So over the last couple of years, we've started having the long overdue discussion about whether or not models are too skinny. And weight shaming on either level is the worst. But at the same time, it doesn't exactly seem like British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman is exactly in touch with the way the body image trend is moving.
Speaking to Lily Allen (of all people, of course) on BBC 1 Radio, Shulman expressed that if we were to put regular people in magazines, they'd get boring. (The magazines. Not the regular people.)
"I think Vogue is a magazine that's about fantasy to some extent, and dreams, and an escape from real life," she said. "People don't want to buy a magazine like Vogue to see what they see when they look in the mirror. They can do that for free."
Ughhhhhhhhh. Why.
And, as most conversations like these do, this one also got better. In discussing the ideal cover girl, Shulman described her as: "Quite conventional, probably smiling, in a pretty dress; somebody looking very kind of 'lovely.' The most perfect girl next door. Better than yourself. People always say, 'Why do you have thin models? That's not what real people look like.' But nobody wants to see a real-looking person on the cover of Vogue."
To be honest, I would love to see a real-looking person on the cover of Vogue. And maybe that person is skinny or maybe they're medium or maybe they're plus-size — but either way, I would like to think they have a place in the world of fashion; that people like you and I have a place in that world. Fashion is for everybody. Making it elitist is like telling somebody who doesn't have a Masters in English that they can't enjoy books.
And while Shulman went on to say that designers should use bigger models, it still doesn't exactly make up for her thoughts above. What do you guys think?
