Been clothes shopping lately? Taken a close look at the mannequins modeling the clothes? It's bad enough in the Men's Department where everything is displayed on a mannequin about the size of a high school freshman but the Women's Department is truly nightmarish. Female mannequins in America are designed to display either size 4 or size 6. The average size worn by American women is size 14. 14!?! Hell, I don't even where a size 14 and I'm a guy. Trust me, I can schwiggle this saggy little old ass into a women's size 12 gown in a heartbeat. A 10 if it's cut right. And still have enough lee-way to need it taken up a tad around the bodice.
Why is it, as a nation that is expanding waistband wise at an exponential rate, that we are being subjected to waif-thin bulimic mannequins? Let alone wearing clothes that we fall in love with right up until we walk out of the dressing room and take a look in the mirror? I once spent 20 minutes in a dressing room putting myself into an ensemble I loved. On the mannequin. In the mirror I was an Umpa-Lumpa. OK, I'm gay, I notice that sort of fashion faux pax . Straight guys don't. It's sad...
Ladies, I bow to your patience and apparent unwillingness to take a store hostage in anger. I have noticed those mannequins. They have no boobs. They have no hips. Their legs are chop sticks. I have seen more meat on a scarecrow!!! Why do you think that the dress doesn't look as good on you as it does on "her"? And that size thing... What a joke. You do know that about 18 years ago the fashion industry decided to "re-size" the sizes, don't you??? Oh, yeah... Size 10 suddenly became an 8, 8 a 6, 6 a 4, 4 a 2. And then the ultimate weirdness.. the size ZERO. Yes, zero. Who the bloody hell wears a size zero??? Pencils? Bamboo skewers? Pipe cleaners?
This has all managed to create a rather entertaining back-lash around the world. Magazines have been berated for Photoshopping covers to make models slimmer, models have been getting younger so they are smaller, that rail thin, bulimic "look" is being accepted as desirable (if not fully expected), we can actually seen the models skeleton and sleep overs became puke overs for way too many junior high school aged girls. And we finally got fed up.
Sweden has come to our rescue. A chain store of women's stores there has had some custom made mannequins done for them. To model lingerie. OMg, has this sparked a hissy fit on the Web. The mannequins are amazing!!! They have curves where curves should be. They have boobs. They have hips. And lordy, do they have legs. Totally realistic. Right down to where the body fat should be. I'd say they are about a size 8. Which is really a size 10 but I digress... And they actually look healthy, which is kind of hard to do when you're made out of fiberglass and aluminum. Unless of course, you're Anne Francis in that really bizarre Twilight Zone episode. This chain is getting slammed with emails. Some in support, some not. The supportive ones praise them for showing women as they really are and encouraging healthy self images and the others are blaming them for supporting obesity (WTF did size freaking 8 become obese???). In all honesty, these mannequins look like one of those bikini wearing surfer girls in one of those 1960's beach movies. I don't remember that being fat...
Again, Sweden, I commend you. One small step. But a great leap forward. We come in all shapes, sizes and heights. Colors, too. And, yes, some of us have hips...
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