Bryce Dallas Howard, 32, had her second baby, daughter Beatrice, in January, 2012. I remember seeing photos of her in May, just five months later, and feeling bad for her because the tabloids were running them. I also related to what she was going through. She didn’t lose her baby weight right away, and neither did I. I ballooned with my first and only kid and it took me about a year to lose the weight, just like Bryce.

Bryce is back in the spotlight now and has been attending events. She recently admitted to Radar Online that she found online weight critics “vicious” and that she worked to ignore them. Good for her. She’s promoting her voice work narrating the book on tape for her mother’s latest novel, In the Face of Jinn. Here’s her interview with Radar:

Bryce Dallas Howard… was slammed for her weight after she appeared on a red carpet just days after giving birth to her first child, but she told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview that she immediately stopped reading the negative comments.

“People are so vicious,” Bryce said about the snarky comments.

“I now know to stay away from stuff that I used to see on the Internet. I don’t go online and read stories about myself anymore. People were picking on me when I did the Spiderman 3 press tour literally just 14 days after I gave birth.

“I can’t be in that headspace. I just don’t look myself up. I had a baby, that isn’t going to change, so I ignore things so I can be in my own little bubble.”

Bryce is now a mother of two and she said that her own mother, Cheryl Howard, has been a “great role model” for her and her children.

“It isn’t anything she ever says to me,” she said. “It’s that she is brilliant and steady and a rock for our family.”

Bryce recorded an audiobook of her mother’s novel In the Face of Jinn and she said that Cheryl “works her butt off keeping our family going.”

The 32-year-old said that doing the book on tape was her father’s idea and she poured her heart and soul into the project.

“It was not easy! I worked with the same dialect coach I used on The Help but I did all the characters and I am so proud of the book,” she told Radar.

“Doing it was so meaningful and has given so much to both of us. My mother is an exceptional woman of integrity and it was such a big deal for her to accomplish the book. I hope I make her proud.”

[From Radar Online]

That’s so nice that she’s helping her mother out like that and worked so hard to get the characters’ voices right. Bryce is a decent actress and unlike other celebrity daughters I feel like she’s earned her place in film. She was very good in 50/50 and in The Help. She excels at playing those bitchy type characters and she’s able to play it up without overacting.

Also, Bryce has admitted that she suffered severe postpartum depression with her first child, son Theo, born in February, 2007. She said she was depressed for about a year and a half and admitted that she felt disconnected from her baby, calling her depression “insidious” and “horrible.” She risked it again to have her second child, only to deal with weight critics. Good for her for working to ignore them and focusing on herself and her family. Now I’d like to see her get more work.

Bryce is shown on April 16 and 19, 2013. Credit: WENN.com

Last week, some older comments by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries got wide play in an article on Business Insider. In 2006, Jeffries admitted that his stores marketed to a certain demographic and that they didn’t want other people wearing their brand. He said “We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.” The Business Insider piece pointed out that A&F does not carry women’s sizes above a large or size 10 although they do have men’s clothes up to XXL. A&F’s gradual decline could be due to their unwillingness to serve plus-sized customers, which seems to be built in to their marketing policy.

Sites like Reddit ran with those comments and made memes out of them for a while, and Jeffries was bashed for sizeism, and to a lesser extent, racism. Former employees of A&F and their sister store, Hollister, claimed that only white, attractive young people were allowed to work the floor. This isn’t new for A&F, they’ve faced lawsuits over race and sex discrimination in hiring. This is a new PR crisis though, and they should handle it with humility. Only not so much. Jeffries issued a statement in response to this that makes it clear that he hasn’t changed his stance at all:

“I want to address some of my comments that have been circulating from a 2006 interview. While I believe this 7 year old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context, I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense.

“A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers. However, we care about the broader communities in which we operate and are strongly committed to diversity and inclusion. We hire good people who share these values.

“We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics.”

