Whitney Thompson; Plus-size supermodel, spokesperson for NEDA and creator of "Supermodel".

My goal is to encourage and inspire you to celebrate your miraculous, exquisite, and unique body. I want you to resist the negative messages being sold to you by the media. You are beautiful. You are unique. Here, we want to help you remember that.

If I can convey one message to you:
Healthy is Beautiful. Beautiful is not a size, not an age, and not a procedure. Healthy is beautiful."

“Beautiful” is celebrating the characteristics and qualities of your body, while nourishing and exercising
it to be as uniquely healthy and fit as only you can be. We are all created differently and I want you to stop trying to fit into a mold that someone else has defined as "beautiful". No one size will ever be accepted by everyone and it's important to accept that we are all different. I want you to be the best that you can be.

Your comments are welcome here, even if we don't agree. I appreciate all comments as long as they don't hurt others.

Always remember, life is too short to not live like a SuperModel!


Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I am so over Chanel.

          Karl Lagerfeld decided to use Crystal Renn in a Chanel runway show as well as an add a few months ago, despite him saying in the past that “No one wants to see curvy women” and that people who don’t agree with his emaciated models are just “ fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television”. He also said that fashion is all to do “with dreams and illusions and no one wants to see round women”. I strongly disagree. What I don’t want to see are “women” who have no breasts, no curves or hips of any kind with short hair, parading around like little boys. Whose fantasy is it now??
          I think it’s sad that the plus community is almost forced to accept this small victory, despite Lagerfeld’s efforts for years to avoid us at all costs and putting curvy women down? It’s like we don’t have an option after so many years of being ignored. The plus industry takes what we can get, but I think that this is beginning to change. The tables are turning as designers slowly realize that the women buying the clothes have the money, not the stick figures on the runway. I want to buy clothes from someone that looks like me. Seeing an outfit on a size zero does not convince me that I should buy it. I would look COMPLETELY different in that outfit. Put a size ten in it and we’re looking at a different ending. 
          The words Lagerfeld has spoken to the press are disgusting and rude. I don’t want to think about what he has said behind our backs. Now he wants to jump on the band wagon because plus is suddenly trendy and I do not accept this small gesture. Crystal is gorgeous, but in the Chanel add, her body is completely removed. All you can see are her shoulders and up. He’s missing the most important part.The truth is, not everyone knows who Crystal is or that she is plus size. Little girls will still pas by and see nothing but hollowed out cheekbones and wonder why they don’t look like that. She might as well be a size zero in the picture. Did I mention that Lagerfeld also shot the plus issue of “V” immediately after? How convenient?        
           Frankly, Karl, this isn’t good enough. I will not support Chanel until we actually see a full figured body in an add. Last time I checked, most men preferred voluptuous women and I want to see an add that portrays such. A curvy girl with a hot guy (8-pack included) doing what models do best. I’m tired of the fashion industry throwing us a bone. One magazine issue each year is NOT ENOUGH! A head shot of a plus sized model who’s face is known for being quite hollow compared to the typically cherub-faced plus girls is NOT ENOUGH! I am a real woman. I make real money and I will not be spending any of it at Chanel until Karl gets his act together. I want a sincere apology to all of the full figured women out there that he has made feel insecure with his advertisements, choice of super skinny models and words that he has released to intentionally hurt us. And even then I might still be too pissed off to support him. Hell hath no fury like the wrath of a woman scorned.

6 comments:

  1. you said it girl....
    my family had NEVER seen a size zero... and even as a guy looking at magazines and such i get uncomfortable looking at this girls that look like 12 year old boys....
    i have to admit you are the most beautiful model out there... crystal as well and its a shame we don't get to see more of you and her in major ads.... love you and you rock
    kisses from calgary
    stephen

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  2. I definitely agree. Another thing I worry about with the fashion industry is little boys, growing up and looking at models and actresses on television and (ahem) pornography, even victoria secret ads and things - thinking that THAT is what real women are supposed to look like naked or barely naked, and imagining the disappointment on their faces when that is not the case. I would KILL to see some more real women like you, Nikki Blonsky, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson out there and in the spotlight for once.

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  3. Using models who look pre-adolescent is almost sexualizing childhood. If a fashion house can't design clothes that look good on a real woman, they have no business designing clothes.

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  4. I understand you want to defend o stand for thicker women, no problem with that.
    But let me tell you somethin, with all due respect, thin women are real women as well, you don't need to be on the thicker sida to be considered real.
    And what about "no breasts"? That's kind of offensive, there are plenty of women who are not anorexic or who do not suffer from an eating disorder, and don't have boobs. You don't have to put flat chested or thin women down to make thicker women feel better, That's my opinion.

    have a nice day

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  5. My apologies. Putting down naturally emaciated looking women is not my intention. I want people to celebrate their size regardless of their size. Just be healthy. That is my message. I get worked up when dealing with fashion. Size 4 is considered too fat in many cases to model and size 6 is plus sized. I think that that is disgusting. Women are designed with hips to bear children and breasts to nurse them. It's why we don't look like men. I am proud of my body. I will not try to model it after a little boy.

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  6. I think it's important to recognize that this issue does not only affect women. It's incredibly hypocritical to praise "8-pack abs" when at the same time denouncing "a size two with breast implants." It's crucial for someone who is making a stand against those negative images to recognize how men feel when impossible depictions of their bodies are praised the same way you have recognized the detrimental effects of those images of women in society.

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