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Have no fear of perfection - you’ll never reach it
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ASK US ! FASHION DIALOGUE
wojciech, 47
wether they want to see only beauty or maybe they would like to see also ordinariness?
Banker
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? For me ‘to be beautiful’ means being unique and having some unique features. There is no one definition of beauty. According to me, the beauty is also the reflection of the character. A smile is the best accessory . What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? In my opinion the canon of beauty nowadays is kind of uniform. Everyone has perfect slim body, fake smile and moves in unnatural way. The media and the fashion industry is full of the artificiality. I think that it is not what should be represented. I appreciate imperfection, what we should not confuse withugliness. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the diversity of beauty? No, absolutely not. It does not show the people as they are. It chooses only one canon of beauty and demands everyone to follow this. Can you see there men like you? Yes, but not often. Most of the people represented in the media are young having standard fit body, while I am in the middle age and a little too big. Do you think the beauty canons we see in the fashion magazines or in the social media have an impact on our self-esteem? What kind of impact? I think they have an impact on self-esteem of the part of the society. I do not have a problem with this. I accept myself as I am. Although I am conscious that many people have complexes because of this. They would like to be like the people we see on the screen, even though it is impossible for them. Do you retouch the photos of yourself before posting them? Not, but I choose the photos where I look my best. Could social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? Yes, they could have a positive impact if they get interested in the authenticity. In the society how it is, with its diversity and not to present this as ugliness or imperfection but something normal. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first? First of all, there should be more managing people that desire to change the industry. People that can say “no” to the mainstream and embrace the beauty of normal people. These people form media should have a dialogue with all of the people – their clients. The people that have an influence on the industry should ask how their clients see beauty and what they would like to see, wether they want to see only beauty or maybe they would like to see also ordinariness?
iwona, 35 Accountant
there are some artificial methods that could approach me to thes ideals like botox, plastic surgeries, expensive cosmetics, pushups, slimming panties. However these solutions does not satisfy me.
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? For me it means to me elegant, well-groomed with some kind of charm. It is also important to choose clothes that are suitable for age and silhouette. What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? Nowadays the fashion industry promotes young, slim people. And I am conscious that because of my age I am not able to achieve these beauty standards. It does frustrate me. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the diversity of beauty? In certain degree, as with time we can see in this business more people of colour or more diversed sizes. Unfortunately, even if they are represented, they are photoshoped a lot . Black people’s skin colour is lightening and plus size models are photoshoped so they do not look like typical curved person.There is too much of Photoshop in the fashion industry. Can you see there women like you? The women shown in the fashion industry are rather more artificial, they have a mask of makeup on their faces. There are some women similar to me in the media, however thay are not represented in the way that someone would like to follow them up. They are represented not in the beauty part. Do you think the beauty canons we see in the fashion magazines or in the social media have an impact on our self-esteem? What kind of impact? I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I like seeing perfectionism, but on the other hand I feel the frustration that I am not able to achieve this. Of course, there are some artificial methods that could approach me to thes ideals like botox, plastic surgeries, expensive cosmetics, pushups, slimming panties. However these solutions does not satisfy me. The ads and the models’ posts make us believe they are so beautiful naturally. It does not make me free from my complexes. Do you retouch the photos of yourself before posting them? Not, but I choose the best photos of me. Could social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? Yes, by presenting people like me, people that reflect the diversity of society. Not only young people of strictly fixed measurments, The media should represent the diversed world. So we could not compare with beauty standards that are not achievable. I would prefer to see the women resembling me in the media. Thanks to this I could strive for sertain appearance that is achievable for me. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first? The industry should be more inclusive.
