Miss Très Skinny: 15 year old Julia Schneider from Sweden, Winner of "Elite Model Look 2011"
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet your new Top Model of THE WORLD!!!!! Well, meet the new winner of the 28th Annual Elite Model Look Contest. She is 15 year-old (yes, I said fifteen!), Julia Schneider. She stands 1.79 meters (5'10") and hails from the small town of Gävle in Sweden and yes, she's beautiful.
Neon Divas: Elite Model Look 2011 contestants
Elite Model Look is like the "Miss Universe" or "Miss World" of international model contests. Past contestants have included Heidi Klum, Giselle Bundchen, Linda Evangelista, and Alessandra Ambrosio. None of these Supermodels actually won the contest but were "discovered" as a result.
Gown Gorgeous: Finalists in the Elite Model Look 2011 in their black evening gowns
For this year's contest, Sweden's Julia Schneider (far right in photo above) beat out over 60 aspiring young (VERY YOUNG) models from all over the world, at the Finale held in Shanghai China on Tuesday night. A highlight of the show, included a special performance by none other than...
Miss Kylie Minogue (Love her!)
Some of the Finalists Included:
Angola: 17 year old Elsa
Brazil: 15 year old Ariane
Chile: 16 year old Lieve
France: 16 year old Josephine
Netherlands: 14 year old Lieke
Now, let's get to the Controversy and the Winner:
Size 00: Elite Model Look 2011 Winner Julia Schneider
Immediately, after being "crowned" the new "Elite Model Look" winner, poor Julia and the contest organizers/Elite Model Management have come under fire because of the fact that Julia is very, very skinny. As soon as she won, various websites and blog commentators were thrown into a tizzy discussing her very teeny tiny frame--even for model standards.
Here's a taste: the Montreal Gazette's Lens blog said "Sweden's Julia Schneider looks more like a "model" of anorexia than anything stylish that the fashion industry should be putting on a pedestal as a standard of emulation...Skeletons are meant to jump out of closets not on to fashion runways. Why are only male models generally allowed to have adult's body shapes?" Well, first, I have to disagree with the last part (regrading male models), since the new male model is just as waif-ish as Julia! Has she seen the 16-year-old size 26" waist boys modeling in the latest Menswear Milan Fashion Week's??
Face of a Supermodel: Elite Model Look 2011 Winner Julia Schneider
But, yes, I do agree that even for "model standards", she does look--dare I say it--too skinny. Granted, she is still only 15 years old and therefore has not even "developed" as woman, and possibly, this is just her "natural body type" and she doesn't eat Swedish Meatballs back in her country. With all that being said, the question still remains, should this kind of a girl--with such a double 00 size--be "crowned" as the Ideal Vision of a Top Model? What do you guys think?
Click Below for video of the "Crowning" of Sweden's Julia Schneider "Elite Model Look 2011":
7 Responses to "SASHES AND TIARAS.....28th Annual Elite Model Look: Is the Winner Too Skinny?"
I'd be careful before declaring her "too thin." There are myriads of reasons (beyond anorexia or any other eating disorder) that could be behind her skinniness.
Being 15, she could just need time to develop. Her body might still be putting more focus on going "up" instead of "out". She could have a very high metabolism. My brother is as skinny as a bean-pole. His arms look very similar to hers, and if someone was concerned about him having anorexia, I'd understand why. However, he eats constantly throughout the day. His metabolism is just that high, and there's potential that he has a genetic disorder that causes him to be that thin (even when he attempts to build muscle, the muscle is extraordinarily lean).
Unless I knew her and her eating habits, I'd avoid any criticism.
She is 15. My niece is 15 and she is as skinny as her (a little smaller regarding heigth).
If I would eat what she does, ... you could roll me ..
I do not like her looks but pointing fingers ...
Yes! I agree with both comments. We have no idea if she is anorexic or just an extremely skinny 15 year old girl who hasn't grown in to her body.
The main point is if it is right for the modeling industry to reward this body type as the ideal for the fashion industry.
