Pressure Pointes What the ballet world hopes to leave backstage: My struggle with Anorexia and Bulimia By: Mary Wojcik
It all started at the age of three, when my mother put me in my very first ballet class. Surrounded by tutus and pointe shoes I was in a constant state of awe. While dance later became my favorite form of expression, I never knew the repercussions that were to come.As time went on dance became my life. I saw my dance teachers more than my parents. Whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be I always replied either a prima ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre or a Rockette.I was always the shining pupil. Front and center even when in a class with girls much older than I. I was determined to do anything and everything to reach the top. In fifth grade I received my first pair of pointe shoes. They were Russian Pointes $110 plus the cost of ribbon and elastic. $110 that you use a cheese grader on the sole to grip better, dab water on the sides to ease the satin to stretch and form to your feet, even slamming the top Me at age 5 on right of the shoe against the walls to “ break them in” I think the metaphor of breaking in pointe shoes are something that could be compared to what dancers put their bodies through as well. Everything in dance world is about “lines”. How long your legs are compared to how you hold your arms. While being constantly aware of how I looked in a mirror was second nature, once I hit puberty everything changed. I only grew to be about 5’ 2, I had a little bit of a tush to me and my thighs were solid muscle.My dream of being a rockette went out the door, being that you have to be at least 5’6 to audition. My lines became a tad more curvy then other girls in class. I had a teacher who would hit me on the tush with a ruler while in class to “tuck it under” to have a
cleaner line. It was embarrassing. I was standing next to these girls who were naturally thin and felt so incredibly ashamed of myself. The arches of my feet weren’t as high as the other girls in my class, and although I wasn’t sent to the back , front and center started to shift to the side.I still got decent roles but, I wasn’t the star anymore. I knew I wasn’t able to control the arches of my feet. No matter how many ankle exercises I did. I had to find a way to get back to the top. The only way I saw possible was to stop eating. The ideal body type for a ballerina includes becoming a stick figure. They want you to have no curves whatsoever, to stay in a prepubescent body just a tad taller. So I stopped eating. I fell into a really deep depression my sophomore year of high school. Dance was the only thing that ever felt right for me and I felt like I was losing it. I did everything possible in order to lose weight. I went to extra dance classes, the only thing I ate was only a small portion of a power bar a day. On really bad days I even used the end of a toothbrush to force myself to throw up. I was completely ruining my body and wasn’t seeing results. It was so extremely unhealthy. I was weak and tired in class, my hair started falling out in huge clumps. Although I have always been named by society as being “thin” , dance world is a completely different spectrum. No matter what I did nothing worked. I was on break for winter recess from school and my dance studio was closed, while I still ate almost nothing, if anything I rationed out a few cheerios, I in fact gained weight. It wasn’t until my mom caught me trying to throw up after a meal in the bathroom that anyone took notice. I knew I was bad, I knew it wasn’t healthy but at that time it was the My lightest around 100lbs. From only thing that I could control. My brother had just Left to Right ; My friend Megan, been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was in and Myself. out of the hospital, and I saw my brother’s problems being much bigger than my own, and even though I knew I needed to ask for help, I didn’t want to give my parents another thing to worry about. I found out later on when I got blood work, the reason that all of my tricks to being slim didn’t work was because I have hypothyroidism. This means ultimately that
my thyroid doesn’t work, which basically controls everything in your body. Hypothyroidism leads to depression and losing your hair along with controlling your metabolism. Without my medication that I am on now, I essentially have no metabolism whatsoever. The only reason I stayed as fit as I did was because I was dancing 6-7 days a week. Dance world made me incredibly paranoid about my weight, and it ended up being something that without medication, I couldn’t even control. With the love and support of my parents I was able to get back on track. I’ve had a couple of slip-up days, but I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten away from the dance world that there have been fewer and fewer of them. Me, today. Although I still love dance, and miss it dearly I don’t miss the subtle pressures that came with it. While dance will always have to stay connected to appearance to some extent, there needs to be a place for dancers of all shapes and sizes.Dancers with curves need to know that their movements can be just as powerful as the dancers with no curves. I feel that within dance magazines all of the dancewear models are extremely thin, to where you can see their ribcages or spine in pictures. If it wasn’t for the movie Center Stage showing the dance world for what it is, I feel that I may still have felt as an outcast before getting the help I needed. It’s taken me a while to share my story, but I hope that girls can learn from it. Learn that you are beautiful no matter your shape or size. Learn that somethings are beyond your control. Learn that you are worth something. Learn to ask for help when you need it. Most importantly learn to love yourself.
