Daphne Guiness Takes on Tracksuits and Unhealthy Round Bodies

The Daily Mail caught up with Daphne Guinness at a party in Mayfair, and the well-known heiress to the Guinness brewing fortune had some interesting comments on current fashion and body health trends. Guinness has made quite a few fashion headlines recently as the face of Nars Cosmetics’ fall campaign and savior to Isabella Blow’s prized wardrobe collection, but the 42-year-old daughter of Lord Moyne is apparently appalled by the way people dress and their extreme silhouettes.

“You can tell the state of ­civilization by the way people dress,” she said. “If the people who fought two World Wars came back to 2010 and saw all of us running around in tracksuits, what would they think? It is just being sloppy. And it is not about the money, it is a mindset.”

We think Guinness has a point. Walk down any New York City street on any given day and you are bound to see tons of sloppy-looking pedestrians. We all have days where comfort clothes are more appealing than structured clothing, but there are limits. Particularly when it comes to what you wear to work, how you present yourself is a big part of how you are perceived. In this economy, every little bit of self-marketing may help you to keep your job – unless you work at Citibank, but that’s another story.

Guinness also said she’s not a fan of unhealthy round bodies.

“I have nothing against people who are round,” she said. “I am far too thin, for ­example. I’d really love to put on a few pounds. But I certainly think some ­people look tremendously unhealthy — and quite unhappy actually.”

Amen. We know a lot is made of the too-thin images of women we see in the media, and all of that is warranted given that being seriously underweight can be as unhealthy as being seriously overweight.  But Guinness may be on the mark about heavier people being unhappy. A recent Dutch study found that obesity increases the risk of depression by 55 percent. {Reuters}

One of the doctors involved noted “[being] overweight and obesity, can induce low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction, especially in Western countries where thinness is often considered a beauty ideal. Both low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction are known to increase the risk of depression.”

While fashion only goes so far, perhaps more stylish options for larger sizes would help with both problems. We’ve said before and we’ll continue to say, not everyone is meant to have the same shape. Some people are naturally thin and perfectly healthy, some people are naturally fat and perfectly healthy, and there are plenty of healthy and unhealthy shapes in between the two ends. And at all ranges of the size spectrum, there are people who are never satisfied with their bodies. Celebrating different body types as beautiful through flattering clothing may seem superficial, but it would be a start.

FYI, Daphne, you’re beautiful, and if you’re just not meant to pick up any more pounds we like you as you are.