[From ET Online]

He comes across as haughty and clueless as he did in the earlier interview seven years ago, but at least he’s trying. There’s no self awareness in this statement. There’s no acknowledgment that they’ve made mistakes and need to change. Plus he didn’t address the main controversy at all. The issue was over the fact that A&F doesn’t offer clothes for larger customers by design. They do it on purpose so only the “cool [white] kids” will be seen in their brand. He basically said the same thing here, they’re not changing that policy. They “care” about the “broader” (lol!) communities and they’re not going to admit that they only hire the most attractive young staff to work in their stores. They have to say this because they paid out millions in a class action lawsuit. Abercrombie & Fitch is opposed to discrimination and “derogatory characterizations” because they were busted carrying t-shirt designs which were racist. They have to say that too. Nothing in this statement makes me ever want to support this company.

We only have so much space for titles, so here’s the full quote from Kirstie Alley, who was told by the interviewer that she paved the way for plus-sized actresses and was joking in her response – I think. She said “If I had something to do with more full-figured women being in mainstream and having their own shows, then I will take total credit for that.” How do you capture that in a title that fits though? You don’t. So I don’t think she’s being as full of herself as that title may suggest.

Kirstie was on ET promoting her upcoming TV Land series, Kirstie. It’s a sitcom that co-stars fellow Cheers alum, Rhea Pearlman, along with Michael Richards of Seinfeld. (Remember him and what a racist a**hole he is? I’m surprised he’s getting work still.) The premise is complicated so I’ll just quote USA Today “Alley will play Broadway star Madison ‘Maddie’ Banks, whose life goes topsy-turvy when Arlo (Petersen), the son she gave up after birth, shows up after his adoptive parents have died. The nerdy Arlo doesn’t fit Maddie’s lavish lifestyle, but her assistant and best friend, Thelma (Perlman), and driver, Frank (Richards), persuade her to give the young man a chance.” It sounds dumb and predictable, right?

Anyway Kirstie was asked about paving the way for other larger ladies and she joked about it and heaped praise on the latest generation of bigger actresses, including Melissa McCarthy and Rebel Wilson. They also had a quick interview with Rebel about her upcoming fall ABC comedy, Super Fun Night, and she had some nice things to say about body image. It was kind of awesome.

Kirstie Alley is making her return to television this fall, where the landscape has changed for female leads since her 2005 show Fat Actress.

When Kirstie’s Showtime show left the air it also seemed to leave a mark, paving the way for actresses like Rebel Wilson, whose new sitcom Super Fun Night is coming soon to ABC.
“If I had something to do with more full-figured women being in mainstream and having their own shows, then I will take total credit for that,” Kirstie joked with ET’s Rob Marciano.

One of the reasons the Golden Globe winner did Fat Actress was to prove that she’s still a funny, beautiful and talented person regardless of her weight. Similarly, Rebel also has a message to get across.

“I like that with Super Fun Night I’m kind of encouraging girls who may not feel that they’re the prettiest or the most popular to just get out there and have a life,” said Rebel. “I think that’s a really good message.”

You can catch Kirstie in her new self-titled show this fall on TV Land.

[From ET Online]

I know exactly what Rebel is talking about. You feel like you’re not worthy sometimes because you’re not the size you want to be or are used to being. That’s a great message. I’m going to put the preview for Rebel’s show Super Fun Night below, but first I wanted to make a minor point. It would be awesome if we could have actresses of all sizes as comedians, romantic love interests and dramatic actresses. Too many times the heavier women are relegated to comedy. (Although Rebel is awesome and it’s hard to see her anywhere else. She’s an incredible comedian.) We can have a larger love interest in a romantic film and not have the character’s size be the point! I would just like to see more variations in women on the big and small screen.

Here’s the trailer for Super Fun Night. It looks funny! (Note: I could not find a trailer for Kirstie’s show. All I found is a video in which she makes the announcement that her show has been picked up.)