Women’s Wear Daily 17 February 2012
Retail Apparel Prices Rise
WASHINGTON — Retail apparel prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent in January compared with December, as merchants regained some pricing power after heavy discounting during the holidays, the U.S. Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index showed Friday. Women’s apparel prices rose 1.2 percent in January, while men’s apparel prices rose 1.7 percent. On a year-over-year basis, all retail apparel prices were 4.7 percent higher last month compared with January 2011, as men’s prices increased 6.3 percent and women’s prices rose 4.2 percent. The overall Consumer Price Index showed some new signs of inflationary pressure, increasing 0.2 percent in January. Core retail prices, excluding volatile food and energy prices, also advanced 0.2 percent in January compared with December.
Within the men’s category, prices on suits, sport coats and outerwear spiked 6.3 percent in the month, while prices on pants and shorts rose 1.9 percent and prices for shirts and sweaters increased 0.1 percent. In women’s, retail prices on suits and separates increased 2.7 percent last month, while prices on outerwear rose 0.4 percent and prices on underwear, nightwear, sportswear and accessories were up 0.8 percent. “I’m thinking previous rounds of input price increases are still filtering through,” said Jeet Dutta, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics. “It would seem retailers are having success based on the apparel CPI.” Dutta said he believes the pricing power that retailers regained was linked to tight inventory control management during the holidays. “If the job market really does accelerate to a very strong pace, demand would also be accordingly strong and then retailers can have a modicum of pricing power,” he said. However, “If gas prices go beyond the $3.50-a-gallon range that we are in right now, that would hurt the pricing power in retail categories.”
Chris Christopher Jr., senior principle economist at IHS Global Insight, said the 0.9 percent increase in apparel prices was “transitory.” IHS is forecasting a moderation in retail apparel prices this year, as factors such as rising gasoline prices further dampen consumer confidence and purchasing power. “By June, pump prices could surpass $4 a gallon solely on normal seasonal movements,”
Christopher said. “The consistent upward ticking of gasoline prices will lower consumer mood even though there has been significant improvement on the jobs front.”
What you need to know: Over the last couple of months retail apparel prices have been on the rise.This has showed that merchants are starting to regain some of the pricing power which after the holiday’s deep discounts. It is said that the prices have rose 0.9 percent from December to January. Men’s apparel prices seemed to have a bigger change than women’s. All of men’s retail apparel prices increased 6.3 percent when women’s prices rose 4.2 percent. While some believe that the retailers regaining of power was due to a tight inventory after the holidays, some are nervous that it will go back down because of the possibility of higher gas prices this summer. Chris Christopher Jr , senior principle economist at IHS Global Insight said “ The consistent upward ticking of gasoline prices will lower consumer mood even though there has been significant improvement on the jobs front.” The retail industry will ultimately be affected by outside factors for it’s future success. However, as for now a rise in retail sales would lead to there being more job opportunities within the field because stores will have more money coming in and will be able to afford new employees. We will have to wait and see just how long this power will be in the hands of the retailer before high gasoline prices have their way.
