This isn't a typical post for me or this blog, so I ask for your patience.
As a teenager, I’d go shopping and wonder why the shirts never had room in the places I needed room and pants gapped where they should have hugged. It seemed like models were these breastless, hipless, creatures who walked the runway completely separate from the reality of the female form. One fashion photographer told me that most models were between 12 and 14 years old. I had this theory that women's clothes weren't being designed for women at all, but for men. I don't mean to please men. I mean for a man's body type.
Enter Andrej Pejic, the new wunder-kind of the modeling world. He's 19, 5'11, has the body of a man but an "androgynous look" with long, platinum locks, painted lips and cheekbones to die for. Designers love him because, as Hillary Alexander, chief fashion correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, said, "...A lot of designers [are] designing for this impossible ideal for someone who is 5ft 11in, no hips and no chest."
This is not intended to be a tirade against Mr. Pejic. I congratulate him on his success. But I am a woman. Recently, I was in a department store in New York City and if something fit one part of me properly, it inevitably didn't fit another key part. Even when I was completely emaciated at 90-something pounds after my transplant, I had something -- a very little something, but something -- of a figure. I want a designer who designs clothes for, well, for me. I want the chest buttons to close on my blouse. I want dresses and shirts that show I have a waist. I want pants that don't make me look fat because I have hips. And I'm talking about sizes from 0 to XXL. Even when you're skinny, clothes designed without thought for the existence of the natural curvature of a woman can make your body look off. And while you're at it, I don't want to have to wear next-to-nothing to look cute and current. Take note Prada, Bloomingdale's, Escada, Nordstroms, Valentino, Gap, Ralph Lauren, Nieman Marcus, Calvin Klein, Urban Outfitters, Limited, Target, Michael Kors, whomever you may be: I am not interested in pretty clothes that are made to fit a man's body. Because no matter how badly I want them to go away and how hard I try, my hips aren't going anywhere and I don't want them to.
I am a woman. My body is beautiful. Regardless of size, women’s bodies typically are. And guess what? The things that makes them beautiful are our hips, our waists, our chests and by the way, covering them appropriately is far more attractive than wearing things that are too tight, too low, too short, etc. Women's fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry. Please start designing for me. For us.
Sincerely,
Two
A note from the other Sisters: Have you seen Two's TED Talk? It's kind of amazing....
As a teenager, I’d go shopping and wonder why the shirts never had room in the places I needed room and pants gapped where they should have hugged. It seemed like models were these breastless, hipless, creatures who walked the runway completely separate from the reality of the female form. One fashion photographer told me that most models were between 12 and 14 years old. I had this theory that women's clothes weren't being designed for women at all, but for men. I don't mean to please men. I mean for a man's body type.
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| I warned you about his cheek bones |
This is not intended to be a tirade against Mr. Pejic. I congratulate him on his success. But I am a woman. Recently, I was in a department store in New York City and if something fit one part of me properly, it inevitably didn't fit another key part. Even when I was completely emaciated at 90-something pounds after my transplant, I had something -- a very little something, but something -- of a figure. I want a designer who designs clothes for, well, for me. I want the chest buttons to close on my blouse. I want dresses and shirts that show I have a waist. I want pants that don't make me look fat because I have hips. And I'm talking about sizes from 0 to XXL. Even when you're skinny, clothes designed without thought for the existence of the natural curvature of a woman can make your body look off. And while you're at it, I don't want to have to wear next-to-nothing to look cute and current. Take note Prada, Bloomingdale's, Escada, Nordstroms, Valentino, Gap, Ralph Lauren, Nieman Marcus, Calvin Klein, Urban Outfitters, Limited, Target, Michael Kors, whomever you may be: I am not interested in pretty clothes that are made to fit a man's body. Because no matter how badly I want them to go away and how hard I try, my hips aren't going anywhere and I don't want them to.
I am a woman. My body is beautiful. Regardless of size, women’s bodies typically are. And guess what? The things that makes them beautiful are our hips, our waists, our chests and by the way, covering them appropriately is far more attractive than wearing things that are too tight, too low, too short, etc. Women's fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry. Please start designing for me. For us.
Sincerely,
Two
A note from the other Sisters: Have you seen Two's TED Talk? It's kind of amazing....
