Boy oh boy it’s been a crazy week in Fashion. First Tom Ford says American’s are too fat but the Chinese are ok, Jennifer Lopez was scrutinized for her recent Emilio Pucci choice, and now TopShop is under fire for their recent summer sale advertisement.
Codie Young is the size zero model causing all the fuss. The image has since been replaced with another image of Young (below) but styled with layers giving the impression of a larger figure. But in the beginning TopShop was singing a different tune …
In Statement issued to Daily Mail:
“Topshop is confident that Codie is a healthy young woman and we do not feel it necessary to remove her from our imagery based on your feature,” said publicity head Andrew Leahy.
I blame photoshop for this fashion commotion. TopShop says “the angle this image has been shot at may accentuate Codie’s proportions making her head look bigger and neck longer in proportion to her body”. TopShop also claims that the model is wearing a size 10 (a U.S. size 6). Really, but she’s a size 0 right?
Poor Codie was pretty upset with all the eating disorder critics attacking her and the TopShop ad. She took to her blog to sound off. “My entire childhood I was called anorexic and people would ask if I was bulimic. And it was really hard sometimes for me to deal with as I have always been this way,” she blogged.
Helen Davis, an eating disorder activist, thinks that “Topshop needs to take some responsibility and use healthy models” and that “images like this are affecting young girls more than ever before.” I agree. I wonder when the advertising world will realize that the double negative is a small percentage of shoppers. I totally understand that I will probably never shop at some stores but what about our less confident young women. Young women who struggle with acceptance every day.
I mean I remember high school and it wasn’t always filled fun football games and amazing lunch dates with your besties. The fat girl was never crowned the prom queen or the homecoming queen. She wasn’t the girl that guys were checking for (i.e. dating). She was never the popular girl, she was just the girl that made everyone laugh. But in life shouldn’t we be able to create a happy ‘skinny vs fat’ place. Does it always have to be the skinny box and then the fat box?
Q: How does this ad make you feel? Or could you really care less about what size model is used? Chime in below.
5 comments
Kayla says:
Jul 12, 2011
I agree that they probably shouldn’t even photoshop the girl even further when she already has such a small figure. I do feel bad for the model though; Just like larger women shouldn’t be stereotyped as lazy for being the size they are, smaller women shouldn’t be automatically assumed they have an eating disorder.
Gorgeous In Grey says:
Jul 13, 2011
I really did feel bad for Codie after I read her blog too. It seems like she was really hurt by what the critics were saying.
Mattie says:
Jul 14, 2011
Wow. Photoshop is the devil. They definitely shouldn’t Photoshopped the model for several reasons. Number one being that she’s already a SIZE ZERO! Not a good move by Topshop. Especially after their statement, changing the photo makes them look guilty.
And while I choose to believe that the model is just a naturally thin person, I also choose NOT to believe she’s wearing a size 6. Unless of course, that was Photoshopped as well.
Kimberlee says:
Jul 17, 2011
She looks really sickly to me. I think many of those sites (TopShop, ASOS, Forever 21) use really skinny looking models. It doesn’t appeal to me. Why don’t they get a blogger to at least try to appeal to “real girls”?
Shana Janelle says:
Jul 19, 2011
I mean lets face it, no matter how you spin it the general public is more inclined to gravitate towards an ad featuring a more slim model, of course there are some exceptions i.e. Toccara, Mia Tyler and Crystal Renn but moreso because they are absolutely gorgeous. I am pretty much over photoshop at this point. You would think the industry would be too. It causes too much confusion and drama. Just take quality pictures and stop being so heavy handed with the editing. I have to admit that the ad does give you pause…its so shocking at initial glance and almost painful to look at.