I’m a size 20 – we must stop skinny revival, it’s a step backwards
THE NINETIES are back in fashion, with crop tops and hipster jeans making a return to the high street.
But the body-baring designs have seen the resurgence of a trend most of us would rather forget – “skinny” chic.
Despite the recent boom in plus-size clothing sales, stores such M&S, Zara and Mango are using super-slim models again.
Even famously curvy Kim and Khloe Kardashian have recently dropped a drastic amount of weight.
Size 20 Felicity Hayward, 34, author of body confidence bible Does My Bum Look Big In This?, has seen a positive change in high street since making her modelling debut in 2012.
But she warns Kirsten Jones and Leo Roberts we are now in danger of a return to size zero fashion.
“GROWING up in the Nineties, I always felt like an alien because I wasn’t stick-thin.
“Back then, Topshop was the trendiest store on the high street.
“My friends picked up hipster jeans and crop tops in a size eight, but there was never anything in my size — a 14.
“It was cool to look like you were ill or on drugs and the term “heroin chic” was born.
“Girls starved themselves to look like the models of the day.
“We simply cannot go back to that. The rise in body positivity in recent years has been so uplifting.
“Affordable brands like Asos, River Island, Pretty Little Thing and Never Fully Dressed are all extending sizes, celebrating and promoting the female form in all of its shapes.
“Seeing the impact of larger sizes being more available has been huge.
“Girls from my friendship group can now wear the same styles.
“And that’s important, because fashion has a huge effect on our self- confidence.
“When skinny was fashionable the first time round, I was a size 16 and there simply weren’t many things I could buy.
“I had to buy clothes in older ladies’ shops, like Evans, which wasn’t seen as cool.
“In fact, my nan ended up making me loads of clothes because I simply couldn’t find anything trendy on the high street.
“Struggling to find clothes in your size takes its toll on your self-esteem.
“If you go into a store and something’s not available for you, it makes you feel less confident about yourself.
“The shops are basically saying, “We don’t accept your body. We don’t accept you.”
“Fashion always revisits different eras and I don’t have an issue with Nineties styles, only the skinny aesthetic that accompanied them.
“Heroin chic — two words that surely should never have been put together — was glamorised. But it should never have existed in the first place.
“After some positive steps in the right direction, it now feels like we’re going backwards.
“The Y2K trend celebrates one body image only — and that’s skinny. Low-rise jeans and crop tops simply don’t work for every shape.
“The high street is using young, skinny women to model the latest looks and that’s not inclusive.
“In recent years, we’ve been told that curvy was trendy. But suddenly celebrities like the Kardashians have gone from curvy to skinny.
“Not that they were that natural in the first place.
“Of course, everybody in this world is allowed to change their body and do what’s right for them. Adele lost a lot of weight, but she did it for herself — she isn’t out there selling a weight-loss product or diet plan.
Body positivity
“Actress Rebel Wilson got it wrong.
“She lost loads of weight, only to then bring out a clothing line that only went up to size XL.
“It was like she got skinny and forgot about curvy women.
“She has since launched plus sizes.
“Rihanna, on the other hand, is incredibly inclusive.
“She has power and uses it in the right way.
“She has people of all genders, sizes, abilities and races in her Savage Fenty shows. Because that’s what the world looks like.
“Now skinny is back “in”, are normal people going to start starving themselves and developing eating disorders?
“I’m worried the latter will happen. As women, our bodies change so much throughout our lives.
“And often, how our figures change as we age, develop, carry children and go through menopause is out of our control.
“Fashion is trend-based, but our bodies are not. The only way we’re going to be able to stop this is by not engaging with influencers promoting the skinny trend.
“Let’s not forget, they only exist because we’re watching. Body-positive influencers need to fight against the skinny trend and push it into non-existence.
“I really hope this isn’t the return of size zero and I hope people are educated enough to refuse it.
“No two humans are the same. No matter how much money you spend or diets, being yourself is what’s most important.
“But it’s really hard for girls to understand that.
“My advice is: Don’t engage with people who make you doubt yourself and don’t listen to the trends.
“Wear what you like.
“Our bodies are not a trend — they’re the vessel we survive in.”