After a century of body positivement movement and a change in our societal standards for body looks, we are back to this fashion style of looking “skinny”. While everyone has their definition of what skinny means, we all can agree it means looking small with barely any stretch marks, cellulite, or jiggly body parts. The fashion industry has always focused on designing products for smaller sizes; ones that will flatter and look the best on the skinniest people. Unfortunately, this pattern in the fashion industry is back at it with the help of social media. Both celebrities and influencers are supporting this cycle of fashion labels by doing anything to look skinny and wear these products that only fit this particular body part. We all know society gets influenced by these people and will never stop completely from it.
One particular celebrity, Kim Kardashian, is a perfect example of how fame and social media can influence our society in wanting to become “skinny”. Kim lost around 15 pounds in 6 weeks to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s dress for the Met Gala this year. She opened up to the public about cutting sugar, carbs, and alcohol while working out a couple of times a day. This extreme diet is not only healthy but inhumane. Kim was starving herself to fit into a skinny dress that represented luxury, fame, trend, and popularity. While Kim’s process of looking like this was talked about almost as if it was a good thing, it also negatively affected many women today.
Many women today already face body dysmorphia and struggle with body disorders, they don’t need someone like Kim Kardashian to increase their anxiety over their bodies even more. So many women struggle with accepting their natural bodies. It often leads them to starve themselves, make themselves throw up, or become depressed. Women want to feel good enough physically to feel confident in their clothes. They want to look sexy and feel good about themselves no matter what they wear. Most fashion labels' products are designed to make you feel confident when only looking skinny. But who are they to decide who can wear their product? Or is that something we must accept as a society once and for all? Most of these women with average-looking bodies don’t even fit into the mini skirts, tight skinny jeans, or crop tops that are trendy and in style today. Some might try to get the biggest size and fit in but at the end of the day, they aren’t fully satisfied with how it looks on them.
A good example of fashion labels not making products for all sizes that are trendy would be designer Miu Miu. Their infamous “mini skirt” does not fit everyone, especially the average and bigger women. American model Polama Elsasser had to get a custom skirt from the brand to fit in the trendy skirt. My first question is how can Polama accept this nor support a skirt that doesn’t wasn’t even designed to fit her body shape and size? This is another example of celebrities and influencers supporting this cycle of fashion labels. While Kim starved herself to fit into the stylish dress, Polama used her advantage of fame to get a custom-made skirt created for her. The more affluent people in our society continue to support this behavior in the fashion industry, the more society as a whole will struggle to fix this issue once and for all.
Sources
Cortés, Michelle Santiago. “Could Thin Be in Again?” The Cut, The Cut, 27 Oct. 2022, https://www.thecut.com/2022/10/internet-thin-culture-is-back.html.
Gladwell, Hattie. “What It's like to Live with Body Dysmorphia.” Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan, 10 Sept. 2018, https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/a22886284/body-dysmorphia-symptoms-meaning-how-it-feels/.
I too have noticed the recent venture for celebrities to bring back 0 and 00 sizes. Although I believe all bodies should be represented in the media, however, regular bodies should as well be promoted and more normalized. Rather than exploit unrealistic body standards for an audience we all know tends to be younger girls that are still developing important aspects of their identity. It tends to be impressionable and leaves many girls questioning whether or not they are worthy if they don't fit what they see in the media.
I have also noticed the trend of being "skinny" as a fashion style has been increasing lately. It is beyond me to see that different body types can be seen as trends rather than an acceptance of all body types consistently. It is shocking and upsetting to me that the idea of a trend of all body types being excepted is so unrealistic in our society. These celebrities also know the influence they have on the public, and it is sad to see them pushing unhealthy diets and unrealistic expectations to the world. I wonder if there will ever be a time when this cycle breaks or are we constantly going to have to deal with unrealistic and exclusive body…
I love the example of Kim K and the Marilyn dress. I personally was so shocked and kind of proud of her for her intensive work ethic to be able to fit into this dress. After reading this post, I know understand how much of a bad example this is for everyone. The way body images are changing based on trends is so unhealthy. One day everyone wants to be thick the next day everyone wants to be skinny. These drastic body changes are so unhealthy. Everyone just wants the unattainable.
This makes for a big chicken-or-the-egg type question. Are these absurd beauty standards in celebrities caused by beauty standards in broader culture, or is the culture being shaped by the celebrities? Right now it's clearly become a cyclical issue...the celebrities shape the culture and the culture shape the celebrities. Still, I wonder what the primary cause of unrealistic body standards was originally.
I remember being shocked when Kim Kardashian wore Marylin’s dress, but the more I thought and read about it, the more toxic it became. Your point about her extreme dieting is so true, I can’t imagine how harmful it was on the young girls currently going through puberty and trying to accept their bodies as they change and grow. She, her sisters, and all celebrities/influencers have such large platforms, and I really wish they would use them more responsibly.