Topshop has taken a graphic off its website after being called out by the Daily Mail and various anti-eating disorder groups.
The Mail first spotted the "painfully thin size-zero model" Codie Young on the store's website last week, writing, "The pale young woman with a gaunt face is seen on the fashion stores homepage wearing tiny clothes that hang off her skeletal frame."
At the time, Helen Davies from the British anorexia charity Beat told the newspaper, "This is not the sort of thing we want to see in magazines and on the internet. It's a constant battle against eating disorders and Topshop is not helping matters. For girls who see these kind of images it can be very damaging."
Andrew Leahy, Topshop's head of publicity, since reached out to the Mail, explaining, "Topshop is confident that Codie is a healthy young woman and we do not feel it necessary to remove her from our imagery based on your feature. However we do recognise regretfully that the angle this image has been shot at may accentuate Codie's proportions making her head look bigger and neck longer in proportion to her body. [...] The clothes she is wearing are a sample size 10 so in some instances they may look a little looser than normal."
In any case, Leahy adds, "Topshop is proud of its heritage of celebrating individual-looking girls who offer an alternative more unusual beauty, however we take your comments very seriously," resulting in the removal of the photograph and its replacement with a different pic of the model from another angle.
18-year-old Codie took to her blog, remarking that she was hurt by all of the comments:
Mia Amber Davis, the plus-size model and "Road Trip" actress who unexpectedly passed away during routine knee surgery in May, died from a blood clot in her lungs, E! Online reports.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office released an updated death certificate after an autopsy and a series of toxicology tests were performed, finding that Davis had a pulmonary thrombo-embolism.
According to TMZ.com, Davis' husband Michael Yard believes that the surgery was responsible for the blood clot, claiming Davis was healthy before arriving at the hospital. The site explains, he "asked the Coroner's Officer if it meant she died as a result of the surgery...but the office said they could not give a definitive answer."
Davis' death shocked her supporters two months ago. The beauty was best-known for her work with Ashley Stewart, being the face of Jill Scott's Butterfly Bra, a cameo in the movie "Road Trip," and serving as Creative Editor-at-Large for Plus Model Magazine.
Editor Madeline Jones wrote in a blog post on Wednesday:
We thought we'd seen everything in terms of Lady Gaga's outfits--she's worn telephones as hats, cigarettes as sunglasses, PVC to meet the Queen, decorated her Birkin Bag...well, we could go on forever. But her latest outfit for Vogue Hommes Japan takes the cake. Gaga dons a bikini and a tiny beret made from raw steaks and her lips and nails are painted red. Take a look and tell us what you think.
Nicola Formichetti found himself in a tight spot on Tuesday when a W profile on the designer hit the web. Now he has responded with a Facebook campaign.
Within the otherwise flattering article in W's July issue appeared this damning paragraph:
One shoot, which involved dressing a rock band, was particularly unfortunate. "I was only used to dressing models and skinny kids," he recalled. "And I turned up and it was, like, three fat guys. I just left. That was the last time I tried to work with fat people. I think one of them was Ali G's brother. It was so ghetto."
The comment immediately made the rounds, putting Formichetti on the wrong side of the plus-size models conversation that has been ongoing in the fashion industry.
What made the anti-fat remark particular strange was that it came from Formichetti, who as creative director for both Dazed & Confused and Lady Gaga has always promoted individuality and boundary-pushing fashion.
So we suppose it makes sense that later Tuesday night, Formichetti took to Facebook to declare that W misquoted him and that he does in fact work with plus-size models.
Crossposted to his Twitter feed (and his 81,258 followers), the designer put up images of his past editorial work with plus-size models, captioning the images, "i know i should just leave it but...i really hate when writers just write whatever they want... "i dont work with fat people..." why would someone say such a thing?!"
He added, "GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES -AMEN FASHION... dont believe all what you read on line... no matter if you are fat, skinny or whatever, we're all born this way."
Although it's hard to believe W would completely twist his words, Formichetti certainly has a positive track record when it comes to body image and working with people of all sizes. We're definitely inclined to give this guy another shot.
See Formichetti's Facebook comments below.
