G.M. Cairney pointed out a set of photos at Time that highlights the scrutiny women’s bodies are under, the expectation that we constantly work to make our bodies look smaller, and a general cultural fat phobia, while making me wonder, again, why does this merit a slideshow? The article (which features only women) focuses on celebrities’ outfits at the Golden Globes on Sunday and makes it very clear what the main criterion for success is: could it possibly, in any way, from any angle, make these celebrities, most of whom are tiny, look even slightly larger than they are?
Here’s one of the offending garments, on Jennifer Lopez:
I don’t know that I particularly like the dress, but does it make her look fat? The author assures us, though, that this is a disaster: “White is a fright on an ample derriere, or on anyone who is not a size 0.” That’s right: if you’re over a size 0, the entire color white is off-limits to you.
Christina Aguilera’s dress commits the sin of making her look “buxom” and “hippy,” and she is rather oddly compared to Mae West as though that’s a bad thing:
Jennifer Love Hewitt’s dress is described as a “high-calorie confection,” reinforcing the association with fat.
All of these criticisms rest on the central assumption that there is an ideal body type that we should all be aspiring to, and that the role of fashion is to “camouflage” any areas that don’t conform. Any outfit that doesn’t do this has, by definition, failed, no matter how it actually looks on the person. Yes, the specific dress is supposed to be unique, individual, unlike anything else there, but the body inside it isn’t.
As Lisa once asked, wouldn’t it be something if instead we thought the point of fashion was to emphasize whatever shape we have, to make our bodies look different from one another? Crazy thought, I know.
Comments 60
Steph — January 18, 2011
I did notice that the author did NOT make the faux pas of calling the beige dresses "nude" or "flesh-toned" which has been discussed here before, but rather went for "mauve" and "blush-pink". Can we call that a win?
naath — January 18, 2011
Sofia Vergara's "hourglass figure" is complemented whilst Christina Aguilera’s is ridiculed. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND these rules!
Em — January 18, 2011
My mother has been saying all my life that the entire colour white is off-limits for every women larger than size zero. She says it with a straight face, and means it. She's been taught so by my grandmother. She visibly *flinches* when she sees someone break the rule.
BabyFem — January 18, 2011
I love that they have the tag: "Who looked fat, even though they aren't" as if that makes their slideshow OK. "Gross, Heidi Klum, you look like a monstrous size 6! Thank god we know you better."
Meera — January 18, 2011
"Charla Krupp is the author of How to Never Look Fat Again."
I'm sure that, at the end of her life, she'll look back with pride over her grand contribution to society.
Laura — January 18, 2011
The descriptions of the "fit" women are almost scarier - Jane Fonda is praised for looking young and "hot" "Even with breast cancer and a hip replacement." Good grief! The author isn't happy for Jane Fonda because she is healthy and is continuing her successful career, she's glad she still looks skinny.
Michelle F — January 18, 2011
Jane Fonda is hot "even with breast cancer" ... ? I assume this is only appropriate since we're talking about breasts and breasts are only there to be hot. Because no one would say someone is hot "even wish pancreatic cancer" -- right?
Also, I really do not get light beiges and "blushes" on white people. I have yet to see it look at all good.
Bland White Tee — January 18, 2011
"Buxom" and "hippy" are two physical qualities that I actively seek out in a sexual partner. I'm just saying.
marc sobel — January 18, 2011
I thought that Helena Bonham Carter was just doing publicity for her role in Harry Potter, Bellatrix Lestrange. http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1920&bih=952&q=Bellatrix+Lestrange&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=
(joke)
Actually, I assumed it was a snarky comment on the stupidity of the red carpet fashion scene.
If you saw Clair Danes' after show interview, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koW_uXRR8l8) she said that now that she has two golden globes, she can stuff her bra, adding, and I need it. Of course she is one of the most intelligent actors in the business.
Jane — January 18, 2011
God, fashion critics are such harpies when it comes to women's looks. There's no real "standard" for them to draw from, other than what's the flavor of the moment, so even if you're wearing something that would've been perfectly acceptable at one time, they'd b!tch about how horrid it is. I mean, how many fashion reviews do you see saying something like "Mr. Crowe shouldn't wear that cut of jacket because it makes his butt look fat" ...I mean, REALLY. :|
Maya — January 18, 2011
Time magazine has REALLY gone downhill.
Dr. Kate — January 18, 2011
Bottom and top line: women are supposed to disappear.
Dr. Kate — January 18, 2011
Good thing I have no idea what Chari Krupp looks like. Meeting her might make her mouth look fat. (kidding!)
Amy — January 18, 2011
This actually made me so sad and angry.
I don't why this particularly. But really, when does it stop? When will women be more than their bodies? It makes me sad for my daughters. Everything I do to counteract it seems like so small.
And it's not as if I'm free of the affects of the constant onslaught of this message. I internalized it long, long ago. s but I can rationalize it away, I can intellectualize the hows and the whys but I still think "Man, I'm fat," more than half the time is a catch my reflection unprepared.
Ctl — January 18, 2011
Professional Bodysnarking is a career now.
RJ — January 18, 2011
From time to time I patronize these sort of "look what the stars are wearing!" type articles and I often notice this phenomenon, of claiming that a particular item of clothing makes a certain actress look "fat" - even if the actress is question is well known for being skinny and has, in fact, never been overweight. Like somehow one caftan style dress is going to make me assume that they must have gained 100 pounds underneath it, because if I can't see if the fat's not there, then it might be there, and therefore it should be assumed to be there. I mean, I don't know any other way of interpreting these kind of observations.
