Velvet d'Amour: Fashion Needs To Catch Up To Women Of Size

Frockwriter tracked down plus-size model, actress and fashion photographer Velvet d'Amour to talk about curvy girls' place in the biz and the recent Vogue Italia cover featuring a trio of "bigger" beauties. D'Amour remarked, "The way I see it is, that we need fashion to catch up to women of size, in order to make a stunning FASHION orientated editorial. If you were to take the average Vogue Italia editorial, and attempt to dress these same models in the clothes, best of luck to the stylist to find their size."

She adds that fashion is all about pushing the limits -- "The true meaning of FASHION in all likelihood it encompasses and revels in Change, in decadence, in obscurity versus ordinary, in risk-taking. While fashion beckons followers and innovation creates fashion, it's those who deviate from accepted norms who create so much of our fashion from the get go."

D'Amour also doesn't buy into the whole plus-size models make women fat argument:

The reality that cultural pressures are one of the factors involved in eating disorders cannot be dismissed, though the notion that someone leafing through a magazine witnessing a plus size model has a sudden urge to down several thousand pizzas in the hopes of gaining a few pounds, is rather laughable at best. Were the inclusion of plus size models to spur viewers to gain weight, the inverse of that logic would mean (given the dearth of rail thin models in magazines), that the entire world would be emaciated, versus fat.

[...]

I don't look to fashion magazines for advice on health, I look at them for fashion. We need to start looking beyond the simplistic and dig deeper. If you want to have a health debate, then let's tackle mental health, which is the stimulus, more often than not, affecting one's physical health.

Take a look at a few pictures of d'Amour below. And head over to Frockwriter to read the rest.

Comments

[CoachDecember]

09:31 PM on 06/30/2011

Ummm. Sorry but that wasn't pretty!

[MochaLite]

09:05 PM on 06/30/2011

Okay, good idea. But do the fashions, makeup, and hairdos have to be so completely ugly?

[Morella La Muerte]

06:44 PM on 06/30/2011

I would like to get away from discussing the size of the models, which really shouldn't matter, and discuss the clothes. The colorful ones look fun, particularly the red dress. The makeup for the gal in the dark dress and her male co-model is utterly hideous and unflattering. The dress isn't bad but she could have been given a prettier makeup job to go with it. Her chum looks like either a deranged mime or a half-dressed cat burglar. Fashion shows have never appealed to me because really, would you go out in public in most of what they present?

[Atchka]

05:31 PM on 06/30/2011

Every single person who has posted a hateful comment here has one thing on their mind: jealousy.

What are you jealous of? The fact that these women have not starved themselves and brutalized their bodies every day in an effort to remain smaller, like you have your entire life. They are confident, sexy, and proud of themselves, and you're jealous that they didn't have to go through all of that asceticism and self-loathing to get there. You're jealous because deep down, you're sick and tired of hating your body, you're sick of having to "maintain" your figure just so you can be "happy."

Well guess what: anyone who takes the time to post their hatred of fat people isn't happy. If they *were* happy, they would fill their time with more meaningful pursuits. No, the people who espouse the greatest amount of hatred are the same people who attempt to stifle their hatred, along with their hunger, in an effort to "earn" happiness through deprivation and denial.

By citing health first, haters want us to believe their hatred stems from some benevolent source, but anyone who studies health and fitness knows that you can't judge a person's health by looking at them.

Ignore the haters. They have nothing to offer you. They barely have anything to offer themselves.

ALL BODIES ARE BEAUTIFUL and anyone who says otherwise has something more on their mind.

Peace,
Shannon
FierceFatties.com

[Morella La Muerte]

06:19 PM on 06/30/2011

The people who make hateful comments are likely small minded jerks with low self-esteems who are looking for a scapegoat. Society still gives a pass to saying hateful things about large people and the mentally ill. So they make themselves feel better for two seconds by trying to make someone else feel worse. It is childish and vicious and as long as everyone stands by and gives a pass to this kind of behavior, they are giving it their stamp of approval.
Whether one finds people with large bodies attractive or not should not make any difference. Nobody deserves to have foul diatribe thrown in their direction all the time.