It’s Not About The Number... Big or Small By Kelsey Tallerico You hear You see it implied, even through shows, videos, and so displayed for see. The women who one thing in body. And grown up with and years now: thin.”
about it all the time. everyday. It’s if never spoken, magazines, television movies, music on. There they are, every consumer to young, beautiful always seem to have common: the perfect young girls have a mantra for years “the pressure to be
I, on the other hand, am one girl who has not grown up forcing myself to live by that mantra, possibly because I’ve never had to. I have always been naturally thin, literally ever since I lost my baby fat as a toddler. I have never had to struggle with weight, and I have always ate whatever I wanted. I have never struggled with an eating disorder or viewed my body in an unhealthy way. For these reasons, for many years, I always considered myself lucky, and I never took for granted the fact that I never had to “watch my weight” or struggle with body image. My small frame was literally never an issue for me. Until, that is, the summer of 2009, exactly four days after I graduated from high school. I started having unbearable stomach cramps, far worse than anything I had ever experienced as a young woman ‘that time of the month.’ It was like someone was stabbing me in the abdomen, ripping at my intestines; literally, the worst pain I have ever been in. For the past year, I had been going to different doctors left and right, because I had developed some similar stomach cramping, but nothing as bad, and my left knee had swollen up to where I could barely walk. I had different physicians giving me such different ‘ideas’ of diagnoses: one doctor told me it was probably just the stress of senior year and the cramps were likely temporary, while another doctor told me I might have inflammatory arthritis, because of my swollen knee. As a 17 year-old, I found that highly unlikely. Finally, one doctor told me I should look into seeing a Gastrointestinal doctor,
and follow up on my family history of Crohn’s disease, because the symptoms seemed to match up quite perfectly. Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that affects your gastrointestinal tract and immune system. My mother has it, as well as one of my aunts - my mom’s older sister. They can’t prove the disease is hereditary, but yet, it runs in families. When we finally chose to make an appointment with my mother’s GI doctor, four days after my high school graduation, I scheduled a colonoscopy, and within the next couple weeks, found out I had Crohn’s disease. In that small amount of time, less than a month’s span, I lost 15lbs. As I said before, I have always been small; I had never gotten past the 105lb. mark in all my 18 years. But I dropped down to 90lbs. in that time of being sick and before being officially diagnosed with Crohn’s, and that was the point when I knew that I was too small. However, that was because I was unhealthy; I had a disease that I had to get under control, and I knew that I was on my way to. I eventually gained some weight back, but still to this day, I have never gotten back to 105lbs. However, I am happy with my size, because I know that I am healthy, I have my disease under control, and being naturally thin was my body type both before and after my Crohn’s. I have accepted that this is the body I am going to have, likely for the rest of my life. You always hear people talk about weight discrimination, and of course, most people think of that weight discrimination being against people who are overweight, not underweight or too thin. While I think that overweight people are definitely more discriminated against than those who are underweight, I know that I personally have experienced times in my 23 years of life that people have treated me rudely or something about me ‘assumed’ because of my tiny frame. It has never as cliche as it the body God gave diagnosed with am beautiful just would be lying if I threatened to shake multiple people ask “You’re so thin! enough.” Some have even wrongly disorder. In high called ‘friend’ tell 20lbs., but she skinny as me, wouldn’t want to be too thin.”
affected me. To this day, sounds, I know that this is me, before and after being Crohn’s, and I know that I the way I am. However, I said it never once my confidence. I have had me, “Do you ever eat?” or You must not eat people throughout my life assumed I had an eating school, I had one some she wanted to lose didn’t want to ever be as because, “no offense, I as skinny as you. That’s
My family told me it was jealousy. Sure, maybe that’s some of it. But I think the larger issue at play here is that there are a larger percentage of girls and women than people realize that are being discriminated against because of their small body frames. For example, in the modeling industry, there is a huge outcry over models that are a size 0 and ‘too thin,’ and there have even been measures trying to be pushed to enact a set weight that models will have to reach before they can walk the runway. I find these measures appalling. I am a size 0; sometimes, I can even fit into a 00. I’ve had people tell me, whether knowing that’s my size or not, that “0 and 00 are not even real numbers! They shouldn’t be a clothing size for a grown woman.” I find those remarks totally offensive. I have a disease that affects my weight; a disease I cannot control that I have. But even before I was diagnosed with it, I was the same size. Healthily. What if some of these models are just naturally thin, naturally size 0’s, like