Airbrushing Models to Look Curvier? We Like the Sound of That

Celebrities and models bodies featured on magazine covers have been scrutinized over the last few years as public perception of what is healthy and normal gets smaller and smaller.

Not long ago there was serious debate over the rail-thin models allowed to walk the runways at various big name designer fashion shows. The same holds true for magazine covers that feature unrealistic body images that are altered and airbrushed before release.

We are happy to report the tables have turned in a recent publication of the British rag, Healthy. The magazine admits to retouching the model’s physique in their April 2010 issue to give her more curves. Editor Jane Druker ‘fessed up to the digital makeover, reportedly saying the magazine “had to put on half a stone (seven pounds)” after Wladyka allegedly showed up to the shoot looking thinner than she had during the casting process. “There were plenty of clothes that we couldn’t put on her because her bones stuck out too much,” Druker told the source. “She looked beautiful in the face, but really thin and unwell. That’s not a reflection of what we do in our magazine, which is about good health.” {Stylelist}

With the super thin aesthetic spreading to guys we’re thrilled at the turnaround, but wonder if the diverse body type movement is really progressing if models feel the need to be so thin in the first place. While Crystal Renn’s recent appearance in the Chanel resort show was celebrated, many have noticed that her famous curves seem to be shrinking.
As much as some like to trot out health as a reason against featuring larger models, being underweight – particularly if it’s as the result of an eating disorder or poor lifestyle choices, can be equally or more dangerous. But in fashion nearly everything comes in cycles, so hopefully we’ll see a return to the 90s supermodels who dominated media with bodies that were thin, but not underweight or starved into the exact same body type. At least it beats the photo butchery in those infamous Ralph Lauren ads.

What do you think? Is photoshopping models to appear larger a step in the right direction, or a move that won’t matter?