This Dress Is Perfect for You… If You’re A Size 0

It isn’t the first time I’ve seen this “selling strategy”. What happened to advertising for the average woman? 

Many argue that the average American woman is a size 12 and using that average woman in clothing catalogs isn’t sensible for an advertiser. Ok, I get it. Advertisers don’t want too much reality.

I’m all for aiming ads at the ideal average woman’s size, call her a “Perfect 6” or a “Curvaceous 8”.

Where designers have lost their marbles is not in Magazine Editorials or Look Books, where we all know images are retouched and models pose under unrealistic circumstances. In a catalog, where images are supposed to speak to the consumer, I’m calling WTF on this trend of retailers using 5’9″ models wearing a size zero (actual screenshot above). Not only can we not envision how that dress will look on anything wider than a hanger, but it makes me wonder: Are your clothes so poorly cut that you can’t hang them on an average body and still have them look decent?

At some point in this vanity game retailers and designers need to face the fact that only two things can come of an unrealistic sales display of garments:

1- We aren’t buying clothing that only looks good on stick figures, so your sales drop.

2- If we take a leap of faith and buy, there’s a good chance you’ll be seeing a high rate of returns. Your sales still drop.

So tell ya what… How about we start using models with body types that are, at the least, appealing to female shoppers in these online catalogs.

Because I’m a lot of things, but I’m nobody’s Size 0.