Spain Removes Skinny Mannequins From Stores

This is refreshing news. Hopefully this sets a precident and it spreads to other Euro countries. I can attest to the fact that generally Spanish and Italian men prefer 'real women' meaning not fat but with curves and meat on the bones (this according to a survey and reported in the Spanish news).

Again, it is the fashion industry at blame for putting those anorexic looking mannequins out in the first place.

Bravo to these new Spanish laws, obviously a follow up to the recent fashion show standards being challenged in Madrid. A first that made very big waves.

This is a big step forward I feel.

It's nice to see a society that is starting to recognize the horrible pressure on women to be picture perfect.

I think it is definitely a good start.

It'd definitely be nice to see mannequins that look like actual women instead of clothes hangers. Sometimes I'd like to envision what clothes would look like on me and not just what they look like on some skinny, not-real model. I think Spain's headed in the right direction.

Spectra said:
Sometimes I'd like to envision what clothes would look like on me [...]

yay for spain!! This is great and I hope that the US followes in Spain's footsteps if they are going in the right direction... something has to give.

The downside:
The number of people who become paranoid while shopping increases....

Mrs. Maria J. Moreno was quoted as saying, "I just couldn't stop staring at that blasted mannequin. It creeps me out! It looks just like me!"

Meanwhile Miss Eva Rivera stated that when she walked by the dummy and brushed up against it, she was completely convinced that it was a real person, a real rude person. "My first reaction was to defend myself. I proceded to smack that dumb look off her face."

:)

Awesome.

Kelly; That's hilarious! If the USA ever adopts this practice I'll finally have a reason to hang out at the mall; to see how if people do the same thing here.

I don't mind skinny dummies (I don't feel like spelling mannequin- oh, shoot), whenever I go someplace public (like, say, the mall?) I see a lot of really skinny girls, so I can't say that the mannequins are unrealistic, because there are girls that size out there. Frankly though, half the time I don't like the clothes! Now, shorter mannequins, yeah.

The skinny girls are like that because they are trying to emulate the skinny mannequins and popular skinny models and the anorexic movie stars. Hollyood's demand on their female stars follows the fashion industry's dictates.

Terry Hatcher used to look so fantastic...now her gaunt, skrawny look is very sad in my eyes. No more softness.

Skinny mannequins are ridiculous! When you go round the back of them, the clothes (even the small sizes) are invariably pinned up the back with safety pins. What's the point?

Reading the comments has been very illuminating. I had no idea that some people felt this way about skinny mannequins...

What do people feel about the models used in catalogs? For awhile at least, Lands End was using locals rather than contract models, and the Travelsmith web site is one of the companies that uses no people to model their clothing.

They're hardly going to go 'Oh good, no more skinny mannequins, time to gain weight!' now, are they?

And you can't say that every skinny girl is a anorexia-craving hollywood wannabe (to me that's as offensive as saying all overweight people do is sit on their arses and eat). They have small bone structures and aren't disposed towards weight gain (as teenagers, might change as they get older), which is why they have no problem downing a large slice of pizza with a non-diet coke (without running to the restroom afterwards).

If people want mannequins to be more relative to them and what their size is, it ought to be relative to everyone, which means a range of sizes in mannequins, even small ones. No fair picking on the skinny people (Of whom I am not one, but I know some very sweet girls that are, and they are simply not the vapid self-centered type that people seem to associate with unusual thinness).

... *folds up portable soapbox*

Patricia (Spain) said:
The skinny girls are like that because they are trying to emulate the skinny mannequins and popular skinny models and the anorexic movie stars[...]

Jan said:
I think it is definitely a good start.[...]

I like pretty women. I especially like pretty AND thin women. They are fun to look at as well as make out with. I mean face it.... if your woman is too heavy you cannot lift her up and this also limits sexual possibilities as well. My car is a small one with a 350 pound weight cut off. I weigh in at about 155 pounds of beef so if my woman is as heavy as I am then how am I gonna carry my guitars and guns around?? These are important everyday issues that most people just do not consider. Now do I think that women should starve themselves or try to be something that they are not, no. I do know that ALL people men or women should be happy with the way they look naked and if you are not then get that stair master and diet goin' on sweet soul sister and stop hating on the women who already got it goin' on! My wife is under a size 6 and she is 22 years old. She is pretty and also horribly harassed by people who think that they are better than her because they weigh more or that just plain are jealous. That is why these retards are pulling the thin dummies out of the windows, not because they don't sell clothes....... because the dummies look better than they do. Ignorance is bliss. To anyone throwing away thin modeling dummies etc. etc. you can just send them to me. I would love to arrange them in front of my house and dress them in cool heavy metal gear!! I bet that the traffic would literally stop to check'em out. Think I am full of sh*t?! Try me.