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STOP PREACHING TO PLEASE YOURSELF. WE LIVE ON THE SAME GLOBE, WE NEED TO CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE. WE ARE NOT ALONE ON THIS PLANET.
mengtong, 21 China
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? To be beautiful for me is to be yourself, be confident, and to have our own style. What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? I think to be beautiful in the modern world means to chase the trends concerning clothing, makeup as well as beauty standards. I used to agree with that, but now I disagree in some of part. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the diversity of beauty? Honestly I think many people want to make the fashion industry inclusive, but if the fashion trends are still changing year after year, it can’t be inclusive. it’s just representing a few types of beauty in a period of time. Why the media do not represent ordinary people that you can meet on the street in your opinion? I think it’s because of fashion industry. It needs to create a desire so that they could earn money from the ordinary people. They define beauty and then they tell everyone you have to be like this or that. Some people succeed to become the beauty canons, they share the picture to exacerbate this definition, and in consequence more and more people will follow this path. No desire, no money. So that is why the media don’t represent the most of the people. The media represent the desire to get rich on people’s naivety. Can you see there girls ike you? Not too much, especially in China we couldn’t find many imperfect people on the website advertisement. I think in Europe it’s better, I could find some not so perfect models. Do you think the beauty canons we see in the fashion magazines or in the social media have an impact on our self-esteem? What kind of impact? Because of the social media some people are more dissatisfied with themselves. Do you retouch the photos of yourself before posting them? Why? Why not? I used to, but now I only adjust the colour to make the photo look closer to reality.You can’t always live in the dream. :) Could social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? Everything depends on what kind of person you are. If you are confident, social media is just a tool for you to share, and not a determinant of your selfworth. While if you are an susceptible, social media and what you see there can become you obsession. I think the most important is to find the balance and also follow the content that fill us with positive thinking about us and the world. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first? Yes, stop preaching to please yourself. We live on the same globe, we need to care about other people. We are not alone on this planet.
ilona, 46 Cosmetologist
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? It means to be in harmony with ourselves, clean, smiling, with a well-fitted makeup. Poorly chosen or exaggerated makeup can spoil everything. What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? Nowadays it means to follow certain trens dictated by the media. We can see how the global trends influence the people. Current trend for a young woman is following: big lips, perfect skin, thin waist, big ass. In my opinion it s really stupid, as we do not have much influence on our body predispositions. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the diversity of beauty? Definitely not. When you look at the runway it is plenty of perfect models of size 0, apart from few girls deviating from conventional beauty. But it does not mean that that the industry is inclusive. Do you think the beauty canons we see in the fashion magazines or in the social media have an impact on our self-esteem? What kind of impact? Unfortunately yes, it can especially strongly affect the youth. They have often problems with confidence and self-esteem and the social media and the fashion industry do not help them to fight it, but contrary. Young people follow the trends dictated by Instagrame change in the field of aesthetic medicine, big lips, and kilogram lashes is terrible I think with the years I have built up my confidence and I am not so vulnerable to the pictures I am feed up with, but of course, it has some impact on me. Do your clients accept their appearance based on your professional experience? Do they often want to be celebrities? I would say 50/50. In most of the cases thay would like to be thinner. Could social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? Yes, and I see the positive change in the industry. More and more often we can see the models of different sizes, ages with albinism for instance. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first? Yes, at first it should promote more natural styles of beauty and show that not everyone is perfect. Moreover, it should be more eco-friendly. We should also remember that in certain degree we choose what we see.
Current trend for a young woman is following: big lips, perfect skin, thin waist, big ass.
