DECEMBER 2011£3.80

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GLAMOUR

ELLEguestlist

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SARAH ROBINSONEnglish make-up artist Sarah Robinson joined us in Newcastle when we shot our cover star, Laura Dysart, for the Back to Black shoot on page 13. Q Where is the weirdest place you have a mole?A I have one on the inside on my little toe.Q What is your favourite flavour pringle?A Sour cream definitely.Q What’s your pet hate?A Arrogance.TOP TIP Always think before you hit the send button.

HAYLEY PEARSEELLE’s new stylist has a strong background in fashion and has worked around the world on a huge variety of projects.Q Do you have any strange phobias?A Old objects. I can’t stand them.Q What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done whilst driving?A I always try to apply my lipgloss.Q Have you got any pets?A One, my dog, Pippa.TOP TIP To dispose of receipts and bank statements let them dissolve in water.

AMY PLEASANTSELLE’s beauty director joined the magazine in 2010 after working for an impressive list of names.Q What’s your favourite scent?A Attimo by Salvatore Ferragamo.Q Have you ever taken a hot air balloon ride?A Yes, when i was 18. It was amazing.Q Shaken or stirred?A Shaken.TOP TIP To avoid getting blisters from new shoes cover your feet in Vaseline.

THEEDITOR’SLETTER ‘Why is it that we spend hours upon hours criticizing not only ourselves but every other woman we come into contact

with in our heads, asking why did I eat that take away last night? Why haven’t I joined the gym yet? Why did I eat that Mars bar an hour ago?’ Writes my friend in her brilliant piece on the modelling industries SKINNY LOVE. (Page 6). Portraying a unique insight into the super skinny vs. plus size fight from the eyes of ELLE, and how the modelling world is beginning to change, bringing with that the hope of a massive change on the horizon, just in time for the new year. As CHRISTMAS gets nearer I find myself bombarded with questions from my friends, wondering what to wear over the party season. In this issue we have compiled a selection of ‘BACK TO BLACK’ classics to give you a head start with outfit planning - lets face it, every girl does it. This edition is jam packed full of TREATS to keep you going through the winter, whether you prefer to unleash the inner party animal and get dressed up to the nines, or snuggle by the fire in pajamas with a hot chocolate, a mince pie and a copy of your FAVE mag.

Hannah SmithFollow me on Twitter @HannahELLE

ELLEdecember

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QA As the

controversial ongoing debate over size zero models and whether the ages of super skinny are morally and ethically correct continues, I find myselfbeginning to wonder whether this will ever alter. From myself, to mothers, to teenagers and fashion designers, we all have varying ideologies over the effect that this battle has upon our society today. With an increase in women becoming more headstrong, achieving higher status in significant roles within business, politics and society, working twice as hard as ever to achieve their

goals and make their mark, leaving marriage until later in life and juggling time within family life to put career first, the gap with men is starting to close, though it may not be politically correct to say as much. In an ever increasing spotlight, under scrutiny from the billion pound fashion industry, girls are put under increasing pressure as they are forced to conform to the stereotypical expectations of models that has risen over the years. I can’t help but notice that the modeling industry holds an ever growing obsession with skinny, fuelling the competition to have the skinniest arms, legs, stomach, hips. Impressionable heads are filled with ‘not skinny enough’ and never ‘too

IS IT REALLY SKINNY LOVE?

What do women actually want? Has the modelling world got it right, or is everything finally about to change?

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skinny.’ In a world where millions of people a year die from starvation, I struggle massively to understand the need for models to get smaller and smaller, becoming emaciated, and why a new level of unnaturally skinny has been forced upon us. Why is it that we spend hours upon hours criticizing not only ourselves but every

other woman we come into contact with in our heads, asking why did I eat that take away last night? Why haven’t I joined the gym yet? Why did I eat that Mars bar an hour ago? Why can’t I look like Sienna Miller? Why can’t I be more successful? Why can’t I earn more, or be sexier or a clothes size

smaller? Where have the confident ‘Made in Dagenham’ style women disappeared to, where we fought for what we wanted. Where our egos weren’t bruised and our self esteem intact? Why have we taken a liking to constantly comparing ourselves to others instead of just accepting ourselves and learning to love our bodies? Lets face it, we all do it. As soon as I walk past someone I do a quick glance and take in their appearance, not in a bitchy “I hate her” kind of way but more in an envious sort of way. What if she has nicer shoes, a better, more

expensive designer handbag, longer legs or a smaller waist? It boosts my

confidence to be presentable and dress well in expensive clothes, and as bad as it sounds, improving my view of my own self worth, even if only for a few hours. I personally welcome the day that designers start to encourage girls to feel a sense of self worth, to love

their bodies no matter what their age or shape, rather than encouraging them to compete in the battle for skinny and moulding the young generation of today into excessively unhealthy skinny girls. I think about how today’s elite supermodels, the likes of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, thwart my self esteem and how fed up I am of walking down the high street to be faced with super skinny girls covering the shop displays, and I am left wondering how we got here. How is there any demand for this extreme kind of skinny and how is this kind of skinny even humanly possible to achieve? Perhaps the answer is that there simply isn’t, and that look is just what has been pushed as the normal, standard image presented by the multimedia. Marc Jacobs has recently announced that he is to design a ‘plus size’ line, making him the first major fashion house to produce clothing for women bigger than a size 14. When this is the average UK size, it shocks me to discover that designers don’t produce

‘Why did I EAT that Mars bar an hour ago?’

