I just want to see one full figure or normal sized 5'9" model walk down the runway at Fashion Week. JUST ONCE!

I have to admit that, yes I believe that clothes look much better on skinny people....

I'm not sure, sometimes they just sort of hang on the models. Like having a wire hanger walk down the catwalk.

No, and I think any designer who believes that is sadly lacking in imagination. Some designs look best on voluptuous or petite women. The reason why so many clothes now look best on tall skinny models is because the designers are only making clothes to flatter that one body shape. Victorian clothes certainly don't hang best on super skinny women. If they thought outside the box a little, I'm sure they could come up with something that required differently shaped models.

I think it depends on the piece...

I think designs should be modeled by healthy girls. It would look better and it would send a better message too. What do I care what clothes look like on some freakazoid beanpole? I'm five feet tall wih a healthy shape.

I've seen clothes look good and bad on super skinny models, so I think it depends on the clothing vs. the body shape of the model.

Androgyny is fashionable nowadays. If you see the women on the runaway these days, their bodies aren't much different to a men's body - sometimes if it wasn't for the clothes I woudn't see the difference. My boyfriend when I'm reading fashion magazines sometimes asks me: is this a man or a woman? Models are incredibly skinny and don't think that's healthy or attractive at all. I'm a huge fan of Laetitia Casta, and I don't think these days a girl like that could be on the runaway, she would be considered fat.

I think that the designers don't want people to care about the model. The model is just a hanger, like a robot. During the 90's people used to come to see the models, not anymore now. My cousin is a model ( Eugenia Silva, she's quite well known) and she is so skinny that it scares me.

all designs look good on a body like Giseles...skinny but not emaciated

Depends on the clothes, I like to look at clothes on someone with my body type so I can visualize what they would look like on me. But they dont have 5'4" models lol.

I've seen super skinny models wear these beautiful pieces and they make it look awful and clingy, the outfit just doesn't grace the body like it's supposed to. Most of the time of what you see are the outlines of their bony bodies.

Unfortunately, they look better on the tall, super skinny girls. It would be great if they made clothes with "real" people in mind.

what bothers me more than the weight is the height--how many 5'11 girls are there?

i agree with inertia. designers constantly churn out clothes that only look good on skinny tall models that we think that clothes only look good on skinny tall people.
i am 5'11 but i am curvy. i cant wear those skinny super tight pants that constantly walk the runways. but i can certainly carry off a maxi dress quite well, without it sweeping the floor.

I definitely think that it depends on the piece. Some things just don't hang well on the tall and super slim, but more often than not they don't look good on the average lady.

Most of them look like clothe hangers. They need to have models that look more like real people. Starting at average size women for their height. These women are too skinny. It's kinda sickening.

No they don't some clothes look beter when hugging curves and not bones. The day a designer takes a chance on women with figures like other women out there is the day I'm willing to spend more than $50 on an item of clothing.

and my friend has a black wrap dress, she's less curvy than i am that I wore to a party and I got so many complimetns on it, she gave it to me.

Clothes do look the best on skinny girls. At least on the runway.

And I agree about the height thing. The tall-ness bothers me more than skinniness for sure. I'm only 5'1" and super skinny. So why could I not model? Or at least use models more like Kate Moss's height.

I hate that I can see clothes on models or on TV and it doesn't give me any idea how it will look on me until I actually put it on because they don't put clothes on anyone NORMAL size. And when the clothes are designed the styles a lot of times are made for very thin people so when average size girls put them on it looks horrible.

I think it kind of depends on the piece of clothing...but, overall, yes, I think skinny girls look better in most styles of clothing.

It really cheeses me off when people argue that the clothes are supposed to "hang a certain way" and, thus, require the skinniest models possible. If you want to design flat art, do paintings or curtains or something! Or explicitly say that it is supposed to be ART ONLY and not intended to actually be worn by real people!!

also, wouldn't it seem more logical to design clothes for real bodies instead of forcing women everywhere to kill themselves trying to reverse-engineer their bodies into the fantastical, "idealized" bodies that the clothes were designed for?

I just like seeing what clothes would look like on ME!
Not some skinny little twig!

Inertia- that was a great comment, and I never really thought of it that way. I voted that yes, on certain silhouettes, but I would also like to see more creativity from designers on this front as well.

I believe it's the designers decision on who they want modeling their clothes. If they want a skinny or natural looking model, then let them have it. It's their art and I believe they have the final say. But believe me, I'm 5'4 125 lbs and I would love to see someone who looks more natural on the catwalk : )

We're so consumed with this super skinny look that it's going to be difficult to go back in time to the 80's where models were loved, healthy and sexy. Fashion is now a through away culture where models of 14, 15 do runways then when their bodies develop and change are shown the door. The sad thing is this body image has seeped into the the world of celebrity who are again making this super skinny look glamorous and chic and are basically walking around looking like a 14 year old. This consequently is having an effect on us the consumer.. I know I feel inadequate and every day want to be that little bit skinnier and talking to friends their the same... The stupid thing about it all that most men feel the opposite and want curves and a bit of flesh! I think our whole body image needs to change starting with the fashion and celebrity world!

yes & no. their bodies may make some clothes look good, sure, but otehr eek. plus, if you see their bodies you get distracted by emphasized rib cages, which i don't like.
i miss the 50s when girls who had such real curves were models, i love that.
plus why are all models tall? why can't a model be 5'2"? sigh.
(not that i'd ever want to be a model, just saying)

wow, i'm really surprised to see so much emphasis on tallness. i expect the normal "skinny" comments on entries like this, but i guess i never expected so many people to chime in about the height of models. i am 6 feet tall and often HATE it. it's so annoying to hear "you're really tall" every day. people tell me all the time that they're jealous of my height (i'd love to give away a few inches!), but it's not easy being "different"!!