[Firenzi]

02:09 AM on 06/30/2011

All of your people whining about proportion and health have NO idea what you are talking about. Like, at all. Size =/= Health. Especially "Rowdyman" here trying to pass his comment off as concern for health when it's just one big objectification of all women, size notwithstanding. You don't want healthy models on the runway, you want masturbation material on the runway. Stop hiding behind the obesity hype, sir.

None of you know how healthy this woman is. Or how healthy a thinner woman is. Because guess what: thin people get heart disease, cancer and diabetes as well. The only thing you can tell by just looking at a fat person is how much of a shallow, vapid piece of crap you are.

[rowdiman]

07:43 PM on 06/30/2011

What is sad is that you are judging me the same way you wish not to be judged. You assume I am a male who only reads Maxim or Playboy.

I am a female in my 40's who has battled ridicule, teasing, physical and verbal abuse all of my life. For my WEIGHT. I have worked in the medical field for 20 years and have seen countless early deaths, leaving small children without a parent, from illnesses that have a direct correlation to weight.

High Blood Pressure, High Blood Sugar often are the direct result of being overweight or not eating properly. Low pressure/sugar can be a problem for those underweight. If one has these symptoms, it is up to them to take care of themselves. We do have a choice.

If someone is overweight or underweight and having no health problems, more power to them. That goes for the slender models as well. We all need to quit the bullying of all women.

[drmindhealer]

10:59 PM on 06/30/2011

Beauty is indeed, in the eye of the beholder. The clinical evidence overwhelmingly supports the correlation between weight and diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease. It does not take a rocket scientist to get this. Being underweight is just as problematic and is no panacea. Being underweight can lead to fatal arrhythmias, renal dysfunction, etc.
While society has a long way to go in separating weight from beauty, the divide needs to shrink between weight and health. The medical evidence speaks for itself. We need to promote "healthy weights" rather than extremes in either direction or else this generation of children is at grave risk.

[Michele Little]

05:48 PM on 06/29/2011

I think it's high-time fashion caught up to real life and embraced women of all shapes and sizes! With more than 2/3 of the American female population wearing a size 14 and up (yes, really!) I think there is a large demographic (no pun intended) that is not being served. As a stylist, I shop with many plus-sized clients who have money to spend and want to look chic, yet don't have many options. The way I see it is that there is a lot of money being left on the table, and a lot of clients going 'hungry' for what they really want. It doesn't have to be this way.

[alahnar]

10:07 PM on 06/30/2011

You're right...your clients could always lose the weight and become healthy.

[Lalita Amos]

12:07 PM on 06/29/2011

I guess if reviling people for skin color or ethnicity is considered declasse, hurling invectives at the overweight and the fat is a good replacement. I suppose some people need to have a group they feel vindicated in venting their superiority and disgust on.

[Morella La Muerte]

06:25 PM on 06/30/2011

Some cretinous lowlifes need to have such an outlet, that is!

[cityprole]

11:39 AM on 06/29/2011

An intelligent and interesting analysis of present-day 'philosophy' in the fashion world..she's right, to suggest that curvy models will somehow encourage viewers to overeat is ridiculous on the face of the fact that women are not en mass emaciated, which would bolster their arguments..
The truth is that fashion, like any business, is based on greed...if a designer wants to maximize profits, he/she must minimize overhead..that means that a 1/3 metre of material for a dress that cost $3,000 will bring more profit than a 1 metre dress, so naturally, the skinny long legged 15 year old in a mini dress barely covering her privates maximizes profit margins...
But, as another poster already stated, there are some great curvy girl designers out there, and someday, hopefully within my lifetime, they will be creating ready-to-wear at an affordable price that shops will carry as a matter of course, not as a specialty item, but simply as part of a normal range of product on offer...that would be nice.

