Christensen: Vogue should follow its ‘progressive’ goal

On March 22, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour hosted a panel at the Harvard Business School… On March 22, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour hosted a panel at the Harvard Business School to discuss weight and wellness in the fashion world, supposedly in the hopes of promoting “advancement for the future” concerning sample size and the well-being of models. Three days later, Vogue’s magazine editors rejected featuring “Precious” star and Oscar nominee Gabby Sidibe in its fashion pages because of her size, according to PopEater.com, an AOL celebrity news site.

Wintour, who inspired Meryl Streep’s character in the 2006 film “The Devil Wears Prada,” has never been mistaken for a sympathetic figure regarding beauty. In a 2009 “60 Minutes” interview, she described obese residents of Minnesota as “little houses” according to New York Magazine. People magazine reports that Wintour even told Oprah Winfrey that she would not be photographed for Vogue’s cover unless she lost weight.

At the forum, Wintour said that the magazine does not Photoshop models to make them appear thinner. Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean the models aren’t dangerously thin to begin with. Last year, a letter leaked from British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman revealed that sample garments are so small they only fit flat-chested, emaciated models; photographs have to be Photoshopped to make the models appear heavier, so that readers aren’t horrified by their skeletal appearances, according to The Huffington Post. Vogue might not need to make its models appear any thinner than reality.

It’s one thing to promote healthy living and another to tailor beauty to pre-conceived standards. Sidibe is obese, but both obesity and being underweight are dangerous medical conditions. Wintour is not promoting any kind of healthy incentive by restricting Sidibe from appearing in her magazine’s pages. She just doesn’t want to portray someone who doesn’t conform to her idea of beauty. By refusing to photograph Sidibe, Wintour is promoting a philosophy that favors appearance over character.

Wintour playing host to the Harvard panel created a nice progressive illusion for Vogue. At the panel, she spoke about “reversing the tyranny” of child-sized sample clothes. A fashion source, Styleite.com, explained that Sidibe couldn’t be photographed by Vogue because sample sizes are too small for a “regular-sized girl,” let alone the overweight actress. Apparently, Wintour is willing to speak out against small sample clothes but not willing to actually do anything about the “tyranny.”

Wintour is arguably the most powerful woman in the fashion industry. If she really thought that small sample sizes were such a problem, she could do something about it. She rescheduled the massive 2008 Milan Fashion Week just so she had time to return home between traveling to France and Italy at the inconvenience of other designers. If she wanted to, surely Wintour has the wherewithal to find a plus-sized designer sample for Sidibe.

At the Harvard panel, Wintour also noted Vogue’s tendency to use younger models, saying, “Most models only work when they have the uber-slim physique of the very young, stop getting jobs when they fill out and hence don’t last long enough to develop public personalities, like the ’90s supermodels did. As a result, most magazine covers and lucrative beauty contracts have gone to singers and actresses.”

Sidibe is an actress not lacking in public personality. Rising from obscurity, her role in “Precious” garnered her nomination for the Best Actress Academy Award. She won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female.

But apparently, talent and public personality aren’t really enough for Vogue. The magazine is following in the petty footsteps of Vanity Fair, which snubbed Sidibe from its annual Young Hollywood issue — despite the fact that the 26-year-old actress generated so much hype the past year. Sidibe is being hailed as a fashion example for plus-sized women and was the cover girl for the March issue of Ebony Magazine. Wintour might have spoken prettily about fashion progression, but her walk doesn’t fit the talk.

Vogue’s refusal to photograph Sidibe is another instance in a long line of the fashionista’s fascism. In addition to denying Oprah cover space, Wintour advised Hillary Clinton that she could not be photographed for the cover unless she abandoned her navy blue suits, according to Slate.com, a web magazine. Although it is inherent to her trade, Wintour takes elitism to a whole new level. A Vogue writer once said that Wintour regularly excludes women in service work from the magazine’s pages. A feature about breast cancer that began with the story of an airline stewardess reportedly had to be revised, and writers had to seek out a high-flying businesswoman with breast cancer to write about instead.

Wintour can talk all she wants about advancement for the future, but the sunglass-clad, Chanel-suited prima donna can’t really connect with the real world unless her magazine begins to truly recognize that reality doesn’t conform to preset beauty standards. Promoting advancement while continuing to practice the same ideals only makes Wintour lose credibility as a progressive voice in the fashion industry.

E-mail Caitlyn your perspective at cac141@pitt.edu.