me? Should they be discriminated against because they were born that way? Now, I understand that a great deal of those models are starving themselves and do in fact have eating disorders, and that is why they are that tiny, and of course, that should not be condoned. But I think there needs to be a strong regulation about health in industries like modeling, and not just a focus on the size of the model. The girls and women who are naturally thin, like myself, should not be forced to meet a set weight or be discriminated against because they are a size that some people feel “does not even exist.” However, if they are trying to reach a size 0 in unhealthy matters, then something should absolutely be addressed. The summer of 2009 became the first time in my life where my weight was affected because of my health. But it was a health issue I could not control. And yes, sure; there have been times that it’s been a struggle for me to try to get back to 105lbs., or find jeans that fit me tight enough, or feel ‘womanly’ enough, as I have grown from my late teens into my early twenties. But I feel that I have a strong enough self-image and self-confidence to realize that, as long as I am healthy about my weight in a way that I can control, and keep my Crohn’s in check, it doesn’t matter what size I am. A size 0 is still womanly; just because I have small boobs and a small butt does not mean I look like a “little girl,” and it definitely does not mean that I am not “attractive enough” to men my age, just because I don’t have the body of Sofia Vergara or whatever. I am a 23 year-old grown woman! I should not be perceived as a child because I have a tiny frame. I should not be discriminated against because I have a tiny frame. No one should ‘assume’ I have an
eating disorder or starve myself because I wear a clothing size that precedes a size 1. And that goes for every girl and woman who healthily has a small frame. Model or not, famous or not, self-confident or not; if you are naturally thin, there’s nothing wrong with that, and you should not have to face weight discrimination on the opposite spectrum, that no one ever seems to talk about. Through my diagnosis of Crohn’s, the five years after, and the culmination of all the years before, I have realized that I am no less of a woman because I am very thin. But there have been people along the way who have tried to shake that confidence, both directly to myself and by discriminating against girls in the public eye, like thin models on the runway. Because of this, I think there should be standards advocating for a healthy body image for all girls and women, no matter if healthy for them is a size 0 or plus size. It should NEVER be about the number. Your clothing size doesn’t define you…nor does anyone else’s opinion of what size your body should be.
Growing Pains Growing up being not only the youngest, but also the youngest girl meant one thing: I was spoiled. Not only spoiled, but I was sheltered, protected, and just held up to a standard of being the perfect angel. I’m not complaining of course, I had and currently have an amazing life. But I’d be lying if I said I’ve been able to do everything I’ve wanted. The purpose of this isn’t to complain, but to bring about some issues of being a girl in an Arab household with parents who are “FOB” or fresh off the boat, or for short, boaters. I say this with the most amount of endearment of course, not to insult, but just to give a perspective. In about 7th grade I started liking rock music and of course got more and more into the life style that went with it. I wanted to dress a certain way and do my hair a certain way and of course pierce things. Now I was young at the time, so of course I wasn’t allowed to, but that doesn’t mean the issues went away. I grew up and I still went to concerts, wore skinny jeans, listened to pop punk music, and wore a lot of black. My cousins were completely the opposite of course. I was always called “the white girl” because of the way I dressed and the music I listened to. They liked rap and pop, dressed to all the trends, and wore lots of girly and colorful things. This carried on even today. Now a days, I still dress a lot different than a lot of “Arab” girls do. I’m not saying all, but most Arabic girls have a certain sense of style and wear their make up a certain way and I’ve never fit in with that. Continuing on to my main point, being in a family that cares a lot about reputation, I wasn’t allowed to do everything I wanted look wise. I’m 20 years old and until this day I can’t get my nose pierced because my mom doesn’t want me looking “trashy”. I can’t even pierce more than one hole on my ear for the same reasons. The focus has always been on my reputation, and the type of person everyone else perceives me to be. I tried explaining to them that a nose piercing is actually widely accepted now, and that it wasn’t a big deal and their reasoning was just “we don’t care about them, you’re our daughter and a good girl, don’t ruin your reputation.” I always found that silly because I always knew that something as simple as a piercing wouldn’t change my reputation, but I dealt with it because I understood it was not only a traditional value, but a generational gap as well. If anyone reading this is going through the same type of issues, my only advice would be to not to take it personally. Be you and don’t worry about what others think of you, especially your inner circle. But always remember to respect the people who care about you and remember to see other view points besides your own.
