Italian Vogue features plus-size models on the cover

photo: Huffington post

I'm very impressed that Vogue, the ultimate fashion magazine, has bucked the trend of Photoshopping cover models to make them look thinner (remember Faith Hill on the cover or Redbook Magazine?) and actually featured three plus-sized models on their cover. Of course, the images might also have been Photoshopped, but they certainly didn't cut out the rolls or the curves -- and do I actually detect hints of cellulite in this photo?


photo: Huffington post


Let's face it, these women are gorgeous. They exude sexiness from every pore. Their faces are exquisite. There are many women, far thinner than these models, who could not hold a candle to them. Bravo to Vogue for acknowledging that beauty does not always come in a size zero! They'll probably go back to the stick-thin models next month, but it's a start.

That being said, I'm not so sure they'd be as gorgeous if they were 50 or 100 pounds heavier than they are now. These models are probably the same size as Marilyn Monroe or the Venus de Milo or any of the women in Renaissance-era paintings or in the works of Peter Paul Rubens (hence the term "Rubenesque"). I would argue that a couple of the women in the full photo spread are not plus size at all, just not model-thin. If you saw these women out on the street, no one would do a double take due to their size (now their looks, that's another matter!) because, let's face it, people come a whole lot bigger these days. So yes, big can be beautiful, but there's big and then there's BIG. My applauding Vogue for this refreshing move is in no way an encouragement of an unhealthy lifestyle or being excessively overweight.

See the full Italian Vogue photo spread here (fair warning for those of you who care: lot's of T&A, but it's all very tastefully done).