Evalonne and Sophia, let's "hope" for Julia's sake that her body doesn't start developing any time soon - since her extremely thin physique is obviously what granted her this modeling contract.
This discussion has nothing to do with Julia being "too thin" or not - if we're talking about "too thin" or not to, what, live? Apparently she manages to stay alive. Yes, girls - especially her age - can sometimes be extremely skinny. And that is (of course!) perfectly fine. But, the question is: does that make it right to name her the winner of a prestigious modeling competition, thereby sending the message that this is what beauty is all about?
Julia's mother is quoted in Swedish newspaper about the controversy caused by her daughter's waifish appearance, resorting to the oldest of excuses: "Noone would call another person too fat, but it's completely fine to call someone too skinny! What's that about?"
1) You think that's what this is about?
2) ..."none would call another person too fat?"
...really?
But no, skinny girls are not the problem. The problem is that we're constantly surrounded with images of these skinny girls, being told that they're as close to perfection as a human being can get. Especially fashion images. What we need is not to ban skinny models from the catwalks or fashion magazines, but we do need to mix it up. By letting different types of women - of different shapes, sizes and ethnicities - onto the catwalks and into the campaigns and editorials. And not say "heeeeeeey, look at these girls, look, they're not super skinny, and look at this one, she's not white, aren't we being all diverse and awesome right now?!". No, you're not, because of what you just said. Stupid. Everyone who isn't white and super thin shouldn't be an exotic exception to the white/skinny-rule.
I've been a part of the modeling industry for many years and I know for a fact that a lot of young female models have severe problems concerning their body image and eating habits. Not everyone, sure. But way too many. It doesn't really matter if you're naturally skinny when you're modeling, since there is always someone telling you that you should be even skinnier in order to be really successful. What the industry does to these girls' health is a big issue, and an even bigger one is that other girls and women are lead to believe that the way these models look is 1) aquired without much effort and 2) what a woman is supposed to look like if she wants to be considered as truly beautiful.
But apparently the people at Elite aren't that interested in mixing it up, in showing that they do care about the problems a homogenous and immensely thin idea of beauty can create. And that, to me, is a lot more sad than Julia's weight.
I can't say one way or another about her health level and whether she is "too" anything, but frankly, I don't think her look is very attractive. I prefer women to fill out the dress some and look like they are wearing it rather than having it hang off them as this model's dress does her. (was that grammatically correct? Well, you get what I mean.)
The world is filled with people of different shapes and sizes and I think it is so limiting and sad that this one physique is the only one acceptable for current fashion modeling. I don't think they need to shift to morbid obesity, but introducing some athletic figures or hourglass shapes would go a long way to silencing the chorus of critics.
Serean Williams looks *so* much better in this Donna Karan dress than the website model.
I'd love it for Project Runway (as an example ;) ) to do a season of only "plus sized" models rather than a challenge or two using "real" people.
Okay, so she's 15 and that "might" be her natural body type, but then that raises a second question?
Why are undeveloped 15 year old girls our model standard for women's clothing? It's entirely possible that she got taller and stretched out before she filled out. I know many super skinny tall teenagers, but that leaves two really bad problems. 1) That model will eventually fill out, maybe not a whole lot, but still more than now and when she does will she be held to her own, now unachievable in a healthy way, standard? She should have pride in herself the way she is now, but she shouldn't be expected to stay the same when she's a growing kid! 2) In what twisted reality are the 20's not an acceptable age for representing beauty? Model's in their 20's are adults, so by far more prepared to handle the pressure. They represent the age range of the clothes they're modeling, but they're still young. Is the industry really trying to say that 20 is over the hill to model clothing, because if they are that's just pathetic.
I dont find any of these girls to be attractive. They don't appear to be physically fit or healthy. Many of them look ill. I understand the need for the modeling world to have "walking hangers" so the clothes will be looked at rather than the girl. If the goal of the MW organization is to have a bunch of "walking hangers" then these girls suit their purpose. If the goal is have an attractive, approachable girl who represents young women and who meets the public and helps charities,etc then this look is ALL WRONG.
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