Syd — January 18, 2011
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Helena Bonham Carter DID look pretty ridiculous, but not because they 'looked fat.' This could have been a decent critique of the dresses themselves (then again, she thinks 'shoulder pads and looking like you're covered in 10,000 pennies' is a good look, while a flattering lacy dress is not, so I wouldn't be taking fashion advice from her either), but this was just the worst way to parse it. Especially since, indeed, Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera look stunning. I have to wonder where this Charla Krupp person is from, because it kind of strikes me of the realization I had at 17, which was 'in the midwest, I am frightfully skinny and people are always mocking me for that, yet in New York, people think my butt is frightfully enormous and I need to go on a diet ASAP.' The same language that give me that realization, Krupp uses throughout the slideshow.
I also notice that two of the 'fat' women were wearing Zuhair Murad, while two of the 'skinny' women were wearing Giorgio Armani Privè. Maybe Ms. Krupp has a favorite designer, or Zuhair Murad, whoever that is, killed her cat or something, so she decided 'I'm going to voice my hatred of Murad by telling everyone their gowns make people look FAT!'
larrycwilson — January 18, 2011
The thing about men's fashion is that it really doesn't exist. Since the French Revolution men have been careful to compromise by dressing basically the same. The only real difference it almost all cases is the cost of the material.
JT — January 19, 2011
Judging from the author's website, the secret of "How to Never Look Fat Again" is to always stand sideways with your hand on your hip. Good luck going through life never letting anyone see you face-on!
Rickey — January 19, 2011
"The harlequin colors, crotch-high slit and oversize bow make this Marc Jacobs collection dress too messy for the Globes — though perhaps O.K. for St. Tropez."
I can't believe that anyone actually gets paid to write crap like that. Worse still, I am pretty sure that I somehow paid for it by following the link and reading it.
Dressing to Impress at the Golden Globes « Beauty and the Beast — January 19, 2011
[...] more like just critical. This Sociological Images post does a great job of talking about how the article assumes that fashion is used merely to hide [...]
Barb — January 19, 2011
And of course, having written "how to never look fat again" the author now stands to profit hugely from making every woman who reads her article worry that they look fat. Grrr. Also, she has no idea what mauve is.
Anonymous — January 19, 2011
There definition of what looks "fit" should have at least a few times been translated as "what looks emaciated." Ugh.
bbonnn — January 19, 2011
It's also kind of strange when they criticize certain elements of red carpet dresses for being "cheesy" or "hideous" (not just whether a particular garment fits on a particular body shape in a certain way)? I'm talking about criticisms of a garment's silhouette, details, color, fabrics, etc.
These dresses are made by famous fashion houses with no short supply of materials and professionals to design and construct them. They are the end product of a designer's artistic vision.
So when the fashion critics say stuff like, "Rule No. 2: If your top half is voluminous, your bottom half should be tight," I'm left scratching my head. Obviously the designer wanted it to look that way. Obviously the designer, being a part of the fashion world, has heard about "Rule No. 2" and decided for whatever reason to break the "rule" to achieve his/her vision. It's not like they were too stupid, or forgot, or made a mistake.
Dr. Ivo Robuttnik — January 19, 2011
Fashion is so silly. Me, I wear a shirt, pants, socks and underwear. Maybe a coat, and perhaps a hat if I'm feeling spicy. You can go ahead and tell me, "dahhhling, you look like a filthy commoner," but look at'chya.
Look.
You're wearing what appears to be half of a child's pirate costume, three coats, a felt tiara and an umbrella for a dress, and you're dragging that shit through the dirt and mud, and let's not even mention those ridiculously ginormous sunglasses that make you look like a human dragonfly.
I mean what the fuck. You look like someone dropped a goodwill on you. Just looking at some of the shit people drape over themselves, I have a hard time believing that fashion designers and the like don't have a sick, sadistic sense of humor. Y'all been gettin' trolled.
I think people in the fashion scene need to worry less about looking fat and more about looking like they got dressed in the dark... after arriving to Earth from their home on Neptune.
Don — January 20, 2011
I went out to dinner a while back, with my wife and stepdaughter, both recovering bulemics. The other diners were largely young compared to me, and Chicano, and well dressed compared to me.
For some reason the conversation turned to how fat the stepdaughter was feeling, because I think she had ballooned to a size 3 or something. And I just pointed out that every woman in the place, except those at our table, was "fat" and was wearing a really revealing party dress, and none of them were cringing or trying to hide themselves or acting like they felt anything but drop-dead sexy. There was a moment, just a moment, when I thought she could finally hear me.
Kathy Najimy and Kathy Bates and Queen Latifah and Dawn French and some other large-dress-size hotties need to hold a press conference and say, This is what a real woman looks like. Crawl for it.
meg // morningmidnight — January 20, 2011
uh, not to keep my objectifyin'-ladies hat on too much here, but DAYAMN, XTINA. i want a piece of THAT.
which I am only saying because my eyes have rolled so far back in my head over everyone's comments about "FASHION PEOPLE" that i can't even begin to deal. let's talk about the media and patriarchy and social norms and expectations for women and why posts/articles about things like this still have public appeal and who is reading these and whether or not this sort of judgement reflects reality and how and why and so on and so forth, instead of blaming the entire thing on a seemingly-distant industry about which none of these people commenting are actually considering at large, shall we? i'm so sick of that sort of dismissal.
Niki — January 21, 2011
I totally balked at the white dress comment, too. Women have to be a size zero - ZERO - to look good in white?? But of course every bride in the past century has been told that her white dress will make her look more beautiful than she'll ever look again.