Kirstie is shown on 4-30-13. Credit: WENN and FameFlynet

Ireland Baldwin is profiled in the new issue of Vanity Fair, and that ^^ is one of Patrick Demarchelier’s VF photos. She doesn’t have much to say in the VF profile, of course, seeing as how she’s a 17-year-old tall, blonde beauty and daughter of two famous actors and seriously, how terrible is that life? But whether or not she has something to say is not really important. What’s important is that she’s beautiful and she’s going to have a pretty amazing modeling career, and the hype about Ireland as a “name” is already happening. She’s the new Kate Upton!! There, I said it. Ireland also got a profile/interview in People Magazine too, of course:

When Ireland Basinger Baldwin signed her first professional modeling contract in March, the 17-year-old daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger had high hopes.

Not only does she aspire to some day grace the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue or pose for Victoria’s Secret, but “I want to be an inspirational model,” says the 6’2″ teen. “I want people to look at me and say, ‘Wow, she looks healthy.’ ”

But since announcing her new career with IMG – the same agency behind Gisele Bündchen and Kate Moss – she not only has experienced the encouragement of fans, she’s also heard her fair share of snark on the Internet.

“I have received nasty e-mails, messages on Twitter and ridiculous comments not only about my size but my family,” Ireland tells PEOPLE. She reached a breaking point in April and posted an open letter on Tumblr saying, “I understand that I am not a size .008. What I don’t fully understand is, what is the good in commenting on a photo of a 17-year-old girl calling her fat, ugly, etc?”

Of the backlash, Ireland admits, “I didn’t expect it. It was really surprising to see how negative people can be towards someone they don’t even know.”

Ireland is no stranger to negative attention. After Basinger, 59, and Baldwin, 55, ended their eight-year marriage in ’02, a toxic custody battle ensued, culminating in 2007 when Baldwin left a scathing voicemail for Ireland, then 11, calling her a “rude, thoughtless little pig” for missing a phone date. He immediately apologized, saying, “I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation.”

For Ireland, the ordeal was “blown out of proportion,” she says. “People make it out to be so dramatic. My dad and I are very tight-knit, despite what people may think.” As for the tension between Baldwin and Basinger, “my parents always manage to work things out,” says Ireland. In fact “my parents can have each other over for Thanksgiving just to make me happy. The co-parenting is intact.”

Soon, however, Ireland will have to share Dad’s attention: He and his wife, Hilaria, 29, are expecting a baby girl this summer. “I have always wanted a sibling! I’m so excited to meet my sister. I want her to know that I’m here for her whenever she needs,” says Ireland. “I love Hilaria. She saved my dad, getting him in amazing shape. And she brought him out of a bad place of being lonely.”

[From People]

She comes across as surprisingly grounded yet again. I have to take back what I said about how not-terrible her life has been. I tend to forget that Alec Baldwin is such a rage-monster and that Ireland probably learned at an early age that she had to be the “adult” in her relationship with her rage-monster father. As for her desire to be an “inspirational model”… sure. She does look healthy. She also looks like someone who won the genetic lottery, so she can’t take all the credit for that.

Here are some assorted photos from Ireland’s Instagram – this girl is obsessed with her Instagram! Ah, teenagers.

Photos courtesy of Ireland’s Instagram and Vanity Fair.

This was on the front page of Reddit yesterday, in which they linked to the photo, above, (from our friends at Starcasm) of Mike Jeffries, the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch. Jeffries is a royal a**hole, basically, I’m not going to sugarcoat it and I can’t come to any other conclusion after reading his remarks. (Which are old, but they’re getting new play.) He only wants pretty, thin people to shop at his stores and work at his stores and he says as much in interviews. Jeffries has said this for years, and his refusal to sell clothes for women above a size 10 or a Large (while selling XXL for men) has hurt sales. I’m going to quote Starcasm here because they sum it up the best, but they’re basing this on an article in Business Insider which claims that Abercrombie’s retail downfall may be tied to their refusal to accommodate larger customers:

“We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends,” said CEO Mike Jeffries in a 2006 interview with Salon. “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

To ensure that only “attractive” kids buy, wear and promote Abercrombie, Jeffries enthusiastically supports the company’s size restrictions. For men’s clothes, that doesn’t mean much: They offer XXL sizes for the cool, muscular jocks.

