When I stumbled onto the upcoming “One Size Fits All” photo essay in the January issue of V magazine, featuring plus-size model Crystal Renn, I was initially pleased. The spreads featured Renn and a skinnier counterpart in nearly identical clothing and poses. Renn looked awesome and, frankly, outdid her skinnier counterpart in a number of the photos:
Then, I did a little research, and it suddenly dawned on me: Renn is by no means plus size. While she is admittedly larger than the average model, Renn’s body does not represent the rest of us. In fact, she has dimensions that most American women would envy: a 31-inch waist, which turns out to be six inches smaller than that of the average American woman, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not to mention that at 5 feet 9, she’s about a half foot taller than the average American woman as well. When it comes to body diversity, Renn’s spread is a big step for fashion, and a teeny, tiny nudge for the rest of humankind. (Plus-size models are smaller than plus-size people; though many plus-size models work at a size 12 or 14, the plus-size category begins at size 6.)
There’s also the question of how much of Renn is actually in the V photos. Compared to the Harper’s Baazar Australia spread she appeared in this past May, Renn looks positively emaciated. (And looking at the last photo in the Harper’s series linked to above, an unairbrushed photo, shows how all models, no matter what size, are postproduced into an unattainable perfection.)
Valery Amador, Daily Venus Diva -- Daily Venus Diva.
and there lies your problem with the industry
I just finished reading Crystal Renn’s book Hungry, and it was a fascinating look inside the life of a model at the height of the size 00 trend. What I think is most interesting about her story is not that she became a plus size model after being a regular model, but that she actually chose to pursue plus size modeling BEFORE she gained weight. She knew that she couldn’t go on starving her body, and Ford Modeling actually signed her up before she was a plus-size weight (plus-size in the modeling sense), and gave her several months to become healthy before sending her on casting calls.
Crystal never signed up to be the poster-girl for fat acceptance. She loves fashion and she loves modeling, and wants to be considered a top model who happens to be plus-sized, not because of her size. In her book, she talk about her recovery process, learning to eat again, and trusting her body, and while she was doing this, she topped out at a size 16. But ultimately, she settled in at a comfortable size 12 — which yes, considering her height, hardly constitutes plus size in the real world. But what we should be focusing on is not how heavy she is or isn’t, but the fact that she loves her body, treats it well, and is willing to show it off in all its glory.
It makes me sad that people criticize her for losing weight when they really don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. According to her book, she eats a healthy, mostly organic, balanced diet, and includes moderate amounts of exercise in her routine. I, for one, commend her for focusing on health while still being able to do a job she loves, and do it well.
thats fine that she is comfortable at her size but the real world uses her and other taller/smaller models to represent the full figured community which is neither fair to them nor fair to us, the community.
unfortunately as a plus model i’ve gotten more exposure as i’ve lost weight and thats the problem. larger models that represent the average woman are overlooked and hardly given paid gigs.