Thoughts
The fashion industry has lost its mind
I don't think it's anything new that the fashion industry will have crackpots pushing impossible body standards on women. My usual reaction when I see some blurb about a beautiful woman deemed as "fat" is to roll my eyes and move on. That or laugh at a badly-done Photoshop retouching that clearly displays how fake the image is.
The other day, I saw a link posted to an article where supermodel Kate Upton proclaimed that she would not starve herself to be thin. At first I smiled and thought it was cool that she was standing up to the insanity, but when I dug deeper I was appalled at how far this drama had gone.
The Kate Upton Drama
It started when Kate was signed to IMG Models and then made the rounds of various runways. Many thought she was fresh, new, and brought a natural sense of "sexy" not seen since the pin-up girls of the 1950s. She wasn't some super-thin Eastern European-looking female with a sharp jawline and high cheekbones. Kate's natural beauty caught the attention of many in both good and bad ways.
Immediately there were harsh critics. Fashion elites claimed in so many ways that Kate Upton was not their definition of "quality" and criticized how her social media fame catapulted her into the big leagues. Some also ridiculed Upton as "fat", simply because she is more athletically curvy over the thin/waif look that's dominated fashion for decades.
Still, Upton persevered. She landed a shoot in Vogue and made the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, despite how a Victoria's Secret casting agent dismissed her as a "Page 3 girl". Another controversy arose when a pro-anorexia blog (they claim to be just "pro-skinny") pulled up many photos of Upton, bashing on her body, breasts, thighs, etc. An internet firestorm exploded, which led Kate to publicly laughing off the critics and stating she will not starve herself to fit the unrealistic standards of the fashion industry.
So why am I bothered by all this?
I mentioned before that I usually roll my eyes or laugh when I see the fashion industry go ballistic over a percentage of body fat on a model, but reading the opinions of "critics", it made me look at the few beautiful females I have been privileged to shoot in a fashion sense. I can imagine the fashion industry trashing on all of them for whatever little things they claim to be imperfections.
All of this insanity has made me now ask "what exactly is this industry selling now?"
I spend a lot of free time looking at photos and portfolios out there, always to learn more about fashion shooting and to get more ideas. What I notice now is how much fashion photography has more become soft pornography. I see loads of nude, swimwear, and lingerie photography, but less of actual clothing. I honestly would love to shoot a male for fashion, thinking in a "GQ" sense, but it's hard to find inspiration when 99% of the male photos I see are copycats of CK underwear ads or potential Playgirl centerfolds. You would think that a normal man is supposed to be buff and practically naked based on all this.
So what is the fashion industry selling now? I see so much about skin, BMI, bust size, facial features, hair, etc...but not much about clothes or style. The Kate Upton criticism only seems to enforce this. They seemingly only care that she's not thinner with a sharper jaw and higher cheekbones, but what about the fashions? Isn't all of this supposed to be about getting myself and others to go out and buy new clothes?
Obsessing over insanity
The obsession with "perfection" (and the drama that follows) is annoying. I feel like the fashion industry is more concerned with the mannequin than the clothes. In the eyes of a normal person, Kate Upton looks as skinny and model-esque as the rest of the fashion industry, but to criticize her at this level sends out more messages to young women all over that if you're not super-skinny with big firm boobs popping straight out on their own, long hair, sharp jaw and high cheekbones, then you're "ugly".
I think about when I ask female friends whom I think are beautiful if they would let me shoot photos of them. Usually I get some answer of how they will do it after they drop some weight. I don't argue, because I believe this "weight loss" is also about helping them build confidence, but I honestly think it's unnecessary. The reality is that if I'm asking to shoot you, then it means I think you look great "as is".
I'm all for being healthy and taking care of oneself, but when I see men and women believing they must look like one of the Beckhams in order to be photographed, then I feel like we've lost what it really means to be beautiful. Now I can only imagine if I ask someone if they would like to do a shoot that they'll reply how they want to drop some weight, get a boob job and a face-lift. Come on now.
I've become a Kate Upton fan now, mainly because she's standing up to the insanity of the fashion industry. I hope she keeps on throwing punches, walking runways, posing for loads of photos, and pushing that you don't have to be a size 0 with a Bond girl face to be beautiful.
On my end, I'll keep shooting real people and showing how everyone is beautiful, and style isn't limited to a tiny sliver of society.
What do you think? Is Kate Upton fat? Or has the fashion industry further lost its mind?
5 Responses to "The fashion industry has lost its mind"
Pat on
Kate Upton is INCREDIBLY hot!! I personally LOVE a woman with curves,,,especially if theyre nartual....fuck the fashion world and their pretentious bullshit drama.
Phat SwaZy on July 18, 2012
If anyone anywhere considers Kate Upton 'Fat', they seriously need to be checked for some mental issue...and im not saying that for dramatic effect, but if a girl who looks in the mirror see's herself as fat when she weighs 93lbs then if others see others in that same light couldn't it be said that they suffer from some mental issue, lets call it 'TomFuckeritus". Millions of girls are subjected to a standard that hardly any real person could live up to, and for the fashion industry to smear the idea of a girl who is gonna be real, then people need to begin boycotting these fashion magazines and start thinking for themselves....andddd im done...
Sheila on
I've thought this for twenty years now! Glad to see Kate keeping it real for those of us not waif thin. Young women starve themselves because of those advertisements that show waif thin women.
When I, myself, was a young woman, I tried everything to look like those women, including eating 500 calories a day and working out for HOURS a day. I never could get below 130. My "ideal" weight was 150 yet I couldn't get thin enough. I ended up in the hospital on life support. THAT is what those advertisements are doing to our little girls. It's damned irresponsible for them to make our young girls think they aren't good enough just because their bodies are of NORMAL, HEALTHY for them weight!
D-Jam on July 31, 2012
@Pat: You ever notice how most of the popular pornstars would be seen as "really fat" by the fashion industry? I always find it funny how much the fashion world hates curves, but the adult entertainment world worships them.
@Phat SwaZy: That's the point here. If a woman with Kate Upton's body is now "fat", then the industry has mental issues. It's insane the lie they all tell with these very young women whom they try to pass off as adults. So the 27 year-old woman is hating herself because she's trying to compare her body to that of a woman ten years younger than her. Plus let's be honest, these models have trainers and experts solely paid to keep them thin. The rest of the world has to work normal jobs rather than spend all day exercising.
@Sheila: I ignore the numbers now. I only look in the mirror. Even now I know I'll never be wirey-skinny like the male celebrities out there...mainly because my body is built differently. It's the same I see for many men and women as well. It's one thing to wake up with a massive obese body and your doctor telling you over and over to drop some weight...but another to hate yourself or obsess because you're not built like those models.
What I find funnier is how many women obsess more over their bodies than men do...but yet many claim men are the ones who obsess over a woman's body.
Shane on
I actually know a girl diagnosed with a eating disorder because of these insane standards. She is extremely attractive without needing to harm herself. But now she suffers from a disorder that can have disastrous effects on her health. She's not a model, but just an average person. So it's not only destroying the health of models, but also the general population. There should consequences for this kind of behavior. For one they have created such an image and are pushing it onto the world.
