Hi everyone, it's Justine.
Today I'd like to talk about the beauty ideal in the fashion industry.
It's a hot topic. Much debated.
I'd like to bring things into perspective and have a constructive discussion about it.
Why are models so thin?
There are three thoughts
That I'd like to share with you in today's video:
The first one is they are like that because it's practical,
And you will see in a minute what I mean by this, there is an actual reason behind this phenomenon;
Second point: it hasn't always been like that;
Third point: how to influence that beauty standard
Let's go
Let's start with what I call the the practical considerations
practical reasons from the designers perspective.
It's a lot easier to fit a dress on a woman if that woman
Her body has very little to no curves because then you don't need to work around these curves with the fabric.
Here I need a dart, a bust dart, to fit my breasts. If I was flat-chested, it would be a lot easier
I could go with a straight pattern a flat surface
making
Producing a design is a lot cheaper when the pattern is more simple
The pattern is quicker and cheaper to make, you save a little bit in fabric consumption and it's a lot faster to sew
In the times of couture when women would have the dresses tailored for them anyway
curves were not an issue
for the runway, a dress will be tailored on the runway girl
and then later on each customer
would have a dress tailored for her one by one
It wasn't a scalable process
but now ready-to-wear brands don't want to have to prepare dresses especially for the runway models
So now the models must match the clothes and not the other way around
that's a
mindset shift
really.
That's why the models are expected to be very similar to each other in terms of proportions and height.
On top of that nowadays
The clothing is in focus
Not the girls who are actually walking the runway
and that's also a change compared to what it used to be in previous decades
That's why often the girls are even asked not to walk naturally
Take a show by Vetements for instance very very hyped brand at the moment, Vetements
the girls walk almost like robots like this very fast moving the shoulders and not the hips and
As much as possible all in the same way. That's what they're briefed to do
They were asked to walk like this by the designers
now compare that with a Chanel show from the 80s
Where you see Ines de la Fressange, who was the face of the brand at that time
for years and years
very famous Chanel face.
She would laugh while walking down the runway, something that you would never see today or almost never
She would talk to somebody in the first row.
Say hi to someone, turnaround
Like change base in the middle of the of the runway
You really saw the girl rather than the clothing.
Well today it's the opposite
Conclusion of this first point: having models who are very similar and have barely any curve
is actually serving the purpose of the ready-to-wear industry. In my opinion, it's really a consequence of that
ready-to-wear industry becoming more and more dominant internationally
My second point was that
this beauty ideal is "just a phase"
so to speak, it hasn't always looked like this
It's hard to remember and to put into perspective
because change is slow and continuous
But if you look way back in time, you will see a clear contrast in terms of ideal
1920s. Doris Hill was a model and she was almost flat-chested
Was she though? Because at that time women would literally
wrap fabric around their chest to make them flat. It was considered more aesthetically pleasing
1950s. Betty Brosmer. Also a model just 30 years later
was considered an extreme hourglass. Her waist is so tiny
You think if you hit her at the waist level she's because she's gonna break in two parts, right? It's it's so tiny
1970s. Farrah Fawcett
Figure really of her decade. I think that's a shift in
mindset again
towards a more athletic kind of model.
She's less feminine so to speak.
She's leaner, clearly taller, sportier
and most importantly more youthful.
1990's. Cindy Crawford
Feminine body but with strong shoulders. Very lean.
Very strong. At that time the ideal measurements were considered to be
90-60-90 bust waist hip.
Now you see a photo of her daughter, Kaia, who's currently
a widely successful model. They have the same genes.
yet look how
different their bodies look.
Both Cindy and Kaia represent the perfect woman,
just in different decades
If you look at the dress forms that designers work with
you will see that evolution to transform, is used to be very curvy.
Shoulders, well
more or less shoulders, generally speaking, not very sporty. Not very athletic.
Now they're [models] extremely lean, extremely athletic
and have almost no bum.
When I entered fashion school, in the first semester,
I always had to look twice. Like okay,
so this is the front, so this could be the back.
This could be the bum. Where's the bum?
I learned to drape,
darts on garments, on non-existent bums.
Conclusion. Models are
really thin at the moment.
But before this period it was different and afterwards it will no doubt change again
Which brings me to my third point.
How to influence the beauty ideal.
At any point in time,
the fashion, the beauty ideal has reflected our aspirations.
Our aspirations. Which is great because then it means that we can influence it.
As a designer, I choose not to work with models from modeling agencies.
I go with girls for two or three sizes bigger than the standard model size that is expected of modeling girls.
And I want my models to have curves. I want to make darts and I want to fit the clothes properly
this is my way of saying no, I do not want to participate in the
Image of beauty that is being carried through the media today
Some ready-to-wear brands that have a large size range are starting to show runways
with normal-sized girls and plus-size girls walking together
It sounds like it was about time, but remember
That fashion used to show women who looked like what we should want to look like
whereas now they are starting to show us women who look like what we look like and
Genuinely, I think it's a good evolution because it allows us to finally see what the clothing will look like on us how it will
fall on us, on our bodies.
Social media are
A curse and a blessing at the same time. A curse because they will show you the same girls all day wearing
Having the same lips, the same hair, the same makeup, the same waist trainers, the same healthy
Routine and you feel that a certain idea of beauty is being forced upon you and I think I agree
But at the same time social media is a chance a potential platform for you to say. Hello
this is what I look like and this is just fine as well and
That thought is actually extremely
democratic
Conclusion. The fashion industry is slowly starting to open up and
All of us we can influence what is considered beautiful.
The message that hopefully comes across in this video is that: the current beauty ideal is the logical evolution from previous decades
that it's a phase that will pass and
Last but not least I'd say most importantly we can now influence through new media
What beauty will look like next. If you can feel the positivity in this video thumbs up.
Thank you very much. What do you think beauty will look like in let's say
20 years from now
Raise your hand if like me you would like to time travel and have a look now
At what happens in 20 years
There is another topic that I could
Talk about for days and nights in a row if the topic of vanity sizing
Actually, I've dedicated a video to that matter
So I will link it here and down below in the description if you want to have a look.
Don't forget to subscribe to this channel if you haven't done so already.
I will see you very soon in a new video and until then, take care.
Bye