[MikeDu]

01:50 AM on 06/29/2011

Fashion houses already accommodate 'persons of size' by altering their posted sizes. You know that 'little black dress' you love so much? Its actually a 'medium-size black dress'. And you men who can still to fit into the same 32 waist trouser sizeyou did in college? Well, myaybe they're a purposefully mislabeled 36 waist.

[Lalita Amos]

12:00 PM on 06/29/2011

The Olsen twins, Paris Hilton and their ilk are thin and can wear haute couture, but I don't think those vapid women are examples of anything wholesome for anyone. Maybe the soul searching you suggest needs to go deeper than the mirror.

[teecee656]

01:02 PM on 06/29/2011

Thats exactly my point! When I look in the mirror I certainly don't see the Olsen twins or Paris Hilton. Nor would I want too. But I do see myself and despite thinning hair, and a few scares here and there, at 62 I have a BMI of 25, 110/60 blood pressure and I've worn the same size pants and shirts for 40 years. I'm comfortable with just being me. I've remained active and still ski as well as I ever have, just need a few more breaks (doing anything at 10,000 ft can be a challenge). I've comfortable with who I see in the mirror and have long realized that I can't compare my insides (soul searching) to everyone else's outsides.

[rowdiman]

12:13 AM on 06/30/2011

LOL. Faved:)

[lp4ju]

06:49 PM on 06/28/2011

what allways makes me laugh is that when when the issue of plus size fashion is spoken of they always go to the other extreme....to really large models...how about those of us that are a size 16 can we have a nice range of models

[writermonkey]

07:14 PM on 06/28/2011

Unfortunately most of the women I see hailed as "plus size" model really look like a size 10 to 12, which is pretty average -- this story being an exception, of course. But I totally agree that it would be nice to routinely see a range of body types represented in the media and on the runway. I've noticed that some clothing stores that used to have separate sections for "plus" sizes are now including those on the racks with "regular" sizes. I think that's a good sign.

[FatChickSings]

06:04 PM on 06/28/2011

I have to agree with you Velvet my dear! There is so much puritanism masquerading as health out there right now. Want to be healthy? Great, be healthy. Eat well. Love well. Play hard. Enjoy life. Go for a walk in the sunshine! And I'll do the same. Thank you for your concern about my size, but as my friend Marilyn Wann always says, "You can't hate somebody for their own good."

If you want to know about a real health strategy, please join us at the Association for Size Diversity and Health's conference coming up this August 12-14 in San Francisco called: No BODY Left Behind - The HAES℠ Model: Ensuring an Inclusive Approach to Health & Wellness. If you want to anonymously shout "fatty fatty two by four" as you drive past, well then this is probably not for you. But if you want to have a real discussion about health and size check us out at : www dot sizediversityandhealth dot org. Thanks!

[stepintothelight]

05:35 PM on 06/28/2011

Try supporting designers who don't think the idea body type is a 14 year old prepubescent boy!!!

Curves ROCK!!!

[KEATSnSKYESMOM]

08:39 AM on 06/29/2011

Don't hate.

[BittyBittyChangChang]

05:15 PM on 06/28/2011

Right. Fashion needs to catch up because I am tired of the low quality crap that designers are pushing out there now. Large size clothing is ridiculously over-priced and the styles swing between two extremes:hip-hop street walker and monastic cover ups.

For a brief shining moment in the late nineties there were designers producing great clothes and even a magazine was launched called MODE -- it was the Vogue for the plus size girl and it sold well. But rumor has it that Anna Wintour was not pleased that women were gravitating toward the publication which directly challenged Vogues unrealistic stick figures so without warning I just dissappeared one day.

But I digress.

There is a whole world of plus size fashion designers creating great work out there. If magazine editors wanted to find them, they could. So I encourage every woman of size to demand more choices and better quality. To make a point, my favorite thing to do is to go into a boutique or mall shop where I like the clothing and ask if they carry my size. If they don’t I just take out a wad of bills or my Amex Card and say “Pity.”