megha, 20
India
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? Beauty means inside out for me. It’s no longer about how you look from the outside but how you are from the inside. There is an obvious sudden attraction towards a physically beautiful person but it fades away and what’s left are the way you are from the inside. What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? The perception has changed nowadays, many people have accepted the concept of inner beauty. However many people are still in the mad race of looking beautiful so the make up industry and fashion houses are earning their bit. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the diversity of beauty? The fashion industry is diverse. Given the wide range of products it offers, however I find most domains inclusive but the fields like modelling and make up still find it hard to accept every type. Why the media do not represent ordinary people that you can meet on the street in your opinion? The media is always in a need of ‘happening’ news which is most probable from celebrities than from people on the road. The general public have an uncanny attraction towards the life of film stars, models etc making them want for their news more than a common man’s. Can you see the girls like you in the fashion industry? Yes many of my friends believe in the same things however some do have a completely different thought process. They value external beauty and therefore looking good is their only agenda. They undergo surgeries, apply packs
and do their bit to look the best. Do you think the beauty canons we see in the fashion magazines or in the social media have an impact on our self-esteem? What kind of impact? These canons do have an impact on us subconsciously. We tend to be attracted towards better dressed people. The body tone also attracts us subconsciously and we end up feeling a little conscious about ourselves and have a low confidence level. Do you retouch the photos of yourself before posting them? Why? Why not? It’s a common behaviour nowadays to edit the pictures we post on social media as their is a large audience waiting. Due to this the social media profiles don’t really match the actual pictures, people change their skin tone, make themselves look slimmer etc. I do change a filter or two but nothing more. Could social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? Social media is a great platform and has an even bigger reach. It could help transforming by posting better content on its sites and teaching people the actual meaning of beauty. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first? The fashion industry has always been under transformation. However I believe a shift towards sustainability and accepting slow fashion is necessary and the show off needs to reduce. This would make the general public more comfortable and would be beneficial for the environment as wel
what’s left is the way you are from the inside
I AM NOOOT ENOUGH
henry, 21 France/Spain
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? Today, everyone has its own definition of beauty, but there are people that can be more or less influenced by canons imposed by society. I don’t know how much differences (or how to account them) there are between society’s opinion and mine. I believe that the beauty is in our soul and what we see beautiful becomes beautiful. Of course, there are some physical features that I can like and that attract me, and they can be common to many established beauty canons, I cannot deny it, but for me it is essential to see beyond. To be able to speak of beauty beyond mere attractiveness. I can see the beauty in the eyes, but also in a look, or in a mouth but also in a smile. Charm is a reflection of the personality which is part of a person’s beauty. Beauty is made up of all the exterior and interior features that seem attractive to us. It is something more than attraction. What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? Nowadays criteria of a perfect body and a perfect face are quite restrictive in my opinion. Only a little number of people from the world can reach them; this idealistic appearance. I think it doesn’t take into account many forms of beauty, and is very vein. Canons are passing fads and beauty does not pass as it also comes from the interior. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the
diversity of beauty? I think it is missing to represent beauty of various types. I do not consider beauty to be only in models of x measurements. Who has chosen them ? And why ? There are many differences among all of the people. Unfortunately this strict criteria imposed by the social media cause a lot of people feel they need to try to be like models to feel better, to be accepted and to accept themselves. I think we must learn to know how to embrace the features of each one, since beauty is in our uniqueness. The unachievable ideals create fear of showing people as they really are, and make harder the self-acceptation. Why the media do not represent ordinary people that you can meet on the street in your opinion? I suppose because it’s not interesting for business and brands. They need to make feel exclusivity and differences, or to make think some bodies are like dreams, to provoke a reaction on people. Ordinary bodies are not considered as interesting because they would not create obsessions, that means less brains control, hence less money to earn. They fashion industry needs to create a desire. Could social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? It depends how expended is your social network, and its social reach. We must think of the value of someone’s “like”... who is that, what does he wants from me, what is he evaluating… does he really likes and values me as I am? Wanting to be loved is not loving yourself. Sometimes it is not easy but we must learn to do it thanks to how we live, trying to give an example by our moral principles, not only taking care of our appearance. Toxicity, dependence on someone’s opinion in many cases it moves us away from the authenticity. We must know that likes and followers don’t define ourselves. We must recognize when we pose to see ourselves good and say stop in such a moment. We must be real, also in the virtual world. That will attract realness to our lives, and reduce toxic influences.
I CAN SEE THE BEAUTY IN THE EYES, BUT ALSO IN THE LOOK OR IN A MOUTH BUT ALSO IN A SMILE.