Oh yeah, I bet a thin, attractive person didn't invent clothing in the first place. My bet is on the fat rich (who could afford the pricy clothing) person trying to out-do the hard workin' hotties! Get out there and off yer a** and I would bet you will forget to eat as much an loose some weight.

I almost forgot the most important thing.......... Terry Hatcher is TOTALLY H O T! (Let's not forget that she is around 40 years old which may account for a thinner look than she used to have) I love to watch the stupid TV shows she is in because she is sooooooo HOT!!!! (and smart I might add)
She is like the dude from The Cars wife, older than I am and jaw dropping!! Crackers in bed?! Let them eat a whole damn box!
Oh, and I bet they fit about a 5 or 6 for size if not less. Not to sound too perverted because they are married to cool dudes but man if a guy had a chance when they were single to go out with them he would have to be gay to turn that one down.

Some of the comment being made disappoint me. As a 23 year old, 5'5", 110lb woman that has spent most of her life struggling with the fact that I've been made fun of for being a "toothpick" my whole life, and spent many adolescent hours crying in the shower because of the hurtful things people say about my body type, I just want to throw a bit of reality at the world... those "not-real" models may not represent the majority of women's body types, but WE ARE REALLY OUT THERE. And some of us don't choose to be this size. It's just how we are made. Thank you for acting as if I don't exist, and don't deserve to buy clothes that fit. Stop and think of others for a second before you stereotype all people under size 6 as unhealthy.

some people are just jealous that they can't keep sugar from their own mouths so they must bash the ones who can. Jess, I am blown away by woman of your type....I wish I could have that sort of luck. I mean mostly as woman we wish for a body like that and when others really have it, I think they can't believe it and it's easier for some woman to poke fun at others then admit to themselves that they are the ones with the problem putting sugar into their own mouths. I hate the terry hatcher comment someone made....She is one beautiful woman and one of my idols. For the record, I have a problem with sugar cravings and I do my best to control it, but I am not too good that I can't say "You go girl!" to the naturally thin girls of the world. Some of those girls really do work hard to achieve that, it's a mental on off button really.

I think that this is completely horrible. Not ALL women who are under a size 6 are unhealthy and I think it's extremely wrong to make that assumption - why should skinny women be cut out, just because there is a fear others are trying to mimic them? What about including all different sizes, rather than focusing on one? What about having 0 - 20? Would having obese looking mannequins push people to start wanting to become fat? People think that skinny girls have it easiest but that is not true. I'm skinny and I have dealt with mean insults ever since I can remember. It's becoming harder and harder for me to find a size 0 pair of jeans. Heck, I walked into Eastern Mountain Sports and they didn't have a single clothing item below a size 6. I swim in a size 6 and it makes me look even thinner to wear baggy clothes.

I was sooooo happy when I heard this.
I used to be bulimic & anorexic so I know how hard it is to see stick thin girls portrayed as the ideal.
"Look like us & you'll be happy!"

But no matter how thin I got there was always someone else who looked better, maybe she had a slimmer waist, maybe she had a more defined jaw.
And at 5'10 & 109lbs (BMI: 15) I was still striving for perfection.

Good! I hope that retailers in Canada follow suit. A couple of months ago, I was window shopping downtown, and all of the mannequins I saw were so small - I asked a few salespeople, "If that mannequin was a human female, how much do you think she'd weigh?" 110 pounds. "And how many 110 pound women shop here?" Blank stare. It got me thinking about why I'm always disappointed when I try clothes on, and think that it looked better on the mannequin. The mannequin is improbably tiny, that's why. It represents the fashion industry, not the average woman. I applaud what Spain is doing, and if I ever have a clothing store, my mannequins will be realistic!

Times have changed in Spain. In 1961 when James Michener visited Badajoz on the western frontier he found Spanish women aged 30 and older to be 20 pounds heavier than their French and American counterparts.