The Wallstreet Journal 19 January 2012
The Shopping Science Behind Lucky’s Revamp The company's new merchandise strategy dictates where to display the latest shipments of the "Charlie" denim cut and how to roll up the cuffs of skinny jeans in store displays (one roll, on only the top pair in a stack). An inch-thick document for store employees lays out which clothes should be paired on mannequins and where to hang bracelets. "They say retail's in the details," says David DeMattei, chief executive of Lucky Brand. He is leading a makeover of Lucky Brand along with Patrick Wade, the brand's creative director. They recently imparted the new strategy to 75 managers in a pep rally at the prototype store here at the Century City Mall. But shoppers aren't supposed to detect all this planning. "We don't want it to look like a science," says Mr. DeMattei. "We just want it to look relaxed." The big question is how shoppers will respond to the new Lucky Brand. Several years into Restoration Hardware's new look, many consumers are still unaware of the changes there. Mr. DeMattei says loyal customers have already accepted the new Lucky, as change has crept into the collections over the past year or so. "Our big job now is to grow our customer base," he says. The changes include more-feminine fits, "super stretch" denim for women, fashion collections that take note of runway trends (such as the 1940s-influenced florals currently in stores), the introduction of shoes and accessories, and bumped-up ad campaigns with name models such as David Gandy, shot by fashion photographer Carter Smith. The company has embarked on an aggressive growth strategy, pledging to grow revenue to more than $1 billion from $386.9 million in 2010. All this is being accomplished with a barrage of minute changes. For instance, sales associates now place purchases in tissue paper at checkout. "We hate clothes thrown in a bag," says Mr. DeMattei. And Lucky launched a catalog -- a seemingly old-school move meant to inspire people to head to its website.
Lucky Brand is a focus of its parent, Liz Claiborne Inc., which announced its intention to change its name to Fifth & Pacific after agreeing last fall to sell the Liz Claiborne brand to J.C. Penney Co. The company has said it will center its efforts on its three "global lifestyle brands" -- Juicy Couture, Kate Spade and Lucky Brand. The company in early 2010 hired Mr. Wade and Mr. DeMattei, who have been partners in life as well as work for 27 years, since working at Gap Inc. They came out of their San Francisco retirement, sold a vacation home in the Napa Valley, and moved, along with their two dachshunds, to Los Angeles. There, they have been implementing a methodical retailing strategy that they have applied before, most recently at Coach and previously at J. Crew, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma Home and West Elm. The strategy includes increasing the number of retail stores and outlets to 350 from 165, pushing growth in Europe and Asia, and developing or expanding children's, home and accessories lines. They have built new headquarters in downtown L.A., where they are set to move later this month. They've been pressing for the attention of the fashion press: In New York last month, Lucky fitted 27 fashion-magazine editors with four to five pairs of custom jeans each. And they have added 500,000 customers to the email database. But the stores are at the center of the strategy. Lucky Brand, known for its country-style jeans for urbanites -- and the saucy red "Lucky You" stitched inside the fly -- was once marketed somewhat like an upscale Levi's. Its stores had the wood-paneled interiors and jumbled look of a trendy shack. To Mr. DeMattei and Mr. Wade, the stores were failing to entice shoppers with cleanly styled looks that could be part of a Lucky Brand lifestyle. The stores' role is to "romance" the customer, they say. The fashion brands that romance them include Brunello Cucinelli, Paul Smith, James Perse, Apple, and a primary competitor, Ralph Lauren's RRL label. So far, 50 of the 165 stores have undergone the renovations, and another 35 are expected to do so this year. That includes adding raffia wallpaper for a more homey feel, painting the black and galvanized-metal trim a cheery white, and pulling merchandise from ceiling-level shelves to a more accessible level. "It starts with the windows," Mr. Wade said a day after the pep rally, staring at a mannequin in a blue floral blouse and jeans. Just inside the door, the same outfit appeared, stacked on a table with complementary items -- the shirt in a ripe red version and the jeans in crimson and denim.
The idea is to get shoppers thinking: "I could buy it just the way it is in the window -- or make the look my own with the red blouse."