But, for women, that means no pants above size 10 and no shirts or dresses above a large. The company does tread into “extra-size” territory for women, but only to offer extra-small.

Not only is this kind of policy upsetting, it’s also bad business — which finally seems to be taking a toll on Abercrombie.

“While a specialty retailer like Abercrombie can’t be expected to appeal to everyone, the brand’s standard of beauty is quickly becoming stale,” wrote Ashley Lutz for Business Insider this week. “Plus-sized is no longer a niche market: 67 percent of the apparel purchasing population fit that label, and the number is growing all the time.”

Indeed, Abercrombie stories are rapidly disappearing from malls. Since 2010, closed (or announced plans to close) more than 10 percent of its shops. The company’s stock has also taken a beating.

Considering these past few years have also been marred by the recession and rising cotton prices, it’s impossible to tell whether negative attitudes toward the branding are responsible for Abercrombie’s troubles. However, some of Abercrombie’s top competitors have done better in face of the same economic issues. They also offer larger sizes and promote healthier body images with the use of plus-sized models.

[From Starcasm]

The article in Business Insider goes on to say that H&M, which is thriving, has a plus sized line and is trying to accommodate customers who need larger sizes. There are plenty of stories on Reddit (which are impossible to verify since it’s Reddit) from people who claim they were employees at Abercrombie or its sister store, Hollister. They say that only the most attractive employees were allowed to work the floor, and that this was regularly enforced by upper management. We’ve heard these stories about A&F for some time, their advertising supports it too. (And all the models they use are white.) It just seems fitting that their sales are taking a hit, but as Emily at Starcasm points out, so are a lot of other mall-based stores and businesses in general.

Here’s another picture of Jeffries, from Wikipedia. I already know what some of you are going to say.

This is quite honestly one of the funniest things I’ve seen all week. Remember how the Kardashian-Jenner clan went on an all-expenses-paid (by E!) vacation to Greece a few weeks ago? Kanye West couldn’t/wouldn’t come on the vacay, so he hired a private jet to pick Kim up and he brought her to France after a few days. The whole trip was filmed by E!’s cameras, of course, but Kim was not content to simply allow the reality show to air intimate footage from vacation months from now. No, Kim organized a photo shoot with Us Weekly, and the pregnant-bikini photos scored her the cover. Let’s be fair to Kim – I’m sure these images were airbrushed, but even then, she looks absolutely fine and normal as a pregnant woman. The problem is not her body. It’s how she dresses her body.

Looks like someone’s got her groove back! After suffering through months of fat-shaming and criticism over her ever-evolving pregnant body, Kim Kardashian decided not just to embrace her curves but also to show them off in a bikini on her recent vacation to Greece — and Us Weekly has the photos!

Proudly baring her seven-month bump in a series of trendy two-pieces, the 32-year-old reality star soaked up the sun on the island of Mykonos, where she and her famous family spent several days at the end of April. (Also along for the Grecian getaway: mom Kris Jenner; sisters Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall, and Kylie; Kourtney’s love Scott Disick; and their two kids, Mason and Penelope.)

Rocking a bikini is a big step for Kardashian, who has been bullied for her weight ever since announcing in December that she and boyfriend Kanye West would welcome their first child in July. “I struggle finding things that don’t make me look heavy,” she blogged earlier this year of the challenges she’s faced in dressing her new curves.

No longer. “She’s loving the seventh month,” a source tells Us of the pregnant designer. “And she thinks pregnancy is so cute.”

For many more photos of Kim and the rest of the Kardashians in Greece — plus exclusive details on the mom-to-be’s newfound body confidence, her relationship with West, and the couple’s post-pregnancy plans — pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands Friday.

[From Us Weekly]

I have mixed feelings about Kim trying to make this whole “I’m being fat-shamed!” thing into some huge deal. On one side, the body-criticism of Kim has been off-side and gross in some quarters, and she has every right to fight back. On the other side… she invites the criticism, she loves the attention, and the criticism scored her an exclusive photo shoot with Us Weekly and this week’s COVER. Whatever. When I first saw this cover, my first thought was “Wow, she looks good. So why does she keep dressing so poorly?”

