now I'm much bigger and not quite so young. It's a good job he loves me!!
DeleteI am a UK 16. I know this because I recently found an online company that I love callled wraplondon.com. I don't love that all their models are young twenty-somethings but right now all their summer clothing is on sale and I bought some hugely marked-down items that I can wear into fall. What I like about them is they actually look good on me. Unfortunately, because the prices are so low, they don't have much left in the 16. But I love what I bought. And I actually love my curves. Ok. Maybe I'm not in love with them, but I don't hate myself. And I refuse to let a catalogue make me feel that way. ESPECIALLY with what I know about photoshop!!
ReplyDeleteExactly! I won't let them make me feel belittled either which is partly why I got annoyed when I opened that catalogue! Whatever your size, it's inside that counts at any rate and some models do have a knack of carrying off an outfit beautifully.
DeleteIt doesn't seem to matter what size I am (I've been from a size 8 up to size 20, then down to a size 6 and then back up to a size 12!) I never feel I can relate to 'catalogue woman'. It's because they just never seem to appropriately represent what I am looking for at the time. I want to see clothes hanging on lumps, bumps, saggy boobs (if braless is required), cellulite if legs are on show etc. In short I want to see what they look like on a real woman. Real with a capital R. Even my plus size model doesn't have a lumpy bottom - how do they do that?!!
ReplyDeleteYou've been a bit of alsorts!! They do it with photoshop and camera magic!
DeleteMy hubby says men like a woman they can get hold of, not a stick insect who looks like they might snap. I vary between sizes 12/14/16 depending on the make of clothes and I'm happy with that.
ReplyDeleteMy hubby says the same!!
DeleteCatalogue women/models etc make us feel so inadequate actually we need to focus on being healthy and wearing proper underwear. Seriously a good bra makes you feel fab. I felt a million dollars when I got my new ones I looked good and felt it too. I am a happy size 14!
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me to get my boobs measured! I'm quite sure I'm wearing the wrong size bra - another secret revealed today, lol.
DeleteYes. Definitely wear the right bra!!
DeleteWhen my special girl was small and ill clothes normal shopping was almost impossible, so I used catalogues, but I was a 10/12 and I knew what styles suited me so it worked really well. Now I'm a size 14 and confused about what suits my age as well as my style - I'd like to see catalogues with clothes on middle aged women who are normal shapes and sizes. It didn't do Dove any harm did it?
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see catalogues with middle aged women in them too, showing sizes 16 upwards on real life size 16 models and not size 10-12 ones!
DeleteYes...... I quite agree with you that these catalogues are very misleading and don't give a real idea of how things would look on a slightly larger lady. Thats why I'm always disappointed.
ReplyDeleteBTW...... we could swop clothes except I'd probably take a larger size in trousers because I am not ideally shaped. (Though I used to be in the days of yore!)
Hope you get fixed up with something you like and that will suit you.
Maggie X
Nuts in May
I'm certainly not ideally shaped, Maggie!! I'm going to pop into M&S I think as I always find something nice in there.
DeleteThey just don't cater to us like they do to the nubile....uuuuggg.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend sweetie!
hughugs
They sure don't, Donna. But I'm not going to change my shape because of it!!
DeleteRight. Small person here. I'm 5ft, 32 and I weigh under 8 stone. It is not my intention to weigh this much but it is a reflection of my sport. I am an endurance runner, I train hard and I enjoy it. I eat like a horse to fuel myself and it just so happens that I am now the size I am. It was never intentional for me to be a size whatever I am now. I totally get what everyone is saying but it's not fair to then say things like 'stick insect' 'not a real woman' etc. I believe in health and I know some people would say I'm too thin but that's them putting their attitude on me. And my husband loves me the same as he did when we first met. I was a runner then and slim so maybe not all men go for curves. I guess in my rambling I get what CJ is saying but would like it if people wouldn't then use it to have a dig at women the other end of the spectrum. If we were all the same size life would be boring. (sorry CJ, know this is completely off point!)
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment, and thank you for your honest reply. Just want to emphasise that I nor anyone on here means to be offensive in any way and the "stick insect" reference is said very tongue-in-cheek. We're all real women, regardless of size or shape, and we are all very different. That's one reason why I feel there should be more models out there showing off clothes for the bigger lady, rather than small framed models wanting us to imagine what the clothes will look like with our lumps and bumps!
DeleteAnd please, don't apologise - your comment is very welcome and it's good to hear a different view point :)
As a plus sized girly, I'm always amazed (& appalled) at how catalogues display their plus size ranges. They tend to use a slim model (probably) wearing a size 10 and then say it's available up to a size 'whatever'.
ReplyDeleteI used to enjoy seeing the US size 14 Crystal Renn wear clothes for Evans back in the day as she had curves and the clothes actually looked pretty decent on her. Unfortunately for Evans, she has now lost a ton of weight and is now a US size 8 having given in to the media & industry pressure of being a skinny 'normal' sized model.
I'm not sure if you've seen the plus sized range for women from Next but on their website, some of their clothes don't actually feature any models, just the clothes. Is that worse that they wouldn't get a gorgeous plus sized beauty to model for them? Or better as they are saying this is what it looks like on an 'average' lady?
I've recently lost a lot of weight (5 stone) and have enjoyed shopping in places I haven't been able to for a long time. I've learnt several lessons though when it comes to shopping for new clothes, just because a top comes in a size 18 doesn't mean it will look good on me. Time to get to know my body better and find out what actually suits my shape and my style.
This is something that irritates me too. When catalogues don't even show a model as though the bigger lady isn't attractive enough to model anyway.
DeleteYou've hit the nail on the head. I am also curvaceous. I'm a size 16 on top and a size 12 on the bottom, so very top-heavy. I reckon my boobs weigh a stone, so I'd otherwise be 9 stone instead of the 10 stone that I am. What loooks good on the stick insects looks dreadful on me and I have to wear rather matronly tops or else spill out of them. There really is a gap in the market for fashionable but roomy clothes!
ReplyDeleteI reckon my boobs are the same, lol. But I am a muffin shape below, a would never get in a size 12! I think it's time that gap was filled.
DeleteVery interesting post, CJ. There need to be more images of real women everywhere, including catalogues. It's sending out completely the wrong message to our youngsters to see 'perfect people' all the time when the reality is that we all come in different shapes and sizes. And if it's affecting us in our 30s, 40s and beyond, just think what it must be doing to those less worldly-wise.
ReplyDeleteExactly, what message is this giving to our youngsters? Amy who's 12, is already saying she's fat when she clearly isn't. She's big for her age but has a lovely shape. I used to be friendly with a girl when I was 14 and she trained with a modelling agency in Manchester. She was so thin she looked constantly ill.
DeleteI know exactly what you mean! Being from a culture that tells you it's okay to eat and be curvy, I was healthy and happy with my weight. Then moving to Portland, I feel completely out of place and on top of that, gained winter weight! I use to have issues with my weight as a teenager. Once I was an adult I was comfortable and confident. Now that I am in a strange place, I feel like a teenager all over again.
ReplyDeleteOne up for curves! I was pleased to see that Robyn Lawley (plus size model)is being used by Theo Paphitis's lingerie line for curvy girls. I have always had big hips and I get quite irritated when I walk in shops like Zara and it seems size 12/14 is the largest they do in a pair of trousers. And don't get me started on shopping for jeans - I have tried to buy levi's a number of times and it seems they are just not made for curves. I also want to see more curvy real women on tv adverts.
ReplyDelete