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? Being beautiful to me involves both personality and style. Being true to yourself, being aware of your strengths and flattering them. Also being humble and improving on areas that are less desirable. In terms of style; A combination of class and jazz. I think it’s also important to be understated in your style as it makes day to day life more comfortable and less of a spotlight. Finally, I think there’s a difference between being good looking and looking good. To be beautiful is to have either the former or latter or if you won the beauty lottery, both! Lucky you. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the diversity of beauty? People pretend that it isn’t. But I think it is inclusive, the industry is so large and has so much variety for all shapes, sizes and races. There’s a niche for everyone. Nobody would deny that certain demographics representing popular culture and ‘conventional beauty’ such as Victoria’s Secret or high fashion have a monopoly within the industry but fashion is superficial and extremely vain by nature and at its core favourable for affluent people. It always has and always will be more of a playground for affluent people. Personally, I love Prada but I can’t afford it. If I could, then great and lucky me. But it doesn’t upset me that I can’t because there are plenty of alternatives.
Finally, I think there’s a difference between being good looking and looking good.
lachy, 26 Australia
Why the media do not represent ordinary people that you can meet on the street in your opinion? Fashion media doesn’t generally represent ordinary people because fame sells pretty well on its own, at least to the masses. Icons generally cover major networks across many areas. People like Cristiano Ronaldo or David Beckham are the media’s posters. They have a huge reach globally. They have played football for different famous clubs in numerous big leagues, have major sporting sponsors, fashion sponsors, incredible wealth and date pop stars and models. The exposure across everything they are involved in is enormous and extremely valuable. Do you retouch the photos of yourself before posting them? Why? Why not? I don’t have any social media accounts and don’t retouch photos. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first? I don’t think the fashion industry needs to be transformed. As far as I’m concerned it works as it should in a free market like any other industry. It promotes beauty in unrealistic ways and typically caters for the affluent. What I will say is that what needs to change are some of the ways agencies choose and scrutinise child and teenage models like dolls. I’ve seen publications where there’s hundreds of models being measured and auditioned. It’s just too extreme, especially for young and vulnerable kids who are still very raw. Also I’d like to see major labels boycott manufacturing in countries that abuse human rights conditions.
tymek, 17
Poland
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? Nowadays the media create a certain kind of beauty canon that most of the people try to achieve to feel beautiful. I reckon that this is the most significant to be beautiful – to feel beautiful. If we do not resemble the beauty canon created by the society, but we feel beautiful and we acceot ourseleves us we are, automatically we are already beautiful for at least one person. What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? Now the beauty means flawless complexion, and for women: big ass, narrow waist. For men this canon does not change that much with years – it is rather all the time fit, slightly muscled body. These canons do appeal to me. However, it doesn’t mean that if someone doesn’t fir this models he or she is ugly. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the diversity of beauty? Not yet. I observe more and more fashion initiatives fighting against lack of diversity, however this is still not enough. Why the media do not represent ordinary people that you can meet on the street in your opinion? The media create kind of unrealistic ideal life full of unachievable beauty to stimulate the demand for the unnecessary things that will supposedly make your life as perfect as you can see them in adverts. Can you see there are boys like you in the fashion industry? Yes, but this is because I fit in with the trends. Do you think the beauty canons we see in the fashion magazines or in the social media have an impact on our self-esteem? What kind of impact? Yes, they influence us pretty strongly. Many people strive to be like the beauty canons from the media. It has both negative and positive consequences. The positive result of such an action is for example that it motivates and in consequence people lose unnecessary kilograms. On the other side it can lead to depression if they won’t achieve the goal. Do you retouch the photos of yourself before posting them? Why? Why not? No. In my opinion we should present ourselves as we are, and not to create a person that we’d like to be. Could social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? I think so. The power of the media is that they can motivate. If we follow on Instagram some fit influencer for example and we attempt to achieve their body it can positively affect our body and health. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first? I think the fashion industry is currently in the stage of significant transition. The number of not perfect, old, not standard body shape people in the fashion business constantly increases. I think the redesign of the fashion industry is it only the matter of time.