I think it's more the height than the weight that makes them hang better.

If the models are too skinny, I find it distracting. My eyes are drawn away from the clothes. I think models are always going to be more slender than the rest of the population, but they don't need to be sickly.

They can be, sure... but I think designers need to start asking themselves WHO they're designing for. Sure they could design clothes that are gonna look best on 10 foot tall, 90 lb models... but then what happens after the runway show is over? Who can buy those clothes and actually look GOOD in them if they were all designed for a body type that only about 1% of the women in the world naturally have??

I personally like seeing skinny tall models because I'm skinny and tall and it gives me a great idea of what the item will look like on my body.... With this in mind, I can relate to curvier women wanting to see curvier models.

i think JuJu makes a good point that models will ALWAYS be slimmer than the rest of the population. however, i think that this is really a matter of extremes.

There's skinny/thin (Gisele, Kate Moss) and scary-skinny/skeletol (i.e. the old Nicole Richie, the boyish models of today). I think Fab is referring to the scary-skinny model and not the slight grade above (skinny/thin). does that make any sense?

In either case, i think a return to the skinny/thin model will be as much change as we are realistically going to see. Sorry.

btw, i agree with all the comments that say say healthy bodies are better on the runway but i know that simply won't happen.

to secretista: there was 1 normal sized girl on a big runway for the fall 2008 collection... but i can't remember which collection!!! it was a male designer... i know that doesn't help. but when i find the link i'll post it. i think she was a singer or actress....

It depends on the cut of the piece, honestly.

yes, they do : )

I tell you what... if a designer thinks their clothing can only be represented by someone who is abnormally thin and tall, then it seems to me they must not be a very good designer. A truly talented designer would be churning out items to make imperfections look good. There's no challenge whatsoever in what these "designers" are creating right now. You see what I'm saying? I do understand the creative/inspired aspect, they seem to have that in spades. But that should be secondary to the ability to make CLOTHING.

No offense, but can you imagine a "plus size" model in the FabSugar pic above?! Skinny models sell the clothes and make anything look great (yes, they have to pin everything back but it does wonders!)

Omg, that model is soo skinny! She looks starving!

i work as a therapist in an eating disorders clinic... i'm going to have to say no. get a regular woman with a normal body, not emancipated. These are the people who will be wearing the clothes. If you're that good of a a designer, your clothes should look good on anyone...

I know from experience that the answer is NO. I lost some weight last year and felt that the clothes just hung on me, that I didn't have any curves (not to mention my cup size shrunk as well...). While it *may* look good on the runway, how much fashion that we see on the runway is do-able in real life anyways?

I think it depends on the piece, fabric, texture, pattern etc.

Not all clothes look better on skinny models, but a shapeless body can fit a WIDER VARIETY of clothes. When a designer is churning out a huge collection with various pieces, the tall size 0-2 model can just slip on the dress (yes like a hanger) and present it to the public. Other, perhaps more attractive body types, would require certain looks and lots of fitting.

The models that we consider most attractive (hot models) often are not runway/fashion models but Victoria Secret models who have ample curves, a narrow waist, and long legs to show off in bra and panties. While thinner than average, they do not near the bone-thin look of many runway models.

Lastly, note that while designers need the skinny models for runway shows, they often pick celebrities for their add campaigns such as Victoria Beckham for Marc Jacobs, Kirsten Dunst for Miu Miu, and Jennifer Connelly for Balenciaga. The designers know that when in print, the person modeling the clothes needs to look healthy and the clothes need to fit, not just hang.

I am very small myself, so I certainly can't say that I have a problem with designers showing their creations on thin models. I think the issue here really goes back to the designers. From my understanding of how the modeling industry has changed since the days of "supermodels," a great part of the reason that designers began to hire models who now fit the blandly-emaciated look current on the runways is that the fame and influence of the "supermodels" they used to hire began to eclipse the designers and their creations. From my perspective, it seems that the designers actually began to use models that are less attractive to the general public, so that their own work would not be overshadowed by the fame of the models they used to show it.

I forgot to say, that I actually think clothes look best on models with a least a little bit of curve to their proportions as they look best on real people with at least a little bit of curve!

The French call Models Mannequins. So that's what they do. It's a job. An Odd job that pays well and opens other door's . While I myself Am short, slim with curves gal I can appreciate a slender, longer, body type. Most of these girls are born thin and then there's the few that go through extremes, however normal people understand that if you need to torture yourself to become someone your not then chances are these person's would have done it anyway and easier to blame a thin , long, model.

maedchen1982: same here! i'm 5'11", and have the tall girl perma-slump. and good luck finding clothes that fit... you will be able to knock me over with a feather when i finally see a tall department in a clothing store, and not just online.

"From my perspective, it seems that the designers actually began to use models that are less attractive to the general public, so that their own work would not be overshadowed by the fame of the models they used to show it."

I absolutely agree with that, they look for unattractive girls so their work will be never overshadowed by the beauty or fame of the model.