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The world of high fashion is just like an exclusive club, and thus its representatives are very choosey about who they let in. It is hard for those involved in fashion to ignore the fact that whilst the size of the average woman has increased over the years, conversely the samples that models wear have become smaller. It is as if models are supposed to be perceived by ordinary women as being out of this world, extraordinary, and worthy of being emulated. The clothes these models wear down the catwalk are clearly not designed for women with curves, but rather teenage girls who are not yet fully developed.

Designers apparently like their 'creations' to be worn by girls who are straight-up, straight-down because such a figure shows off their clothes to best effect. What is the point of designing clothes if nobody in the real world can actually wear them though? Clearly, then, these clothes are not designed to be worn by ordinary women but rather to appeal to women with money; women who are 'allowed' to join the fashion club. These women clearly have time on their hands to spend getting down to ridiculously small sizes and can employ the services of a personal trainer and chef. Wearing a designer creation lets everybody around them know that they are rich and that they are able to choose to spend their money on luxuries that the average person cannot.

The models who walk the runway tend to be tall and skinny, as are the models in photographs, although there is a bit more variety there, the clothes that are created by designers tend to be made for slim women, whilst shops only tend to keep smaller sizes in stock, whether they are designer clothes or not. The fashion world isn't very outward-looking and its representatives always seem surprised when it comes in for criticism. After a number of high-profile deaths of models from anorexia there was a pitiful defence that most models are naturally skinny and that anorexia is only a small problem within the fashion world.

That is not how it looks to the outside world, and what goes on in the fashion world can influence people who are outside of it. Teenage girls are particularly susceptible to the images they see, and can end up striving to be as thin as the catwalk models on display because they convince themselves that the ideal size is ultra-skinny, and feel bad about themselves when they fail to live 'up' to this ideal. Not that this seems to bother anyone in the fashion world, since everyone is too busy air-kissing and patting each other on the back for the latest, greatest fashion show. It would appear that there isn't much room for larger women in this particular world.

Learn more about this author, Michelle Wilkinson.
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