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Photography & Styling by Charlotte Barraclough
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Curves, Clothes & the Catwalk Skinny. A word that is continuously heard in this modern age. From skinny half-fat latte orders in cafés, to skinny, no-fat women, parading the fashion catwalks and high streets around the globe. Skeletal imagery of size zero models has created conflict in recent years with fashion designers, the media, politicians, doctors and the general public. Swarmed by this ongoing controversy, curvaceous women are alienated and it is about time we kick this obsessive narrow view of being thin into shape. Turn back the clock 60 years and the skinny body shape was not the desirable figure. A curvy silhouette like Marilyn Monroe flaunted, was deemed to be alluring and significantly feminine in the 1950’s. There were a number of adverts surrounding women on the different ways to put on weight if you did not look curvaceous enough in your bathing suit. Contrastingly today, lots of females desperately explore the variety of ways in how to lose those unwanted curves. Fashion is dictatorial. The international fashion houses have always been the emperors of image, releasing visuals of what we need to look like and what garments to wear. In reality these high-end fashion designers are sending out unrealistic images to young women via fashion publications and the internet. The stylists, creative directors and photographers are also involved in producing starving imagery for the hungry media. They all share that same skinny vision, the figure they envisage to see their clothes on. Curves are excluded within this acute vision, despite studies showing that the average size of a woman in Britain is 16.
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The media has been accused to be the biggest instigator on the younger generation to feel pressure about their appearance. A 19 year old student from Leeds, Lauren Brooks spoke to me about why she does not feel comfortable in her size 16 skin. ‘I think there is a lot of emphasis in the media on skinnier people. It makes me wish that I was skinnier to look like them. I do feel pressured to diet because in lots of magazines you see these skinny models and the numerous diets to look like them.’ Lauren then states, ‘What is worse is seeing who I thought was skinny in the first place, dieting.’
Like many curvaceous women, Lauren feels exposed to the strain of slimming. Does the media place this pressure? Lauren says, ‘Definitely. You don’t often see curvy people, unless it’s a story about somebody losing weight or putting on weight. Curvy identities are underrepresented in fashion, especially when you go into shops, all the mannequins and all the models that are in the clothes are always very skinny. I just don’t think there is a variety of different styles and shapes available.’ Jessica Brownless, 14 from Middlesborough also shares her view on how the media affects selfesteem. ‘I think all teenage girls find being thin is the right body shape, which is something hard to accept. I would say an in between size like a size 14 is the ideal body shape.It is not really skinny, it is a
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It is not really skinny, it is a nice shapely shape.’ Jess continues, I do feel pressure. I feel I have to look like them to look socially acceptable. There is the message that skinny is beautiful. I know this is not true but it can make you think and look at yourself sometimes.’ Today, efforts have been made in the fashion industry to make girls like Lauren and Jess look in the mirror and accept their bodies for what they are. A recent revolutionary notion happened in November 2013, when the British department store, Debenhams unveiled size 16 mannequins in their Oxford Street, London shop to represent their average sized customer. The mannequins featured in Debenhams are not classed as plus-size, they are average, normal, real sized replicas of women. Hopefully, in the not so distant future, other brands will start to adopt this policy and use size 16 mannequins too. Instilling diversity and the acceptance of having a curvy identity by alternative forms of new media could be a resolution. Blogs like the award winning, Girlwithcurves.com can help women relate and build confidence with their body shape. Tanesha Awasthi, USA, started Girlwithcurves.com two years ago to display style inspiration for the curvy community as well as encouraging a positive body image and self-esteem.
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Yet, who influences Tanesha’s fantastic style and appearance? ‘I wear what I like and I don’t follow fashion rules or trends. I believe all women should wear what they love versus what the fashion industry at large, or society says one should wear based on shape or size. Style is personal.’ Tanesha continues, ‘It should be fun and constantly evolving, yet curvy women tend to shy away from it.
With my blog, I try to encourage women of all sizes to wear what they love with confidence, ignoring fashion rules.’ Tanesha sees past the fashion rules of how a curvy woman should dress and the media’s influence of what beauty is. She claims, ‘As the woman I am today, no, I don’t feel pressured to be thin. I’ve accepted my body in its natural state and I’m happy with who I am and what I look like. It took a long time to get to this point, but I’m finally content and happy in my own skin. My wish is for all women to have a similar, positive sense of self-love and confidence.’ Many fashion critics argue that fashion has heard the issue of underrepresenting curvy women so many times that what will be, will sadly be. The topic of curvy fashion may have been on concerned tongues for some time now despite no proactive change about it, however, as mentioned bloggers such as Tanesha Awasthi and designers like Rick Owens are wanting to create change now by making big statements in the curvy hemisphere. Perhaps articles like the one you are reading now will continue to be published in hopes that one day, we shall embrace the 1950’s silhouette and enjoy cuisine and the bumps that come with it. Let the curves commence.
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DOROTHY’S MEMORY LANE Words by Charlotte Barraclough Photographs courtesy of Dorothy Lane
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Newcastle dresses up curves
Photography by Charlotte Barraclough
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