Alice in Wunderkind

I don't like the current move away from the skinny model. Perhaps it has something to do with the sentiment that, for me, fashion is that magical world that Alice muddled through as she fell through the rabbit hole into the realm of the obscure. It doesn't make sense, and it certainly does not have to adhere to the rules that we mere mortals live by as we plod through our lives day by day. Reality and the world of fashion co-exist, as (to both exist) they must, but they do not necessarily align as one. So it doesn't bother me that all models are gorgeous, tall and skinny, because these models play their own characters on the runways, and are more than reality - they are the unreal.

This is why it annoys me so much that models are portrayed as the anti-christ for being airbrushed and not representing the average sized woman. I don't understand why people would want to open the newest issue of Vogue and be faced with Jodie Bloggs who is an average size 12 and makes us feel like we could be her friend because, look, we have love handles too. I understand it is in our human nature to relate to one another, but is this instinct so strong that we deny the model the opportunity to be more than us? Editors and photographers are flown half-way across the world to capture images that are meticulously arranged and unnaturally beautiful, and we accept it, but place a skinny model arching over the waterfall that has been made to look like it is flowing lava and, no no we are being taken for fools!

My point is i wish that everyone could look to models and admire how amazing they look, rather than beckon the reality of growing obesity and eating disorders ever closer. Just as i didn't watch Finding Nemo to find that i ate Nemo with some vinegar and chips two weeks ago, i didn't watch Paris Fashion Week to find my slightly overweight friend strut down the catwalk. We watch for the dream, and for the happy ending, and i think we all need to believe the magic more and stop taking everything so literally. At the end of the day, no-one is bringing Johnny Depp up on the fact that his portrayal of the Mad Hatter isn't a rounder and more accurately shaped middle aged man. If fashion and photography is an art, why must we burden it with our own insecurities?