The executives have been testing whether to put menswear or womenswear in the front of stores. A year-long study of which leads to higher revenue has been inconclusive, but their prototype store places menswear in the back. They have made mistakes, such as introducing khaki at the height of last year's trend. "We ordered too much. It didn't sell," says Mr. DeMattei. Mr. Wade says, "We made it too country, too sweet. Lucky is about being irreverent." The company is still short of some goals, including speed in replenishing inventory -- the lifeblood of any retailer. The goal is to review inventory each Monday and have new shipments in stores by Friday to meet the demand on weekends, when roughly 42% of Lucky Brand's sales take place. Empty shelves or missing sizes can make it hard to boost "the profitability of the four walls," Mr. DeMattei says. The goal in three years is to reach $600 in sales per square foot. When they arrived at Lucky Brand, that number was $380 per square foot. He declines to divulge the current number but notes, "We're on our way."
What you need to know : Over the past year Lucky Brand stores have been hosting many renovations. They have been in the process of changing their overall look of the stores, going from drab wood-paneled interiors and “ the jumbled look of a trendy shack” to create a more “clean” look and help define the Lucky lifestyle. Amongst renovations they have been tweaking displays to hopefully gain a higher revenue. I firmly agree with David DeMattei, chief executive of Lucky Brand, when he said “ They say retail’s in the details”. The company has spent a large amount of money to do research on what type of displays work the best and ultimately results in higher sales. In the world of retail it is a must to keep current and updated with the trends, and Lucky Brand is doing just that by adding different styles that have been seen on the runways in their new lines. Amongst other plans to increase retail revenue, which helps the fashion industry, is that Lucky Brand plans on opening 185 stores and outlets with the creation of new stores come more jobs within the retail field helping the economy as well
THE ANY WEATHER SWEATER BY: ESTHER ADAMS Getting appropriately dressed between seasons is not as easy as it used to be. A blast of snow on the East Coast in October, followed by splashes of sunlight in November, have rendered the length of time between summer and winter more blurred and erratic than ever. But one quick look at style on the street proves that irrational weather only makes for more creative dressers and that the ultimate multipurpose staple at this time of year is the often underestimated sweater. Case in point: Frida Gustavsson. The Swedish style maven took an evening approach to amping up her loose, peachy crew neck and jeans by accessorizing with a near-clashing crimson clutch, jagged art-deco necklace, and French-braided up do. Meanwhile Canadian beauty Alana Zimmer lifted a sharp, creamy shirt collar over her solid navy pullover and added extravagant flashes of gold. However, the real pull of this transitional basic is its innate versatility. If it warms up? Take it off. If it cools down? Add another layer . . . or two. After all, neither of the aforementioned models would lose the essence of their look should they decide to intensify the warmth factor with a textured cardigan, sleek turtleneck, or shaggy fur coat when the cold front really hits.
What you need to know: This article is mostly about how fall is a very unpredictable season, weather wise. People do not always know what to wear and often underestimate the power of a sweater. Sweaters can be great staple items for the fall because it is warmer, you can take it off and if it gets chill you add a layer or two. I thought that this was a great article to remind people to wear their sweaters. It may seem like a simple item, and it is, but that’s the beauty of it. You can dress it up or down depending on you accessories and layers, and you can always add a collard shirt underneath for some extra flair. A sweater is always handy.
Three Fashion Trends for Fall 2014 1. Fabric Blocking- The same idea as color blocking, but this time exploring different interactions between textures. This was seen at The Row’s Fall 2014 RTW show. Italy has recently been on board with mixing different fabrics.
2.
Digital Prints- The idea that “science is
becoming cool” has started to come into play, with graphic prints like Proenza Schouler’s printed skirts that had images from google earth.Digital prints have been huge in Tokyo.
3. Lilac-Seen on many runways the dusty shad of purple is bound to be a hit in the fall. This particular dress was during Paris fashion week from Christian Dior’s fall 2014 collection.
