'Widen' the search for top models

By Sarah Morris on Feb 3, 11 10:28 AM in Fashion

It's the end of January; that depressing month where you run out of money almost immediately after the new year, and you try desperately to embark on some sort of strict diet or detox to rid yourself of that seemingly un-shiftable stone of weight you put on over the past year. We're used to it - it happens every year. And every year we are faced with TV shows, magazines, books giving us the lowdown on how to achieve that new, slim 'you'.
There's so much pressure, for women in particular, to be 'thin'. So how refreshing that morning TV show, ITV's Lorraine Kelly and my favourite glossy weekly, Look magazine recently joined forces to launch a search for the UK's next supermodel... with a minimum dress size 12! Hurrah!

Could this mean we can eat that cream cake and add extra cream to our Starbucks but then if we put on a few pounds it doesn't matter? Well... maybe not. The odd treat yes, but it's probably not wise to make a habit of it. The point is that you should be healthy at a size that is natural for you, rather than unhealthy and probably unhappy at a skinnier size just because the media tells you that's what's 'beautiful'.
Sadly, at 5'7" I personally am about an inch too short to be in the running for Britain's next top super-duper model. But that's OK - I only have one photogenic side to my face anyway, the other side oddly never turns out well. My good side is my left, by the way, just for future reference.

There is of course another plus side to not starving yourself into a pair of size 6 or 8's: being thin ages you. Have you not ever looked at very thin women, particularly older women, and gasped at their turkey neck, sunken cheeks and frail looking frames? And then looked at a woman of a similar age, with a little more meat on her bones and thought, wow! She's looking good for her age? (I'm not talking overweight here though ladies - still go steady on those cream cakes!). Just in case you haven't, take a look at the image below. On the left we have Nigella Lawson: TV chef with a love of delicious food and a penchant for making suggestive noises whilst she cooks. Age? 50.
And on the right we have Gillian McKeith: nutrition and health food obsessive, with a penchant for studying poo. Age? 51.

Now tell me: which would you rather look like? A thin, food obsessed aging woman? Or a slightly larger but healthy, food loving youthful woman? I know who I think looks better.
So let's say all hail to the healthy, good food and wine loving Nigellas and out with the food, calorie and stool obsessed Gillians. OK, maybe I should leave stool studying out of it, as I don't know anyone else on the planet, apart from an actual doctor (Gillian!), who might want, or need to study someones excrements.

I think we can all agree that this new supermodel search is a fantastic step forward. But will this mean the fashion world is finally starting to accept that real women actually have curves and do not, or should not naturally look like the freakishly tall, very skinny size 4-6 teenage girls designers like to send waltzing down the catwalk? Guessing by the competition being named "Curvy supermodel Search" and the modelling contract for the winner coming from the 12+ modelling agency, probably not, but with this and curvy supermodel Crystal Renn (see picture) currently flavour of the month, at least finally it seems that Victoria Beckham's alleged personal mantra "thin is in" doesn't seem to be the only message out there anymore. Maybe it's time to think back to the 1980's where the emphasis was on health and fitness, rather than extreme dieting no matter how bad it is for you. Legwarmers and lycra bodysuits optional of course.
Whatever happened to the Cindy Crawfords and Elle Macphersons of the fashion world?

Unfortunately, if this is the first you've heard of the competition, entries are now closed and auditions underway. But if you want more details, go here.

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