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

This story is in Star Magazine, so I hope it’s not true or is just exaggerated somehow. Because if it’s true, it’s kind of despicable. The story goes that X-Factor boss Simon Cowell has told judge Demi Lovato, 20, that she needs to lose 20 pounds before the show starts shooting again in the fall. It was announced about a month ago that Demi is coming back, and they’re still looking for two more judges to replace Britney and LA Reid. All sorts of names have been thrown out there including Cheryl Cole (not happening), Jennifer Love Hewitt (really?!), Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Scherzinger. In the meantime, Simon is focusing on what he can control and he thinks that’s Demi. Harsh:

Just two and a half years ago, The X Factor judge Demi Lovato checked herself into rehab for cutting and bulimia – and she only just recently left her sober living facility. But Star has learned that her boss, Simon Cowell, is demanding she lose 20 lbs. before the show’s fall premiere! An insider says that although Simon loves Demi’s feisty attitude, he believes she has ballooned since the season two finale in December – and it’s bugging him. “Simon doesn’t expect Demi to be supermodel skinny, but he does want her to look like she’s in shape,” stated the insider. “He’s set a weight-loss goal of 20 lbs. for Demi and asked her to work hard on it through the spring and summer.” This sounds like an insensitive order to a young woman who has wrestled with body image issues – but the insider insists that Simon “is very supportive of her battles and is going above and beyond to make sure she loses weight in a healthy way.” Which must be reassuring, because it’s not like her job depends on his opinion or anything!

[From Star Magazine, print edition, May 13, 2013]

Demi has been very open about her battle with her body image and eating disorder, and if this is true it’s totally clueless of Simon to even bring it up, not to mention tell Demi to lose weight! Simon needs to sit the f down. He does seem like a clueless a-hole most of the time, though, and we all know he’s harsh. He probably thinks he’s “helping” her. I hope Demi is secure enough at this point to blow it off and/or to tell Simon where to stick it.

There’s another story about Demi in this week’s Enquirer. They claim that Britney Spears isn’t returning Demi’s phone calls and quote a source who claimed “Demi’s hurt that Britney doesn’t want anything to do with her any longer.” According to that version, Britney is upset that she wasn’t invited back on X-Factor so she shut Demi out. I’m not really buying that, but it could be the case. I tend to think that Britney is relieved she’s no longer on X-Factor. At least she doesn’t have Simon monitoring her body constantly.

Demi is shown with Simon in December. She’s also shown performing on 4-1 and 2-14 (with a hurt foot.) Credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet

Small steps, people. Elle Quebec has officially featured (for the very first time) a cover model that is, incidentally, also a plus-sized model. Introducting Justine Legault, a French-Canadian model who is positively ravishing on this cover in a gauzy white shirtdress and flashing some thigh in an ever-so provocative manner. This is definitely progress. Last fall, Ralph Lauren hired its first plus-sized model, Robyn Lawley, who was greeted with much enthusiasm. Of course, Robyn was 6’2″ and a size 12, so she didn’t really fit into the true “plus-sized” spectrum, but as a model, she definitely qualified as opposed to the size 0 types who can barely walk down the runway because they haven’t eaten solid foods in days. Now here comes Justine, who is several inches shorter than Robyn at 5’9” and a size 14, and she’s quickly taking the modelling world by storm in her own way.

As a side note, it does slightly offend me that some people will inevitably proclaim that it’s entirely amazing to witness a fashion magazine representing on behalf of “real thighs” … as if female Olympians who strenuously work out on a near-daily basis possess “fake” thighs? Seriously, let’s embrace all body types. All thighs are “real.” Here are some excerpts from Justine’s cover interview:

On her discovery: “At my first photo shoot, I remember hearing the photographer call my agent on the phone and say, ‘Oh my god! We’ve got something here!’”

On her regime: “My beauty regime is similar to that of other models. Except that I love a good meal and I eat very well!”

