Anorexia and Bulimia Claim Lives

First, before i launch into the heart of this post, let me share my deep and heartfelt concern for fellow fashion blogger Laura Budd of A Daisy Chain Dream  who wrote "The Briefest of Posts" on the 26th of May, 2010.. It has been over Nine weeks now since she was admitted to the hospital and i can only hope and pray that she makes a full recovery. She did manage one quick post titled "6 Weeks" back on July 8th, 2010. Please get well soon and don't feel you need to respond to everybody. Please take care of yourself. You are very much worth it. We miss you but your own health should come first.  
                                                                                                                
The pressure on young women to be unnaturally thin in order to get jobs in fashion, modeling and acting needs to be brought to a screeching halt. In my opinion anyone who is less than a size 2 and is taller than 5' 0" tall is way, way too skinny. Many (addled) designers have mindlessly promoted and glorified the anorexic look, following each other, first like sheep and continuing on like mindless drunk lemmings, devoid of true independent thought, awareness and cognizance for the decades since "Twiggy" first made a splash in the fashion world.
                                                                                                              
It's time for it to end! There are people literally dying of anorexia and bulimia because they tried so hard to achieve this very warped image of beauty. I think that fad has lingered long enough. It's time we pulled designers away from their expensive wine bottles long enough to have them notice their surroundings.  

Despite the relatively recent media spotlight on Ralph Lauren's proclivity to present dangerously thin models, it was evident to me that he was still doing it from watching the Ralph Lauren Collection Runway Show on his website. Three and years after Anorexia claimed the lives of Uruguayan model Luisel Remos and Brazilian model Anna Reston very little had changed. There was an article written by E. J. Mundell for the Washington Post's February 2nd, 2001 HealthDay News titled "Furor Over Anorexic Models Hits U.S.Fashion Week" about the practice of using dangerously thin models back then. Although the Council of Fashion Designers of America, a trade organization of over 300 fashion and accessory designers headed by Dianne Von Furstenburg made some recommendations which seemed to have been more of a "C.Y.O.A." public relations move than anything else and more recently seem to have disappeared from prominent public view. The second to last paragraph of the "CFDA_Health_Initiative" stated in part "The CFD Health Initiative is about awareness and education, not policing. Therefore the committee does not recommend that models get a doctor's examination to assess their health or body mass index to be permitted to work."At the same time the bizarre notion of anorexia being beautiful is still being aggressively promoted by CFDA members. Personally. Victoria's secret often uses models who's legs are too skinny to fill  the leg holes of their panties and they seem to have hardly have any buttocks at all.
                                                                                                        
     I think it would have been a good thing if the lawsuit filed by Filippa Palmistierna-Hamilton had caused the media to take a much harder look not only at how they portray beauty, but at how hard they are pushing for an unhealthy image. For every model with anorexia who dies how many tens of thousands of ordinary women die trying to emulate them? Anorexia and Bulimia are deadly serious - literallyOn May 26th, 2010 MediaPost News's Sarah Mahoney reported that Lane Bryant Rattles Skeletons In Victoria's Closet. i found out about this through an article in Stylelist by Erin Donnelly entitled Lane Bryant Mocks Victoria's Secret, Louis Vuitton Ads Banned.
                                                                                                              
 
                                                                                                              
How many more young women hoping to become models or actresses will have to die from Anorexia and Bulimia before the C.F.D.A. ceases and desists from promoting that anorexic look? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Kudos to Lane Bryant and shame on ABC and FOX. This
is the Cacique lingerie ad that ABC and Fox did not want their viewers to see:
                                                                                                            


                                                                                                              
It will be nice if the C.F.D.A. catches on to the fact that full figured women can be very attractive. At least Lane Bryant is paying attention and had their first annual Lane Bryant Blogger Conference.  I know there are fashion magazines that have pledged to use more realistic models and they are to be commended.
                                                                                                            
The Consequences of Anorexia/Bulimia are no joke. According to this Bulimia Awareness Video by Brita Chen and Jennifer Guenther there are an estimated 8 million people suffering from Bulimia - one out of 181 people in the United States.
                                                                                                              
Hopefully (fingers crossed) we are seeing the beginning of the end of the emaciated look and the return to more classical ideas of how the body should look. It's a wonderful start to the decade. If the designers all catch on to the new trend (away from the unhealthy worn out former "Twiggy" look) we'll be seeing the lingerie modeled back view by fuller figured and more diverse models far more often.