Monaco's Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene promised each other love and fidelity in an extravagant religious wedding Saturday attended by international celebrities and royalty, bringing new allure to the tiny principality known for its luxurious casinos and as stomping ground for the rich and famous.
The Catholic service followed an intimate civil ceremony Friday, which saw Charlene officially transformed from commoner into royalty. The marriage of the 53-year-old prince and the 33-year-old Charlene Wittstock, a one-time Olympic swimmer from South Africa who is now known as Princess Charlene, ended a three-decade wait for a new princess.
The last wedding of a ruling prince in Monaco was in 1956, when Hollywood star Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III.
Saturday's ceremony was attended by guests including former James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and bohemian designer Roberto Cavalli, of Italy. Thousands of Monegasque citizens cheered the proceedings while watching on large screens set up outside the palace, where both ceremonies were held.
Charlene swept along the red carpet leading into the palace on her father's arm. In her sumptuous boat neck gown by Giorgio Armani Prive, her hair pulled back in a swirling French twist and with only the lightest touch of makeup, she seemed to channel some of Grace's effortless elegance.
Now making the Internet rounds: a set of obnoxious emails from a British mother sent to her future daughter-in-law. The subject of the correspondence: the bride-to-be's "staggering uncouthness and lack of grace."
According to the Evening Standard, Carolyn Bourne sent three harshly-worded missives in one day to Heidi Withers, who is engaged to marry Bourne's stepson Freddie, after the couple spent a weekend at the Bourne's family home.
Apparently the weekend did not go as well as Heidi might have hoped, as her future mother-in-law a.k.a. Emily Post Wannabe criticized her manners, her taste and her parents' finances.
Below is the email message that has been most widely circulated, as Heidi sent the email to a few of her own friends, who then sent it across the Internet.
We recommend reading this rude diatribe on rudeness in a British accent to get the full effect:
It is high time someone explained to you about good manners. Yours are obvious by their absence and I feel sorry for you.
Unfortunately for Freddie, he has fallen in love with you and Freddie being Freddie, I gather it is not easy to reason with him or yet encourage him to consider how he might be able to help you. It may just be possible to get through to you though. I do hope so.
Catapulted to style stardom as a result of her sister's wedding, Pippa Middleton's clothing choices are almost as influential as her sister's. The day after the wedding, the little sis stepped out with a gray leather Modalu bag that sold out almost instantly. And we're sure she's done wonders for High Street brands such as Zara.
But earlier this month, Jezebel pointed out that Pippa committed "the ultimate pantyhose sin" while she was spotted wearing nude tights in Paris, "no less."
And somehow, the skin-toned hosiery trend is catching on! The Telegraph reports that sales of nude tights has "risen by up to 85 percent in the past year."
The shocking increase has been attributed to a hesitancy to jump from opaques in the winter months to bare legs in the spring, as nude stockings offer an in-between of sorts. A second, more health-conscious reason for the once-taboo (possibly still taboo) trend: "[It] may also be driven in part by fears over sun exposure. Malignant melanoma is Britain's second most common cancer in 15 to 34-year-olds."
Will you follow Pippa's lead and wear nude hosiery on cooler summer nights, or have you sworn off the flesh-toned tights?
Protestors at this season's Sao Paulo Fashion Week called for a 20 percent quota of indigenous and black models to be used on the event's runways, the Guardian reports.
Back in 2008, the BBC wrote that only 28 out of 1,128 models booked for Sao Paulo Fashion Week that year were black. As one modeling agent said, "The black models can't get jobs and have no access, don't have a good distribution of money or earnings and live in a sub-world, because there are no job opportunities."
And the New York Times reported on the issue last summer, writing, "70 percent of the country's models come from three southern states that hardly reflect the multiethnic melting pot that is Brazil, where more than half the population is nonwhite." Erika Palomino, a fashion consultant in Sao Paulo, told the newspaper, "I was always perplexed that Brazil was never able to export a Naomi Campbell, and it is definitely not because of a lack of pretty women. It is embarrassing."
Organizers previously agreed to a 10 percent quota of black models. But the plan apparently unraveled this time around, with designers ignoring the modish minorities altogether.
