Amber: I’m Amber Butchart,and I’m a professional fashion and beauty analyst.I’ve loved fashion for as long as I can remember,and I study trends both past, present, and future.
Raphael: I’m Raphael Babalola.I run my own male lifestyle company,and I help guys find a balance between looking good,feeling good, and being healthy.
One of the things I love about fashionis that it’s such a vibrant and creative industry,with new designers constantly making innovations.But something that I’m less keen onis that in such a cutting-edge industrythere’s a real lack of diversityin the modelsthat they use to advertisetheir products.
So, we’ve come to Cardiff to investigate.Today, I’m going to be a modelling scout,with a typical brief from a company that’s looking to advertise clothingin a glossy fashion magazine.
UPBEAT MUSIC
Amber: All right, Raphael, here’s your brief.
Raphael: Great. All Right?
So: “Wanted. Female modelfor EveryWoman Inc.Must be over five foot nine.”
That’s about my height.
Amber: It’s quite a bit taller than me.I think the average is about five four, five five.So, five nine.Must be size six to eight.
SHE CHUCKLES
Must be blonde.Must be blonde. Okay.Must be Northern European.O- okay.And must be aged between 16 to 18.Don’t fail me now.You’ve gotta get this right.
Raphael: I won’t.
Amber: You’ve gotta stick to the brief.
Raphael: I’ll try.
Amber: All right, then. Cool.Good luck.Raphael, wait!This might help you!
Raphael: You’re not tall enough. Sorry.How old are you?
Woman 1: Twenty-nine.
Rapahel: Argh.I think I’ve spotted one.Right height.Blue eyes.But you’ve got red hair.Well, they may be called EveryWoman Inc.but they certainly aren’t looking for every woman, are they?I mean, there’s just nothing more I can do.You may not be human, but…Do you want a modelling job?
Amber: Now, there’s a reason that Raphael has found it so difficult to find his model.It’s because most women aren’t naturally the size and shapeof the models that we see sellingfashion and beauty products.
So, what is the average size of women in the UK?Is it this…a size 6 to 8?Or maybe this is more like it. Size 10 to 12.Or could it even be this lady? A size 14 to 16.What dress size do you think most women in the UK are?
I’d say about 8.
No idea.
About 16.
12 to 14?
A 16.A 10 to 12.
I’d say a 12.
Er, probably about a 10, 12.
10, 12, 14, somewhere around that.
10, 12.
8 to 10?
Amber: Only 5% of women over the age of 16 fit this body shape.So, even though this is the size that we see all over the media,it’s actually completely unattainable for most women.In actual fact, most women in the UK are this size, size 14 to 16.
So why does the fashionand beauty industry use modelsthat are up to five times smaller than the average British woman?
Each week, the fashion and beauty industry bombards uswith thousands of photo shopped,flaw-free imagesof fantasy men and super-skinny women.They call these images aspirational, but studies have shownthat these sorts of images make most people feel badabout the way that they look.And believe me,that includes the guys too.So, why would the beauty and fashion industry want consumers to feel bad?Well, they’re businesses, after all, with the aim of making profits.
And they feel that by setting unachievable beauty idealsit’s the best way to get consumers to spend more and more money.
But does that always work?
There’s brand-new research in Australia and the USAthat shows consumers are just as likelyto spend the same – or even more – money on clothes and productsthat they see advertised on a diverserange of men and women.And what’s more, the research is showing usthat seeing advertisements with average-size peopleactually makes us feel happier too.
We’ve asked Beautiful magazine,a magazine that uses all sizes of models,to create two advertisements for a dress.The dress is modelled by Whitney Thompson,the winner of American’s Next Top Model.At size 14 to 16,she’s an average-size girl,and this is how she really is.But in this mock-upt hey’ve manipulated it,so she looks like a typical skinny-size model.
So Raphael is off to see which advertisement is most successfulin selling the dress.
Raphael: Which one of these adverts mightmake you wanna buy this dress?The first one, because it looks more real.
Picture A? Mm-hmm.
Or Picture B?
B. B. B? Yeah.
Raphael: They picked B. Photoshopped. Not real. Fools!
Look’s more shapey. Yeah, she looks skinnier.
For me, that’s more my body shape.
Yeah. ‘Cause I’m not curvy at all.
But on the other hand, I wouldn’t wanna look at a dresson a girl that thin either.
That doesn’t look right. That looks ridiculous!
Picture…A. Picture A?
She’s got a…a bit more of a nicer figure.
She’s got a fuller figure? Yeah.
I think personally it looks better on her. Mm-hm.
It seems most of the people decided to go for the beautiful Whitneyat the size that she should be,a size 14 to 16.
So, if people would still spend money,why aren’t the fashion and advertising industries taking note?
After all, they’re famous for being cutting-edge.It seems in this case that they’re just stuck in their ways,when maybe they should dare to be different.
So, it seems EveryWoman Inc. have got it wrongjust looking for one type of model.Clearly both men and women are looking for some kind of diversity.So, who’s to blame?
Ask the fashion and beauty industry and they blame you, the consumer.But ask the consumer and they blame the industry.Personally, I think we’re all to blame.And maybe it’s time that we ALL made a change.And who knows,we might all just be happier.And maybe the advertisers would even make more money.Next time I get a brief from EveryWoman Inc.maybe I’ll have an easier time finding my models.
BOTH: You’re all hired!