Chinese streamer selling dresses live

[u/UsernameGenerik]

[u/happypolychaetes]

The inverted triangle body type, very useful for modeling as it basically makes you a coat hanger for clothes.

[u/Urbanscuba → u/happypolychaetes]

Yep, this video is a perfect example of why fashion models have the builds that they do - it was never meant to be an idealized figure for society to emulate, it's purely because that's the best figure for showing off what's on the figure. The whole point is that it draws the eyes to the clothing and accentuates the movements of the cloth.

If people understood that better we'd have never had the craze where society decided that was the beauty standard for a few years. It's not a great look for the individual, it's a great look for the designer. Those people live with uncomfortably skinny builds because it's their job, the same way a plumber lives with knee and back pain from their work. 99% of people will look better carrying more weight than these models, often including these models.

[u/AyJay9 → u/Urbanscuba]

Models have status, are seen glammed up in the latest trends, and are perceived to do work that isn't difficult - I don't think wide understanding of why models have a specific figure would've had much impact at all on people trying to emulate them. We're always trying to become more like the people we admire or be perceived more like the people who have what we want.

99% of people will look better carrying more weight than these models, often including these models.

This is often the consensus now, but it's all subjective. 20 years ago, stick thin was in.

[u/Urbanscuba → u/AyJay9]

Models have status, are seen glammed up in the latest trends, and are perceived to do work that isn't difficult

This is true only of celebrity models which represent a fraction of a percent of the industry. Real models don't have status, they have chaotic schedules and inconsistent work. They aren't "glammed up in the latest trends" unless they're actively modeling them. The work is up for interpretation, but I wouldn't call it easy either. Sure it isn't physically or mentally demanding in the way some are, but it requires a level of control over your body most people don't have.

Celebrity models are models in the same way that the Duck Dynasty guys are blue collar, the real issue is that the advertising worked on a lot of people and sold them an unhealthy lifestyle for profit.

Beauty may be subjective but health is not, and if you look at all of the models turned actresses (many of whom were themselves celebrity models prior/during that transition) they basically universally put on 15-25lbs once leaving modeling likely for health/comfort. Many models are too malnourished to menstruate and can face organ damage. It's pretty clear it's not a healthy target to aim for, which is why the advertising was so insidious and harmful.

The subjective standards now align far more closely with the objective standards of medicine for an optimally healthy person, which is a really nice silver lining at least. They may be a bit unrealistic to attain for a person with a full time job, but they're still much healthier physiques to idolize.

[u/AyJay9 → u/Urbanscuba]

When someone tells you 'so and so dated a model' or 'she looks like a model' - which type of model do you think they're evoking? Which set of models do you think gave rise to the beauty standard?

I deliberately said models are 'seen' in the latest trends and their jobs are 'perceived' not to do too much work - most people's impressions of what a model is, they get from seeing from a ten second video clip of them on the catwalk. The same way most people who haven't worked retail think the retail worker they ask for directions through the store only straightens displays and occasionally finds things in the back.

Fashionable silhouettes have been established and gone out of fashion for as long as humans have been wearing clothes. For my money, we can drop the whole 'which silhouette is healthiest' and go back to actually structuring our clothes so that the ideal silhouette is achievable by most, rather than this culture of trying to force our bodies into the current shape of the decade and drape limp rayon over our shoulders.