Honestly, I saw the Sartorialist post where he wrote under an image of a girl taking a photo wearing Jeffrey Campbell Lita purple booties, “I loved that she’s a bigger, curvier girl than most of the other bloggers who you see in the press and tend to represent the genre.” It did make me pause, just in that I always am taken aback when anyone comments on a girl’s figure with anything less than, “it’s gorgeous,” because who wants to hear about it otherwise? But it didn’t seem cause for blogging about, except that some his commenters were all up in arms about it (others simply complimented the girl and her shoes).
Sart took to his blog to respond, remaining ever the gentleman, albeit a somewhat confused gentleman. Read it below:
A number of the commenters are upset by the word “curvy.” They feel I should have used the word “normal.” However, normal is relative. There is a young lady on my team who is 5’0″, and another who is 5’9″. Which would be “normal”? Remember, curvy is a body shape, not a weight. To be honest, you can’t really see in these photographs most of the curves – chest, stomach, hip – this woman has. So help me understand; what is the modern way to speak about size? I’m not married to the word curvy. I’m just trying to describe her in the best way I know how. Let’s not hide from this issue; I don’t want to be afraid to talk about it on my blog. Help me describe this young lady without using the word “normal,” but in a way that addresses her body size and still references my point about the size of her legs relative to her shoes.
I think that people are used to referring to “plus sized” models like Crystal Renn as “curvy,” it’s become de rigueur, but if I were going to take issue with something it would be the use of “bigger.” No girl wants to be called bigger, especially one who truly is just more average body type, especially compared to the Abbey Lee and Henneli shots Scott Schuman may be more accustomed to. Wouldn’t it be worse if he didn’t appreciate a different look at what is beautiful though?
Photo: Christopher Peterson, BuzzFoto, FilmMagic