On criticism: “How many times have people told me during an audition: ‘I don’t like your hair, I don’t like your teeth…?’ I didn’t listen to those people and I continued to have confidence in myself. I prefer to remember compliments from people who like me how I am, and believe in me.”

[From Elle Quebec]

I love this woman. She demonstrates a very smart attitude towards an industry that possesses a commonly accepted and dumb attitude towards female body types. Please, let this be the very beginning of true body diversity acceptance in mainstream fashion magazines. One can only hope, right?

Photos courtesy of Elle Quebec

As Kim Kardashian increases in size from her first pregnancy, her maternity style has just gotten worse and worse. While I feel bad about noting her weight gain, I do not feel bad about discussing her awful style and how she literally has no idea what looks good on her body (with or without the pregnancy). But… that might be about to change. Here’s how I feel about all things body-shaming, body discussion, etc: I will defend you until you lie to me. As soon as some horses—t comes out of your mouth, I will stop defending “your body, your choice”. Because lying about it is also a choice, and you should have made the choice to just own the way you look without apologies or explanations.

Unfortunately, the following story is not the first time Kim Kardashian has blatantly (and hilariously) lied about her body. Remember her claim (back in 2011) that she’s a size 4? Yeah. The delusion is heavy (!) for Kim. Take a load of this one:

Contrary to reports, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West haven’t settled on a baby name. Though several media outlets claimed the couple had agreed to name their daughter North — and others said the name would begin with the letter K — the pregnant 32-year-old has other ideas in mind.

“I think it would be really cute because Kanye and I are both K’s, but half the names on our list aren’t K’s,” she told Extra of choosing a moniker for their firstborn. “We still have time, [so we'll do] whatever feels right.” Kardashian added that her rapper boyfriend, 35, “wants something that’s unique.”

Kardashian also addressed the scrutiny surrounding her pregnant body, which has been at times mocked in the press. “There are maybe two or three covers just this week that say I am 200 pounds. I’m like, ‘You are 60 pounds off here!’” she laughed. “It wouldn’t even bother me if I gained all the weight. And I have the biggest sweet tooth and I love junk food. Being pregnant I don’t like any of it.”

The fashion designer said that aside from eating carrots and celery with ranch dressing, she hasn’t had any unusual cravings. “I’m waiting for the moments when someone’s like, ‘Let’s go to McDonald’s and Taco Bell!’” she joked. “That’s not happening for me and I’m kind of sad about it.”

Being pregnant hasn’t been a smooth ride for the twice-wed star, whose divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries has yet to be finalized. “I’m not going to lie and be like, ‘Oh, it’s been amazing and I’ve adjusted great,’” the Temptation actress tells Extra. “At the beginning it was tough for me when your body changes so much, but once you kind of grasp that and embrace it, it’s amazing.”

After a pregnancy scare in early March, Kardashian added that she’s easing up on her work commitments. “I kind of split up my days. I’ll do half a day of work and then I’ll do half day of really just resting and taking care of myself,” she says, “but I haven’t been tired at all.”

[From Us Weekly]

“There are maybe two or three covers just this week that say I am 200 pounds. I’m like, ‘You are 60 pounds off here!’” ARE YOU JOKING?!!!? I sent this to Bedhead and she was like, “So… she’s either 140 pounds or 260 pounds.” And this is biggest problem with responding to body-shaming – you can’t turn around and LIE YOUR ASS OFF to the body-shamers. I would have completely ignored this story if Kim’s response had been, “Whatever, I’m pregnant and I’m gaining weight. What did you expect?” Do not tell Us Weekly that you’re 140 pounds when clearly WE CAN SEE YOU.

Just to be clear – I’m not sure if she’s 200 pounds. But I know for sure that she’s not 140. Not with that ass and not with those boobs. My guess is that she’s maybe 180 pounds, although my assumption might be off because she actually is pretty short – she’s only about 5’2″. CB thinks Kim might be something like 160-170, but the gist of it is… she’s NOT 140.

