For years, models on fashion runways have exemplified a kind of "heroin chic" look of protruding rib cages and general twigginess. The natural curves of the female form were replaced by sharp angles and bones. This trend has in turn caused millions of teenage girls to starve themselves and develop eating disorders in an effort to reach a level of thin that is incredibly unhealthy.
According to this article, however, this week's Fashion Week runways featured models that had at least a little meat on their bones. Instead of size 0, many models featured were "size 2 or 4." While the article stresses that the difference was moderate, the trend is encouraging.
Models like Kate Moss who exemplify the anorexic look are not only endangering their own health, they are endangering the health of millions of teenagers. By trying to aspire to an impossible body mass index, these girls end up with major problems of malnutrition, stunted growth, low self-esteem, and other problems.
I haven't done a lot of research into this trend of super-thin models, so I don't know exactly when it caught fire. I know Twiggy had something to do with it back in the '60s, when curvaceous, realistically proportioned women like Marilyn Monroe and Betty Page were the hotties of the day. I know Kate Moss is responsible for a lot of this mess.
I suppose my point is that I'm glad to see that the fashion world might just be coming to its senses about rail-thin models. The female form is a beautiful thing, but not when it's reduced to a skeleton.
