oh the shape we're in

I am an avid reader of teenfashionista, but I have to admit to being a little disappointed by her recent post on skinny starlets. I think the point that she was trying to make, and maybe I'm missing it a little, so I'd be grateful if she cleared it up, was that a lot of skinny celebs don't have eating disorders, but the fabulousness of fashion does act as an incentive to stay off the ice cream. That I could certainly believe if girls today weren't soooo skinny. Whenever you see a girl who is called curvy on screen, and they are tiny in real life, you can only worry about what the skinny girls really look like. And yes, I know that some people are naturally size 0, but surely that natural tendency for success, acting talent, beauty, and being a size 0 doesn't always go hand in hand. Some of these girls are working really hard to look like that; it is a full-time job of not eating, eating only prescribed meals from a nutritionist, and having a personal trainer come and beat you up afterward. And then, still, potentially not fitting into a sample size. I don't think it's a case nof simply laying off the ice cream. Believe me, I've tried! And yes, catwalk models have a huge part to play in this, as sample sizes get smaller and smaller. Even Kate Moss doesn't look as skinny as she did, compared to the wave of ultra-thin girls.

But, maybe, the strength of the size 0 wave is weakening, even if poster girl for all things curvy Drew Barrymore is a shadow of her former self. As Observer Woman featured today on its cover, some women are getting bigger. Two fabulous size 16 girls were modelling swimsuits in their shoot. The girls were absolutely beautiful, though resembling the average size 16 girl, I'm not so sure. All creamy smooth flesh, not a touch of cellulite or lump. Still, it was a beautiful shoot, and in the commentary, it noted the rise of beauties such as Lily Allen, Billie Piper, and Beth Ditto. Since I'm pretty sure that Lily and Billie are both about a size 10, I'm not about to say they're curvaceous, although Elle magazine would, I would definitely celebrate their beauty and aspire to it. Continue this celebration of womanhood, of nature at its finest, and above all, of beauty.