Topshop caught up in size zero row after using 'ill-looking' skinny model on website
Topshop was last night blasted by eating disorder groups after using a painfully thin size-zero model on its website.
The pale young woman with a gaunt face is seen on the
fashion stores homepage wearing tiny clothes that hang off her skeletal frame.
It is believed that she is wearing the kind of controversial size four clothes - or American size zero - that have caused outrage in past.
The image provoked an outcry among Anorexia sufferers and support groups who said it risked encouraging young girls to lose weight.
Helen Davies from the Anorexia charity Beat said: 'For girls to see pictures of models who are this thin suggests that it's OK to be like that but it's clearly not.
'This is not the sort of thing we want to see in magazines and on the internet. It's a constant battle against eating disorders and Topshop is not helping matters.
'For girls who see these kind of images it can be very damaging. The size four clothes are obviously available in the Topshop stores, which implies again that it's healthy to be that size.
'Images like this are effecting young girls more than ever before. Topshop needs to take some responsibility and use healthy models.'
The large picture on the company's website shows a young model staring vacantly towards the camera. She has on a large pair of orange sunglasses covering her eyes.
Campaigners said they could have been used to hind sunken eyes - a symptom of under-eating.
The model's body appears to be severely underweight. The blue top she is wearing hangs limply from her limbs and her waist is painfully thin.
A second image inside the site shows in another outfit which better obscures her thin body. However, he bony fingers can be seen emerging from a cardigan sleeve.
The model, who is not named, is advertising the stores 'Prim and Proper' range which claims to be 'retro styles with a serious dose of ladylike appeal'.
Thousands of visitors to the site will include young girls who could be influenced by seeing such images.
A mother of a teenager who battled anorexia said that Topshop 'should be ashamed of themselves' for using the thin model.
Karen Easthall, who runs an Anorexia support group in Norfolk, said: 'This is absolutely outrageous in 2011 seeing models this thin. The girl looks ill. She's probably wearing sunglasses because her eyes are sunken. I dread to think how she looks under her clothes.
'Pictures of young girls who are obviously not healthy is incredibly damaging. It risks pushing young girls down that road, which is dangerous considering all we've been through in recent years.
'I'm appalled that Topshop would even consider using a size zero model, let alone plastering one who looks so thin on the front page of their website. The company should be ashamed of themselves.
'A disturbing picture of a stick-thin model can cause problem
s with young girls, who may try to copy them. Topshop should know better.'
Ms Easthall's daughter Hollie, 16, spent four months in hospital after suffering with anorexia. She has since began to recover but Ms Easthall believes that seeing more pictures of thin models could risk her having a 'relapse'.
She added: 'There are tens of thousands of teenagers battling to overcome anorexia who could be affected by seeing pictures of dangerously thin girls being glamourised.
'We have come across girls as young as eight who are becoming self-conscious about their weight. Millions of teenagers could be adversely affected by images like this.'
The size zero debate began with the rise of thin models wearing the tiny clothes. Doctors have made repeated warnings about health implications and experts claim that young girls can develop eating disorders from seeing size zero models.
Topshop model Kate Moss has in the past sparked controversy by apparently encouraging anorexia.
Miss Moss, 35, was asked in an interview in 2009 if she lived by any mottos and replied: 'There are loads of mottos. There’s ''Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels''. That’s one of them.'
The fashion store's boss Philip Green has also been heavily criticised for his history of corporate tax avoidance.
Topshop has been blasted by campaign group People & Planet for allegedly using cotton picked in Uzbekistan by slaves, and for refusing to join the Ethical Trading Initiative.
A spokesman for Topshop was last night unavailable for comment.
Last edited by Amaryllis : 12-07-2011 at 02:53 PM.
Reason: removed link as it's against the rules.
BRAND NEW INFORMATION: Topshop uses skinny models.
*faints from shock*
Previously unicorn-tears
In a burst of light that blinded every angel
As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
You felt the gravity of tempered grace,
falling into empty space
With no-one there to catch you in their arms
Kahlia1981 & silentgirl are my RYL sisters Plumeria Sister
Seriously, that offended me more than anything else at all.
Don't even get me bloody started!
Previously unicorn-tears
In a burst of light that blinded every angel
As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
You felt the gravity of tempered grace,
falling into empty space
With no-one there to catch you in their arms
Kahlia1981 & silentgirl are my RYL sisters Plumeria Sister
I have to say, I actually was a bit disturbed by the image. Normally I just shrug stuff like this off with a "meh, that's just how fashion is and I won't buy into it" but that girl could seriously do with a Big Mac, she looks awful.
I had a peek and I thought she looked ill, not just very thin, and quite honestly half of them look ill not just the standard [which I am not suggesting is okay] of unnaturally underweight.
To me, this does promote a dangerously low weight and younger girls cannot help but be influenced, its unfair they have to be exposed to this.
... Is it bad that this annoyed me the most out of the whole article?
Arghh, this does annoy me.
I had a quick flick through the website just then and the majority do look ill with shrunken eyes and being thin and everything. But then, I think that there is more awareness that this is the case than there ever has been... not perhaps, for 8 year olds, but for teenagers, even if it does have an influence.
And yes, apart from that, what everyone else has said about it not really being surprising anymore.
I have a whole bunch of issues with Topshop really, but their sizing does wind me up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiee
For girls who see these kind of images it can be very damaging. The size four clothes are obviously available in the Topshop stores, which implies again that it's healthy to be that size.
It's not just that, but the fact that they go up to a max. of size 16. That gives the implication that 16 is pretty big, considering we're used to comparing it to a standard of small, medium, large, x-large, and most stores start at 8 and go up to 22 as standard. I mean, I'm a size X with a relatively healthy body image now, but going in there makes me feel big.
