Does anyone else feel disenfranchised by models?

the scrawny, tall models

I wonder if people used to describe me as 'scrawny' when I was a size 8 and 5 ft 9 in tall ? My DM used to tell me I was too skinny, but then she also said that when I was size 10, 12, 14 and she still says it now I'm size 16. And still 5 ft 9 in tall. And I've never dieted in my life.

No I don’t feel disenfranchised by anybody. In fact I like to see attractive models of any age modelling clothes, hairdos, makeup etc. Then I can kid myself I can look like that ?

I bought one of these recently, and a conker one, after seeing a children's dress I loved, my DIL found it online in the sale and I bought that and a conker one for myself, don't care if they are aimed at young Mums

I normally dress like the Queen, but my crown's in the wash!
Seriously, though, it amazes me how she looks so good in clothes that I wouldn't dream of wearing. Especially some of the really bright colours.
Good luck to you, Ma'am, and I hope that you shake off the Covid quickly.

I did write the word disenfranchised consciously, not in the sense of being unable to vote but in the sense of not feeling part of society. Being unable to see people like ourselves could make you feel that you aren’t part of the world, or not valued by it. That is how I feel when the vast majority of images I see in the fashion media are of women aged under 30, tall, thin and pretty. I don’t think it’s as bad for men. Just as an example, I like Joe Browns clothes but their male models are so much more diverse than their females..you know, proper silver foxes, there is no one remotely like me in their catalogue nor on line. What’s the female equivalent? Silver vixens! Lovely.

Bonmarche advertises itself as catering for the older generation yet hard to spot one model that looks over 60 years of age. Is an order generation now 30 years old? M & S occasionally has an order looking model but still at least 5'7" and size 10. Don't know about catalogues, haven't look through one for decades.

I am slightly shorter than you GrandeTante and weigh a few kilos more, but I can assure Lucca that while I do not have any difficulty in finding clothes in my size that should, theoretically, to fit me in normal ranges, it doesn't stop one having all the idiosyncracies of figure that one has had all one's life. In my case I am very short between waist and crotch. My hip bones and ribs almost meet, so I have no waist and most trousers are a comfortable fit around the armpits and anything waisted makes me look fat and overweight.

My complaint is that as I am just under 5’ I’m not able to find anything in the petite range. I used to get clothes at Wallis, but online they don’t have much for the older woman. I take a size 10 and trousers are miles too long and dresses just hang on me.

M0nica I'm the opposite of you, I have a long body and find it difficult to get trousers that come to my waist. Thank heavens for M&S high waist jeggings, the only ones I've found that sit comfortably on my waist and also reach beyond my ankles. Swimwear is a nightmare too.

I have received several catalogues which tell me the sizes of any particular garment are available for sizes 8- 24.

I have written to them offering to buy IF they can guarantee that the design was scaled down from the largest available, rather than scaled up from the smallest ( I am size 18-20)
Strangely, I have never received an answer to this so must assume that the scaling is entirely inadequate for someone my size
Young models with their hand tucked into the waist band do not help me assess either. I do not need something where the cut-off point is around the widest point of my abdomen

Another odd point is the changes firms make whilst maintaining the same size coding. I can still wear a couple of pairs of trousers in a particular size but the replacements, apparently same firm , size and fit, are entirely unsuitable

As I had to queue for an hour the last time I tried to return stuff ( queue full of women on the same mission), I certainly do feel disenfranchised in this sphere

How many people out there with a sad and lonely sewing machine in the back of a cupboard, in the garage or in the loft? The Palmer/Pletch Guide to Fitting will answer all your non-standard shape needs! Give it a go but beware! You'll get hooked!

as a result of this thread I have spent over £20 on snag tights

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Plenty of older women models around. They are almost as essential to ads and magazine articles as models from other ethnic groups.

When it comes to size and shape, garment companies want to show their clothes off to best advantage and in a way that makes it easy to see the main features. There are standard sizes clothes are cut to fit and it makes sense to display them on models of the right proportions.

The problem is real people come in so many different sizes and shapes manufacturers would have to make clothes in hundreds of different sizes, all in short runs. This would mean that the cost of clothes would rocket up.

Surely all of us, as we reach adulthood know the vagaries of our shape and size and we filter out all clothes that we know in advance are unflattering.

I have no waist, my hips are almost level with the bottom of my rib cage, so I try to avoid wearing clothes that fit to the waist. They make me look huge, even though I am not over weight. I know what colours suit me and what styles I like wearing. So if I see a model in a coat with a tie belt in a fetching shade of black, my eye moves on, the style and colour will look awful on me, so my eye moves on.

I am quite happy to see clothes on a slim model. It makes it easy to see the garments features. I rarely look at their faces, so do not notice how old they are. It is the clothes I am looking at.