Back when Miss Leslie Bibb was just a teen on a show called Popular, I was an editor at a very cool magazine called Jump ("For girls who dare to be real"). It was published by the same company that prints Shape, and competed with Seventeen, YM, Teen People etc for readers. Only it was way better. (Sadly, it folded in 2000.. .but that's another story)
Anyway, one of the articles I wrote for Jump was titled "Size Doesn't Matter" and it was all about how a a girl might be a size 4 in one brand of clothing, yet a 6 or an 8 in another. That's because some companies purposefully change the names of their sizes because they think it will appeal to consumers. (IE, a 30 inch waist may have once been the basis for a size medium. But heck, let's start calling everything with a 30 inch waste a size SMALL! Then more people will want to buy our clothes because when they wear them, they'll feel thin. And thin is good!) Get it?
I've posted a scan of the article here in case you feel like giving it the once over....
But what I really want to do is relate all this to Spain's announcement that it's going to try to standardize women's sizing....
Because according to news reports out today, Spain's government has reached an agreement with major fashion designers to "standardize women's clothing sizes with the aim of promoting a healthier image."
Ay Mami that's good news! Especially since the designers on board are Mango (cheap and trendy... a la H&M), El Corte Ingles (THE department store of Spain) and ZARA (um.... famous everywhere!)
Another cool componant of the program? It will also prevent participating
companies from using window displays featuring clothes smaller than a
European size 38 (10 in Britain, 8 in the United States). Dude, I can dig it.
And check out this sane quote:
"It is not reasonable for a modern and advanced society to establish
stereotypes of beauty that are far removed from the social reality of a
community. It is everyone's commitment that beauty and health go hand
in hand," Health Minister Elena Salgado said at a signing ceremony
Tuesday.
Hola Elena..., we should hang out some time.
And one more cool bit:
The Health Ministry's program aims to end a situation in which a woman
who buys a size 40 dress from one designer may not fit in a size 40
garment from another designer. The ministry said the differences
sometimes lead women to feel compelled to lose weight.
****
Very, very interesting. Not sure how all this will play out.... or if this is the best course of action....but I'm happy to see someone doing something at a high level on this important issue.
What do YOU think?
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