Activist Frei Davi Santos explained to the Guardian:
"Sao Paulo fashion week sells the image of a Swiss Brazil where everyone is white and blue-eyed. The organizers...forget that more than half of Brazil's population is black....According to the latest census we blacks represent 50.8% of the Brazilian population. This means an event which presents a majority of people with typically European characteristics does not represent the beauty and wealth of Brazilian ethnicity. Brazil is a country that still insists on emphasizing its European side and discriminating against its beautiful indigenous and Afro-Brazilian populations. We do not want catwalks that look like catwalks in Switzerland or England."
Today in fact or fiction: BeautifulPeople.com, a dating website so vain it probably thinks this article's about it (and it is!), was briefly invaded by 30,000 "ugly" people who were granted membership thanks to a Shrek virus, likely planted by a reject.
Typically, BeautifulPeople.com hopefuls submit photographs to the site, which are then voted on by its 700,000 existing members. However, Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com, said in a press release, "We got suspicious when tens of thousands of new members were accepted over a six-week period, many of whom were no oil painting." The unattractive additions (including 11,924 Americans) were cast off the "island," as Hodge calls it, and a hotline was set up to handle any hurt feelings.
Hodge explained to The Huffington Post, "Communities need to be exclusive to serve the purpose of the community. Exclusion is prevalent all through society. Look at Mensa and the national football team; all go through a selection process, some are accepted some are not. BeautifulPeople is no different aside from the fact that our process is democratic. There are some sites out there where you have to be a certain religion or color. BeautifulPeople is open to every race, color, creed and religion and represents every ethnicity, the proviso being our members find you beautiful."
He added, "If Mensa's database was mistakenly flooded with 30,000 dummies, they would not start putting out easier IQ tests!"
So what makes for a perfect BeautifulPeople.com member? Hodge told us, "Men will vote on women based solely on how they look...surprise, surprise. Women look at the bigger overall picture; yes, the men have to be attractive but they also have to write a reasonably articulate profile description, show a little character or sense of humor. A high income also helps as does a picture showing a good lifestyle."
We were pretty wary of this too-good-to-be-true scoop, so BeautifulPeople put us in touch with Asia, 39, who remarked to HuffPost, "Because looks are important to me in a partner, I want to belong to a website where every profile I search through is attractive.
"
When asked what message she had for those who were rejected, she said, "
Bye bye! No, seriously, I would say don't take it too hard. I'm a make-up artist working in the beauty business in L.A! I see rejection all the time. Everyone has their strengths. You have to pick yourself up and get on with real life."
Read More....http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Vogue caught up with Charlene Wittstock, set to marry Prince Albert II at the beginning of July. The future princess discussed first meeting Albert at the 2000 Olympics (she's a swimmer), adjusting to life in Monaco and her plans to inaugurate a fashion week there.
On cultivating her personal style:
"Finding my fashion feet has certainly been the biggest challenge," she says, remembering her "trial by fire" at Monaco's 2007 Red Cross Ball. "'I was literally a fish out of water. I thought it was all fun, fun, fun, and didn't give my outfit any thought. I had been playing beach volleyball all day, painted my nails red, and threw on a green dress. I thought I looked great at the time, but looking back, I realize that my debut into Monaco society should have been better executed!"
On listening to other people about how she should dress:
"I was insecure. I felt pressure to err on the side of caution -- I was terrified of meeting a head of state in an over-the-top outfit....I've reached the point where I know what I like and what works. I'm starting to play with fresher, bolder, and more daring looks." She was helped by Giorgio Armani, who will dress her for the religious part of her wedding and who notes that her casual elegance and slender figure look equally good in suits and evening gowns with necklines "that emphasize the beautiful structure of her shoulders."
On her relationship with Karl Lagerfeld:
"Karl took me to his workshop in Paris. He said, 'You are going to be a style icon. You bring a breath of fresh air and modern glamour to Monaco.' Then he asked me if there was one item of clothing that I had always wanted to experiment with, and I replied, 'A smoking jacket.' He went back to his apartment and presented me with his own white shirt and smoking jacket from his closet."
