[foodmasochist]

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/controversi...op-model--1875

check out that link-i don't know this girls whole story nor do i know much about the show, but she is 6'2"-i just can't imagine what this tells America's daughters

-fm

[lazylioness]

I watch the show. Anne is very VERY self conscious about how she looks. Her whole family is built just like her. They have done a lot of the show around Anne and how she is/has been bullied because of how she looks.

They handled it all very well, and actually had a girl who ABSOLUTELY had an eating disorder leave the show, because of the issue of "what would people think about themselves"

I am not a huge Tyra Banks fan, but from what I have seen she is absolutely sensitive to weight issues and goes above and beyond on her show to make sure that girls are shown in a positive light.

[flippychick]

I've only seen this show twice - once was earlier this season, and I have to admit, I watched it last night ON PURPOSE because I liked Ann so much! She was so genuine. I'm glad she won for own self-esteem and because she is so unique looking! She's living proof that tall and thin doesn't always mean cocky and confident.

[foodmasochist]

i am pleasantly surprised by the compliments you guys give this girl Anne, and the show. That's great if she was portrayed in a positive light and it wasn't an "all girls should look like this!" thing. i didn't hear about any of this, and as you can see yahoo had it as a headline. i just didn't know what to make of it. thanks for the information!

-dm

[vatkins22]

i saw the picture and was shocked too. i'm glad yall posted the info about her, because i never would have known! i can def see how this could cause self image issues for her.

[RoseRodent]

Yes, she is "naturally" skinny down to her appetite and she's very fidgety so she burns a lot off. They featured this over and over again that with her height she finds it hard to eat enough so she's always been this way. The girl Annamarie was put off right at the beginning because she was body dysmorphic, she was talking about how she tries to "get lean" and it's not working and she was terribly thin. It was clear she had a much larger rib and pelvic girdle than the other models, so even with dramatic and excessive weight loss she was never going to be a size zero. And that's the bit that I think is sad, she could only ever work in the plus sized industry (with considerable weight gain!) but there is no market for a girl who is in between a zero and a US 10-12.

I hate the industry for constantly saying that girls must fit into sample sizes - yes, but if you made samples in a size 2, 4, 20 then that would be the sample size! I think it's lazier too, it's an awful lot easier to make clothes that hang on a flat-chested girl with no hips, it's far more challenging to make clothes that have to go around corners. They do turn up at shows with a box of shoes in assorted sizes, so if you can bring shoes in all sizes from 5 to 13 then you can bring different sizes of clothing. To a certain extent they do force people into sizes that don't fit, but they at least start out with the idea that you might be different sizes, so why not the same with the clothes?

I don't think it's so much of an issue what it says to young girls that a naturally thin person won the show, more what the whole industry says to young girls that there is only one mould of correct size and shape and if you are too short, too tall, too fat, too disabled, too spotty, too facially disfigured then you aren't good enough. The BBC show "Britain's Missing Top Model" at least tried to tackle the issue of getting disabled girls into modelling, but it was a farce because it was shown on a minority channel, many of the most disabled girls were rejected at casting because they were too disabled (!!!) and there was not even a guarantee of a prize, if the magazine editor and agent did not like the look of the winner they could have rejected them. Doesn't really show parity with the mainstream model community where a prize is guaranteed to the winner. Many of those who took part were a bit tokenistic also, they didn't actually want to be models and it was sad that those who really did want it were rejected at casting in favour of a journalist doing it for kicks.

It's a bad industry, but I do enjoy the show for the purposes of pointing out to some of the girls who think all they need is to stand there and be pretty that actually it's not that glamorous and you get next to no credit for what you do, the designer and the photographer get credits, you are to stand there and wear what you are told.

[lazylioness]

Yeah Annamarie was BAD. I watched her and she was horrible (her attitude sucked too)

But I love the show in general. Being engaged to a photographer/designer, having a daughter who wants to be in fashion merchandising and loving all things fashion related myself, it is a nice little guilty pleasure/entertainment thing.

Project Runway is also one of my favs HAHA

And actually, an industry "sample size" is a 6.