Although, in their defence, they don't sell size 4 in all of their stores, or even in all styles. There are places that are worse, Miss Selfridge being a prime example. Again, they don't tend to go above 16, but most of their stuff is available in size 4 on the website. I suppose they can argue that they target an adolescent audience, which is naturally slimmer, but I'm still cynical...
Last edited by [Purple_Rain] : 13-07-2011 at 10:55 PM.
Reason: removed cothes size
Never argue with an idiot, they drag you down to their level & beat you with experience
We have to remember that different shops are all different sizes. I go into one shop and a size is hanging off me, but if I pick up the same size in the shop next door I wouldn't manage to get the same item of clothing on. I don't go into Topshop (**** quality with an expensive price tag) so I can't really comment on their sizing range, but I know that I seem to have a range of four sizes depending on where I shop.
I dislike that there is always an uproar over the small sizing (yes, I know anorexia kills more people than any other), but no one bats an eyelid at the plus-plus-plus sizing. Both are incredibly unhealthy.
I dislike that there is always an uproar over the small sizing (yes, I know anorexia kills more people than any other), but no one bats an eyelid at the plus-plus-plus sizing. Both are incredibly unhealthy.
THISTHISTHIS
I personally like topshops clothes simply because hey cater for my ridiculous natural shape where my waist is like a bazillion times smaller than the rest of my body, no matter my weight. >< And they have short people section. Which I love.
You wanna see messed up? Next time you pass a Jane Norman take a look at their mannequins... they ACTUALLY carve bones into them.... Bones. That's not cool.
I personally like topshops clothes simply because hey cater for my ridiculous natural shape where my waist is like a bazillion times smaller than the rest of my body, no matter my weight. >< And they have short people section. Which I love.
You wanna see messed up? Next time you pass a Jane Norman take a look at their mannequins... they ACTUALLY carve bones into them.... Bones. That's not cool.
Do they?! I'll be passing a Jane Norman today, so I'll have a looksee. It's not a shop I frequent or even notice.
I hate having a small waist which is just not in proportion to the size of my hips/thighs. Clothes shopping is not fun for me :(
Quote:
Originally Posted by thumbelina
Agree completely
I HATE the term "size zero" and how a lot of articles compare size zero (US) to size 10/12/16 etc (UK)
I am naturally petite and always feel like that somehow that makes me wrong when I read articles like this.
Yep! I hate it that the term 'real woman' has become synonymous with 'curvy'. I don't have curves and so therefore am not a 'real woman'? Way to make women feel body confident!
OT but I think there are a couple reasons why no one makes a fuss over plus size clothing.
1) Most media folks are all ZOMG OBESITY CRISIS, but no one seems to like to talk about the practicalities of living as a fat person.
2) Plus size clothes are hella ugly.
3) It's difficult to find a lot of them in stores. You mostly have to shop online. When you're shopping and you just don't see something and you keep not seeing it, it's difficult to make a fuss because we're not programmed to remember stuff we didn't see.
I also dislike the fact that people are seeming to equate being a "REAL" woman as one that has curves. I think it's incredibly disrespectful to our bodies. Every woman who says they are a woman is a woman. Some women have curves, some don't. Some women have a uterus and/or ovaries. Some don't. Some women are fat. Some women are thin. Some women are inbetween.
I think it's sad that only one (maybe two) images of a woman are coded as okay to advertise for and cater to. It's horrible that one of those images is terribly unhealthy. Women should aspire to health. Models are not just walking, talking, and breathing hangers to show off clothing.
I mean, really. I wear clothes for different reasons. I'd be a lot more interested in a shirt if it was shown on a variety of figures (in an online store anyway) to be able to see and to better imagine what it might look like on me. For instance: the v-neck shirt. One of my friends can wear them fine. I have to make sure it's a small enough V that I won't be spilling ALL of victoria's secrets. If a shirt is going to reveal a lot, I want to know that before I buy it to wear to work. A size zero model will not show that. Sure, she might make the clothes look great, but what about other sizes? Other proportions?
I hate shopping for clothes. I was a short and fat person. Apparently you could either be short OR you could be fat, but not both.
And yeah, being fat might be unhealthy, but fat people need clothing. They need clothing for work, they need clothing for play, and they need workout clothes. (here's a hint clothing industry: if you want fat people to exercise, like you say you do, you need to sell clothing for that)
I dislike that there is always an uproar over the small sizing (yes, I know anorexia kills more people than any other), but no one bats an eyelid at the plus-plus-plus sizing. Both are incredibly unhealthy.
To put a spin on that you dont exactly see any size 32 modelling for Evans now do you?
Its not the fact they stock a size 4 clothes, its the fact they use a model to promote it. If you saw a size 32 model im pretty sure there would be a reaction of disgust from many people.
"Its not how long a star shines, what is remembered is the brightness of the light"
To put a spin on that you dont exactly see any size 32 modelling for Evans now do you?
Its not the fact they stock a size 4 clothes, its the fact they use a model to promote it. If you saw a size 32 model im pretty sure there would be a reaction of disgust from many people.
This is a lot of what I was trying to say.
If you're a clothing company, you use models to display and promote your clothing. I want to see how that clothing performs under different conditions. Maybe with a larger bust? Maybe with a bit of a belly? Large bust, small waist? Broad shoulders?
Clothes look different on different size people. A scoop neck shirt that is fine on one person might be WAY too low cut on another. A skirt that is a very modest length on me, might make someone look like they're wearing a skirt that is just long enough to not be a mini skirt.
