In times past, the female fashion model figure might have been an ideal, one to aspire to. No more, if she ever was. Time and vanity have worn down the acceptable size and weight of one standard of beauty over the later half of the 20th century to the limits of what the human body can take. The unrealistically thin fashion model on the runway or pictured in magazines not only distorts the norms of body type and appearance, she actually promotes an unhealthy physique.
The requirements for a high fashion model are simply posted on Affinity Talent and Creative Talent Management both list height and weight requirements for female, high fashion models as:
| Bust | 32 to 34, cup A, B, or C, 36 max if small cup size. |
| Waist | 25 inches (64 cm.) max. |
| Hips | 35 inches (89 cm) max. |
| Height | 5 ft 8 inches-5 ft 11 inches (1.72-1.80 m) |
| Weight | 115-130 lbs (52-59 kg) |
Now, the presumed reasons for these size requirements are that the fashion designers want models that they can put anything on without worrying about which cut of clothes they'll look good in. But, mostly, all that takes is a woman with a more or less even balance between the hips and bust and a waist about 15-25% smaller in circumference than those. Ultra-thinness is not necessary.
And it is neither sound nor wholesome.
The broad measurement for healthy weight used by the U.S. government is Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is a person's weight (converted to kilograms) divided by a person's height (converted to meters) squared. From the Center for Disease Control web page, the ranges for BMI are:
| BMI | Weight Status |
|---|---|
| Below 18.5 | Underweight |
| 18.5 - 24.9 | Normal |
| 25.0 - 29.9 | Overweight |
| 30.0 and Above | Obese |
Using the requirements from the modeling agency web pages, the calculated BMI for a range of fashion model sizes is:
| Heights (inches) | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 |
| Heights (meters) | 1.73 | 1.75 | 1.78 | 1.80 |
| Weights | ||||
| 115 lbs (52.2 kg) | 17.5 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 16.0 |
| 120 lbs (54.4 kg) | 18.2 | 17.7 | 17.2 | 16.7 |
| 125 lbs (56.7 kg) | 19.0 | 18.5 | 17.9 | 17.4 |
| 130 lbs (59.0 kg) | 19.8 | 19.2 | 18.7 | 18.1 |
|
1 inch = 0.0254 meters
1 lb = 0.454 kilograms | ||||
Most of the fashion BMI values are below the CDC recommended values for a healthy body weight. The fashion agency standards dictate that a 5 ft 11 inch model maintain an unhealthy BMI to keep her job.
Historically speaking, this is hardly the first time that women's fashions have sunk below common sense. Wasp waists and foot-binding blight our past. But with all our science, technology and just accumulated wisdom, in the 21st century, one should expect better than this.
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