Dear Australian Vogue, Better Luck Next Time

Imagine my surprise to hear earlier this week that the Australian Vogue was following in the footsteps of Vogue Italia and had published its first ever 10-page plus size fashion spread in its August 2011 issue.  I immediately had to get details and see the spread!  Between the news of the spread, and finding out about up & coming plus size Australian designer, Gisela Ramierz, (see the I Need A Vacation AND This Swimsuit blog post from July), I was ecstatic that the land down under was crawling from under the mainstream rock and  joining the rest of the plus size world.

All week, the blogosphere has been abuzz with news of this spread.  From plus size blogs, to mainstream fashion blogs, all have commented on this spread and lavished it much praise.  I was very anxious to see the spread with all the fanfare it was getting.  Then I found out the featured model is Robyn Lawley.  Ok, no bells sounded because I wasn’t too familiar with Ms, Lawley, or her work, except that she was featured on the cover of Vogue Italia and the French Elle, but nonetheless, excited to see the spread. 

That is until I saw the spread…..

*blank stare*

Confusion washes over me as I view page after page of photos.  I don’t understand.  THIS is what all the hoopla is about? Are they not seeing what I see? This looks like a regular mainstream spread to me.  Lovely girl, but she is clearly not plus size. She may be an Australian 14 but that is a size 10 by U.S. sizing standards. Not hardly plus size. Maybe I have grown accustomed to real plus size models, like Crystal Renn and others who were featured in the plus size pictorial by V Magazine back in 2010, so when I hear plus size that’s what I expect to see.  Not a model who is of average build being cast as plus size because she’s 20lbs heavier than Kate Moss.  Boo!

Vogue Australia, you clearly missed the mark.  While I applaud your paltry effort to try and make a little room in the fashion world for the bigger girls, this spread only reinforces the idea that if a woman isn’t shaped like a stick figure she is fat. Again, I say Boo! 

I wish Vogue Australia would have put more of an effort into this spread because it could have had more of an impact in the plus size fashion world.  So while the plus size blogosphere celebrates this groundless victory, I’m quite disappointed with Australian Vogue trying to pass off an average size model as plus size.  So with that I say, sorry Australian Vogue, but this is a FAIL!  I’ll give you an E+ for effort, but better luck next time.

Will the real plus size models please stand up!

 ~The Plus Size Shopaholic ~ Muah!