At long last the notion of plus size fashion has filtered its way into Vogue’s mentality, as Vogue Italia has launched 3 new micro sites, one of which is dedicated to the more curvaceous women out there. Now I know what you are think Vogue Italia will be published in Italian so that is of little use to any of us who can’t speak Italian. Well fear not because the kind people at Vogue Italia have also published the content in English.
This new site, which has been entitled Vogue Curvy, is like an online magazine specifically aimed at plus size women. Much like the print version of the glossy magazine this online version provides useful fashion hints and tips in addition to beauty solutions and advice. Unfortunately Vogue Curvy is only available online and is not available to buy in print form. However, having said that the magazine is free to read online and this is a huge step for Vogue Italia.
Vogue is renowned for being a high end fashion magazine which features the finest couture in the world and consequently followed the stringent industry standards and used only the thinnest of models. Consequently the launch of Vogue Curvy, which uses plus size models such as Crystal Renn and Lizzie Miller, is a massive leap for the magazine and one that is no doubt seen as controversial by some industry insiders.
However, it is great to see a site which is solely dedicated to plus size fashion and beauty. Furthermore, it is good that only plus size models and curvaceous celebrity icons, such Liv Tyler and America Ferrara, are used as they provide women with realistic role models to aspire towards.
In addition to Vogue Curvy, Vogue Italia has also launched 2 other websites which have been entitled Vogue Black and Vogue Talents. Whilst Vogue Black contains features on such stars as Tyra Banks, Vogue Talents is dedicated to including information on up and coming, future designers.
I only found out last week that Americans use a different clothing size system to Brits: so size zero isn’t actually possible over here, it’s more like 4, I think. Shoes are similarly problematic – I was confused enough when I stopped being a size 13, and had to start at the low numbers again, at the age of 7, but now I have to navigate European sizes too… It’s not good for efficiency in my shopping habits!
Do people really label each other in terms of clothing size? Do ‘plus size‘ or ‘petite’ exhist in our everyday speech? I’m a typical bloke in many ways, particularly when it comes to clothes. Are we supposed to look at people in the street and think to ourselves “My, what a petite figure she has in this bikini: she must be a size 8 and no mistake!”, or can I be justified in my usual observations which generally don’t get further than “Wow – she has amazing blue hair!?”. And before you ask, yes, I am a typical bloke when it comes to trying to undo bras. Why don’t they make them with magnets, or Velcro or just a big bow perhaps? They should use them instead of handcuffs on male prisoners – you’d have no problems at all!
But I digress: women shouldn’t be labeled by size. It’s too limiting, it assumes proportionality, and it’s no good for their self confidence when a clothing designer decides to make their sizes just slightly smaller than the average, so you have to go up a size to fit in. “No, you’ve not put on weight…” “Yes, your bum looks great, just the right size…” I reckon personal shoppers are the right way to go – we’re supposed to live in a service society anyway. So get rid of size charts, let’s have people in shops who take a quick measurement, and then direct you to just the right sizes, without any of those big cardboard signs hanging from the ceiling with the words “Huge overweight massive people’s clothes here, one at a time please – the floor is weak”, for anyone over a size 10.