[RoseRodent]

Originally Posted by lazylioness

Yeah Annamarie was BAD. I watched her and she was horrible (her attitude sucked too)

Bad attitude tends to be a bit of a side-effect of anorexia too, I was horrible when I was suffering with my ED, so ashamed of what I put people through, except that I need to put that behind me as an illness, so have made my peace with everyone and they understand what I was going through at the time. It's much broader than just getting thin, it's an all over mental disorder that makes you sneaky and unpleasant too.

US 6 or European 6? They are usually a European 6 here, that's pretty small, think it's a US 2.

[lazylioness]

yeah I am sure that was part of her attitude problem.

As for European or US size, not sure. This is what I know. I sew, my clothes, kids clothes blankets whatever I can get my hands on. When I buy a pattern for my eldest daughter, her measurements have her in a size 6. When she buys clothes from the store, she is a size Childrens 12-Petite 3 (VERY rarely) usually a 0 or 00. My daughter is 19, 4'11 (actually 10 3/4) and about 93 lbs. She has curves so not a "stick". My middle daughter when I sew for her is in a 16-18 but when shopping in a store, a 10-12. There is 5 inches and 50 lbs difference in their sizes, but the same 4-5 "size" difference in their store purchased vs. home sewn clothes.

Now if this makes a difference or not, I am not sure. However it does make one think. Part of the reason that the models appear so small, is that they are super tall. I am 5'1 if I stand up straight, so 5'9 is super tall LOL. So when I imagine my daughters 29 inch hips, on someone almost a foot taller than her, I imagine that it would be "smaller" with not as many curves, so it could still be a US 6.

Make sense?

[Wysteria]

Originally Posted by RoseRodent

I hate the industry for constantly saying that girls must fit into sample sizes - yes, but if you made samples in a size 2, 4, 20 then that would be the sample size! I think it's lazier too, it's an awful lot easier to make clothes that hang on a flat-chested girl with no hips, it's far more challenging to make clothes that have to go around corners. They do turn up at shows with a box of shoes in assorted sizes, so if you can bring shoes in all sizes from 5 to 13 then you can bring different sizes of clothing. To a certain extent they do force people into sizes that don't fit, but they at least start out with the idea that you might be different sizes, so why not the same with the clothes?

Thing is that models are just that - models. They're really just walking, talking mannequins used to sell clothes. So samples are made to a standard size, which is a UK size 8, so all models must be a size 8 or under. My mum has a very old Westwood dress that she bought in a sample sale years ago, and that's a size 8. I remember her telling me that that was the only size available.

And it's also cheaper to make something in a size 8 than a size 16. Less fabric, if you think about it logically. And if you're making a couture dress with fine fabric woven from the backsides of guinea pigs fed on gold leaf somewhere in the Himalayas, you'd want to use less fabric.

Usually, also, there's only one or two samples made. So not much chance to make more than one or two different sizes. And models have to go for fittings anyway - if you look closely at runway shows you can see pinning and tacking on the clothes to make them fit the model.

[Ive Had Enough]

I watched the whole season and was glad Ann won. She is very self-conscious about how she looks and is ridiculously shy but she takes amazing photos without even trying. And the message definitely wasn't that she is the norm.

I thought it was great when the judges sent the anorexic girl home because she was so in denial even when they confronted her about it. I think that sent a very positive message to young girls.

[Martina]

I was very happy Ann won and I agree that they portrayed her in a very positive light.

While I'm only 5'2, at age 18 I weighed 92 pounds and couldn't gain weight no matter how much I ate. Nothing made me gain weight until I was taking new medications for my seizures and my mental disorders, then I gained a whole lot of weight.

[tytbody]

I thought she was way bony. Way to way too bony. And her voice, gag. Not cool. She still needs more confidence help and I'm sure they will pay for it for her. I watch the show, I really didn't think she was the winner. I thought the blonde girl was going to get it for sure.

[lazylioness]

Yeah Anne was NOT my favorite. I thought for sure the other girl was going to win. But...Anne does take FANTASTIC pictures. Some of the most beautiful I have seen.