DOES FASHION NEED A NEW CURVY IDOL?

Crystal Renn courtesy of Zimbio.com

I was gutted to see pictures last week of gorgeous Crystal Renn looking all emaciated and skeletal.

The (former?) plus size model, one of the few girls with luscious curves who’s made it in the high fashion world, has been getting thinner and thinner of late, but now seems nothing more than a shadow of her former self.

She’s confessed in the past to her share of weight struggles, including a long battle with anorexia, but according to Renn herself, her recent weight loss apparently is down to a messy break-up and time spent in Patagonia hiking and generally being active. Fair enough. The poor girl has been under so much media scrutiny about her weight, it must be hard to stay sane and keep a sense of identity.

So if she wants to eat cake and be a gorgeous size 16, go for it, I say, and equally, if she wants to slim down to a tiny size zero, that is her prerogative, too - as long as she is healthy and happy. So I don’t want to wade in on all the voices of criticism, because I don’t think we have a right to.

But, as a curvy girl myself (even at my thinnest I’ve always had boobs, hips and a bum), I mourn the fact that fashion has lost another beautiful, voluptuous icon who presented a different take to the “skinny minnies” (bitter? moi? Don’t be silly!) that are dominating the fashion world. Of course I’m not advocating that fashion should be full of size 14+ models – unfortunately it’s a reality that clothes look best on ultra skinny, androgynous girls.

But it’s nice to know that there are alternatives out there and that fashion is as much about promoting beauty, as it is about diversity. And with skinny Crystal Renn, we have just lost one of the rare curvy icons. Whatever next?  Nigella shedding the pounds? Wait a minute ….

Isabella Griffiths, editor, WWB magazine x