we should present ourselves as we are, and not to create a person that we’d like to be
monisia, 21 Poland
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? Beauty for me is to feel confident and comfortable when I look at myself in a mirror. To appreciate my body and style and do not think what others say. To be beautiful is to be shining and smiling. Beauty hides in positive and kind soul. But I must admit unwillingly that “superficial part” of me thinks that beauty is also how somebody looks like – is he/she fat or too skinny, tall/short etc. What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? I think nowadays more and more people give up stereotype (I mean that beauty is tall, skinny, young woman/man with perfect face and hair). I noticed that some companies introduce to us marketing based on “non-perfect” models – full-shapes women with stretch marks and cellulite or skin discoloration. I appreciate these marketing campaigns because it shows that everybody has some imperfections – everybody is “normal”. But such cases are only minority. But mostly I feel that world shows beauty as something almost unavailable – smooth complexion, long legs, amazing make-up etc. Can you see there are girls/boys like you in the fashion industry? Hard to say but I think that it is hard to find girls like me in the fashion industry – I mean short girls. I didn’t notice models who are short and represent cloths. But I need to admit that some time ago few companies introduce products for small ladies – “petite collections”. But I cannot say that these cloths are represented on short models. Do you think the beauty canons we see in the fashion magazines or in the social media have an impact on our self-esteem? What kind of impact? I think yes – especially for young girls. Everybody was in school and knows how mean kids can be. The thicker ones or dark complexion kids were almost always not equally treated by other kids and bullied. It is because from every side the beauty canons are imposed on us. People can fell unworthy or not good enough because of these strict beauty perceptions. Do you retouch the photos of yourself before posting them? Why? Why not? No. I must stress that I feel good with how I look and I do not think that I should “correct” something before I post photos. Could social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? I think yes – social media should show more diversity, more normality, more imperfections, less perfect illusion. I think that celebrities/models etc. should stress (via social media) that without make up and expensive cloths they look normal – as everybody. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first? Yes, I think that fashion industry (and also people) starts to perceive beauty in a different way – but it is very slow and careful way. Industry should open to variety of “beauty” – but not only one dark skin or fullshape model.
I feel that world shows beauty as something almost unavailable – smooth complexion, long legs, amazing make-up etc.
I think that every brand in particular should start working on creating beautiful clothes for all the people to be confident and comfortable wearing. Because now even being a little bigger than S size makes it hard to search for clothes because designers often don’t think that much about how their designs will look on plus size people even if they are making a size like that. And of course it all should be about not polluting the earth and creating long-lasting designs and products.
Russia
polina, 20
What does it mean to be beautiful for you? I personally think that beauty is in the energy you have and put into the world. I think that if a person is happy and full of self-love and confidence, this energy is radiating and people see it as something very beautiful. What does it mean to be beautiful nowadays? Do you agree with this? Nowadays, I think there are still two points of view on that topic. Because I think that for many people it is still having no body fat, no body hair, white teeth and the possibility to dress themselves in expensive clothing. But I also think that for many people being beautiful it is to be healthy and confident in any size or skin colour. Do you think the fashion industry is inclusive? Does it represent the diversity of beauty? I think it got much better in the last 5 years. Now we have a lot of beautiful Hijab fashion and many different variations of plus-size bikinis for young girls and women of age. And this is beautiful. Looking at modern day teenagers is so amazing because they all express themselves so differently and fashion really helps them with that. But of course, we still have a lot to work on. Do you think the beauty canons we see in the fashion magazines or in the social media have an impact on our self-esteem? What kind of impact? Of course mostly negative impact because fashion corporations are still corporations and they are businesses, they have to make money. And the more people are insecure about themselves the more money they are ready to spend on fashion products to boost their confidence. social media positively affect our mental health and increase our confidence? How? For example, I remember how Instagram banned post plastic surgery face masks with those tiny noses and huge lips. This was a good decision I think. I think Tik-Tok is an amazing platform for these purposes because there are not so many brands there now and the diversity is huge there. It boosted my own self-confidence a lot. Should the fashion industry be transformed? What should be done first?
The more people are insecure about themselves the more money they are ready to spend on fashion products to boost their confidence.
we are born not to be perfect but to be
REAL