Also – I think she’s lying her ass off about junk food too. She’s been going out for ice cream a lot.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

As preparation for this story I googled “how big are sample sizes in fashion” because I thought it was an impossible zero. It turns out that the size is about a two usually, which is also impossible from my perspective. I found this article at The Hollywood Reporter that explained, from a stylist’s perspective, part of the reason why celebrity women are so freaking skinny. It’s not just that there’s so much pressure on them to look tiny on screen, although of course there’s that, it’s also that unless they’re a big name and/or super small they may not be able to wear the latest designer dresses. It’s sad, really. A unnamed stylist told THR “Fairly or unfairly, you have to look at your clients’ figure and ask yourself if they can wear a sample size 2. If they can’t, it’s a big problem.” The article went on to interview fashion designer David Meister, who often clothes Melissa McCarthy. He’s made a name for himself by creating custom red carpet gowns with a fast turnaround time, while the more established designers can take weeks to dress anyone who isn’t a size two. I can’t believe I didn’t know that, and it shouldn’t shock me, but it does.

Well the models who once starved themselves down to size zero have something to say about that. In a recent panel to raise awareness of eating disorders, model Crystal Renn advocated that the sample sizes in fashion be changed to an 8, so that the clothes could more easily be tailored down or up depending on the wearer/model. That makes a lot of sense. You can’t get more fabric out of a two, you know? An eight is more versatile. The models on the panel also talked about the extremes they went through to drop weight, with a model named Amy Lemons describing how her modeling agent told her to eat only one rice cake a day – when she was just 17 years old! Here’s more:

Each of the models present shared compelling personal stories about their struggles with weight and body image in the modeling industry. Amy Lemons said that when her body started changing at 17, her agent recommended eating just one rice cake a day, and if that didn’t work, cutting back to only half of one. Katherine Schuette, who also studied nutrition, stopped eating even though she knew the dangers. “I knew down to the chemistry what was happening to my body when I tried to get to that size [0],” she shared.

It was Crystal Renn, who has publicly shared her struggles with eating disorders in her book Hungry, who spoke most passionately about the subject. After being signed by a model scout who told her to lose ten inches from her waist and advised her to look to Vogue for standards of what she should look like, Renn entered into years of obsessive dieting and exercise to get down to a frightening 95 lbs. “What I found,” Renn said of that time, “is that I felt nothing except hatred for myself.”

And the problem isn’t just with model agents; Ashley Mears says the problem lies much more in the editorial side of the industry. Chris Gay agreed, expressing frustration with industry standards set by designers and editors that he deemed ridiculous. “They’re not standards a woman can keep through her life or her career,” May said. “You’re replacing good models with new models because of unrealistic standards…”

Renn’s suggestion, which seems almost painfully obvious in its simplicity, is for designers to change the sample size to a size 8. She argues this could accommodate bodies between sizes 6 and 10, or tailored down to a size 0 if the designer wanted to hire a girl that thin. Renn posited that some designers feel pressured to keep their sample sizes small because that’s what industry leaders are doing–she of course made an exception for close friend Zac Posen.

“There are some people who lead,” Renn said of the designer’s attempts to diversify his runway, “and Zac Posen is one of those people.”

[From Fashionista via Radar Online]

I wasn’t familiar with Zac Posen’s thoughts on sample sizes, as Renn mentions here. I found that he was very recently part of a similar panel, with industry insiders and model Doutzen Kroes (love her!), which discussed the impossible standards in the fashion industry. He actually defended using super small sample sizes, saying they were “ideals that are so ingrained in our culture.” He cited the “sensation” over Kate Moss’s debut and said those ideals were “gonna be something… that people in fashion are going to be drawn to.” So I disagree with Fashionista’s editorial comments that Renn is making an exception for Posen. I think she’s calling him out, particularly in light of his recent comments.

Crystal with Zac Posen.

I love how “normal” she looks. She’s also done some plus-sized modeling, and her figure and looks have varied over her career.

Crystal is shown with Zac Posen on 6-4-12. The photos with the pink dress are from 10-22. The photos in the red dress are from 2-7-13. Credit: WENN.com