28/01/2013

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

(J'adore Wildfox, Spring 2011 editorial) 

Written by the Editor in Chief and face behind Lawyering Fashion, Evangelina Fysa 

I remember vividly the movie Dying to Dance; the story was about a girl who would do anything to become a prima ballerina - even if that meant starving herself to death for the perfect dancer's body. I was fifteen years old when I first watched this movie and I did not know much about anorexia.
 

Unfortunately, in our days, there is an alarming rise in promotion of anorexia and bulimia and young girls are tricked into thinking that being extremely thin is in fashion. Eating disorders are being transmitted like a virus through the Social Media; pro-ana websites are all over the internet and the most shocking part? The authors are eighteen year olds and younger! 

I discovered the worst of the bunch; yes the most disgusting pro-ana website I have ever read in my entire life and it was criticising the Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton (and not only). The anonymous blogger wrote: 

"Kate Upton, confidently lumbering up a runway like there’s a buffet at the end of it. And I still ask: what the heck? Has fashion become this?"

It's not news that the fashion industry prefers skinny models in ads, catwalks and photo shoots - fashion and food have nothing in common except that they both start with the letter F - and women who are not skeletally thin are being termed as abnormal because they no longer fit into the society's norms. 

Designers make their sample sizes smaller and smaller forcing the models to become well...thinner and thinner! The classic line Hotness comes in all shapes and sizes is officially gone! Why? Because the normalcy of thinness blinds designers from seeing that the models they are using are not, in fact, all shapes and sizes. 

So I wonder; How the hell did we get here?