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larger clothes. I hope this new line brings with it a transformation within both the fashion and modeling industries, bringing a sense of relief for models and helping other designers to see the potential in discouraging the dangerously thin and the eating disorders that follow. Crystal Renn, the most infamous name in the plus

size modeling world is starting to take over the fashion runways, being involved in Chanel’s resort 2011 runway show and Jean Paul Gaultier’s runway show. She has also been used in advertisement campaigns for Jimmy Choo, Dolce and Gabbana and Saks Fifth

Avenue. It is refreshing to see a fuller figure conquer and grace the runway shows, and comforting to know that alternatives to super skinny are beginning to be accepted. A little of my dented personal self esteem is restored with the knowledge that some of the Worlds biggest, most renowned fashion houses are warming to the idea and starting to set a new trend: real women. As I see it, Tom Ford himself is perhaps the pioneer of this new up and coming trend, representing and inspiring real women across the globe. Thankfully, Tom Ford has had a huge

impact and influence over other designers as his collections have seen

such huge success. Names such as Alberta Ferretti have followed suit and sent real women down the catwalks to show off their designs. I always eagerly anticipate the release of Tom Ford’s collections, designed with different women and

different body shapes in mind, I find myself always impressed and never disappointed in his creations. It would appear maybe designers are finally beginning to understand their consumer market and realise that we all like to wear their clothes, and it isn’t just the ultimate skinny teenage model that wears their clothes but instead an eclectic mix of models, business women, actresses and celebrity. The importance of presentation will always be prevalent in catwalks and advertisement but in reality the average woman would look just as good, and arguably even better. I frequently wonder whether the focus is on the clothes anymore or whether it has become more about the girls modeling them. Every day I see incredibly attractive average sized women in the real world and ask myself why they aren’t regularly seen on the runways. Why does the modeling world think any differently? Admittedly, I do agree that

‘A little of my dented personal SELF ESTEEM is restored’

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‘For the grande FINALE he sent a 71 year old woman down the catwalk to close the show.’

it would be equally as wrong for the modeling industry to promote plus size in an excessive way, but what happened to just normal, happy, healthy women?What happened to the days where the voluptuous, curvy women modeled in Da Vinci’s works of art were seen as sexy rather than the skin-and-bones glamour models of page three.

Sat in the Giles Spring/Summer 2011 London Fashion Week catwalk show it is impossible not to think a change is on the horizon. For the grande finale, he sent a 71 year old woman down the catwalk to close

the show. Maybe we are about to see the start of a new competition as designers fight to be remembered by Anna Wintour and the rest of the fashion world, and with that bring an end to the battle for super skinny. I imagine ideas like Giles’ are inspired by previous controversial ideas from previous London Fashion Weeks; people like Mark Fast, who sent plus size models down the catwalk the year previously. I hope that designers will want to start proving to the world that their designs can and do look good on every body shape, and with that

bring a hug transforma-tion within the modeling world. I look at designers like Marc Jacobs and Tom

Ford, Giles and Mark Fast, and wonder if just maybe a change of attitude is round the corner. Are we about to see the last of the days where eating disorders are more common than smoking? Where designers

new marketing innovation isgoing smaller than size zero? and are we about to welcome a refreshing adjustment within the fashion industry: the rise of real women taking over the catwalks? What do you think? Do you prefer the super skinny or the curvaceous woman? Send your views to elledebate@hearst.co.uk.

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BACKTO BLACKFrom shorts to jackets, the a/w black TREND is back just in time for the PARTY season. Sex it up with LEATHER and see-through shirts.

PhotographsbyHANNAH

FashionbyHAYLEY PEARSE

Polyester shirt, £32, and leather

leggings, £22, both by Topshop. Suede

boots, £150, by Kurt Geiger.

Cotton and chiffon top, £18, by

Topshop. Cotton and tulle skirt, £45,

by Jones + Jones. Suede boots, £150,

by Kurt Geiger.

This page: cotton body,

£45, by Lipsy. Cotton shorts

with stud detail, £25, by

Topshop. Suspender

tights, £10, by Asos. Suede

shoes, £150, by Kurt Geiger

Opposite: polyester shirt,

£32. Leather leggings, £22,

both by Topshop.

Leather jacket, £65, by Topshop.