Contradiction of the “Insta-babes”
The rise of social media within today’s society can be looked at in many different ways. A lot of people think it’s a positive way of bringing people together and allowing connections to remain strong even when physical interaction is lost. Sharing of thoughts and fun experiences can be posted and shared not only in your immediate circle, but all over the world. These outlets have proved to be not only fun, but basis for entire social movements and catapulting some people into fame. The most often used social media network, Instagram, is proof of all the positive but also the negative. With over 150 million users the effects it’s having in society are widespread. Coining words like “selfie”, which is now added into the Webster’s dictionary, Instagram has created a culture almost within itself. Using hashtags, tagging, and now direct messaging the platform is means for any sort of communication possible. So what’s so bad about it? Society, girls especially, are being pulled in two directions now a days. On one hand we have the push for creating confidence within every girl, no matter what image. Within campaigns like Dove’s real beauty and recently Aerie a popular lingerie company vowing not to retouch any of their ads, the idea of positive beauty image is being put in the spotlight more and more. There are holes in these ideas though. Although Dove and Aerie vow to use “real” woman, they still almost always look the same. Although these are both improvements to previous “love your body” campaigns, they still aren’t 100%. Victoria Secret’s Love Your Body Campaign vs Dove Real Beauty
So how does all of this relate to social media? Well I’ll say it simply, the rise of the Insta-babes. These girls boast hundreds of thousands of followers, sometimes even millions and most are just regular run of the mill girls. What makes them special is that these girls are all extremely attractive, with ridiculously thin bodies with either huge boobs or a huge butt, all while keeping the smallest of waists. Again, these are real girls. No Photoshop other than the occasional filter provided by Instagram. One example, a woman named Jen Setler has over 2 million followers. She’s a normal 20 girl from New Jersey but uses Instagram to show off certain…ASSets. She’s gained followers continuously after posting picture after picture of her back end while keeping an impossibly small waist. She posts videos of her workouts as well in hopes to inspire other girls who want to have a body like hers. She’s gained fame from nothing but her body and has gone as far as dropping out of college to pursue her social media fame. She’s recognized in public almost everywhere and has been sponsored by workout companies and plans to create her own work out line. Selter is only one example of thousands of girls who are gaining fame the same way she has. They are using Instagram as a platform to start modeling careers, be fitness inspirations, or be fashion inspirations.
Shots from Jen Selter’s Instagram page. Notice the amount of followers and likes, and also the lack of showing face in the pictures.
But what kind of message does this send to the millions of girls and men on these websites? Girls are seeing other girls just like them gain fame and popularity for doing nothing but showing off their great bodies. Girls as young as 14 and 15 are posting pictures of themselves practically naked, not even including their face, in hopes of gaining followers in the way they see others doing. Men of course see these pictures and their expectations are built off of the “famous” girls as well, and are also getting used to the body being objectified even more than it previously was. The effects are widespread as well. This is something that’s happening around the world. Instagram is a World Wide Web application. Whereas before certain countries held certain beauty ideals, countries everywhere are seeing our western beauty ideals and adopting them as well. Instagram is opening the eyes of women around the world to what people here in America hold as beautiful. Girls are being bombarded with completely opposing messages: be yourself and be beautiful, but look a certain way because it will make you popular and famous. Our advice? Be yourself. Don’t worry about the girl who posts pictures every day of her body because at the end of the day Instagram followers don’t mean anything. At the same time, don’t fall victim to ads saying that this is what a real woman should look like. Be yourself and be confident in your skin!
New Trends From New Girl Since the first episode of the new show “New Girl” on Fox, I have been hearing many remarks on the style of Zooey Deschanel’s character, Jess. Yet it is not just Deschanel’s attire that is causing sparks it’s her hair cut. Her look is wholesome and goes back to the 50’s and sixties styles which is fresh from the overexposed looks that we have been seeing lately. Jess is quirky and has been labeled as “ adorkable” and many girls, much like myself can relate to her charming awkwardness and want to be able to emulate her. I currently am friends with three girls who have commented about wanting the blunt bangs of Deschanel and one who has gone through with cutting her hair. The bright colors seem to be right on trend for spring and the silhouettes uphold the retro feel that many indie college kids are wanting to go for.
Be you. Be great.