Style model article

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/oct/30/-sp-are-topshops-mannequins-too-skinny

Are Topshop's mannequins too skinny?

The high-street retailer is at the centre of a social media storm after a customer tweeted a picture of one of its dummies standing next to a size 8-10 customer

If catwalk models are regularly criticised for being underweight, it is now their instore counterparts – mannequins – in the firing line. This week, Topshop customer Becky Hopper tweeted a picture of her friend (size 8-10) next to a mannequin with exaggeratedly long, skinny legs. Retweeted over 6,000 times, it has seen the high street store accused of promoting poor body image.

Since the Tweet – which was sent with the hashtags #Topshop#poorbodyimage#irresponsible #fashion #highstreet – went viral, Hopper’s account has been flooded with similar complaints about skinny mannequins at other high street stores. This follows comparable issues at Primark and the storm around La Perla’s mannequins in May this year – the lingerie store displayed mannequins with visible ribs and another Twitter outcry ensued. The mannequins have since been removed.

As representations of women, mannequins are inevitably part of the debate around fashion and body image and reflect the zeitgeist’s idea of what a woman’s body should look like. In Venezuela, for example, mannequins’ shape have changed in response to the exaggerated ideals of beauty promoted in a country where a plastic surgery-honed physique is the ideal. In the UK, most high street stores use models that replicate a size eight or 10 and an impressive height, around 6ft. The average size of a British woman, on the other hand, is closer to a size 16 and stands at 163cm (5ft 4in).

There have been efforts to address this disparity in recent years. Debenhams began using size 16 models in 2013, a move that was met with praise from Equalities Minister Jo Swinson, as a step towards “celebrating our diverse society” and reflecting the demand for more realistic representations of women. A study by Cambridge University in 2012 even claimed there is evidence that larger mannequins will shift more units – as women are more likely to buy clothes when they are advertised or displayed on “women” a similar size to them.

Many shops would argue that mannequins aren’t living, breathing idealisations of women. While extremely realistic mannequins exist, the majority are rather more abstract, often featuring rectangular hands and no heads. Sure enough, Topshop’s statement on the Twitter storm – released on Thursday – said that Topshop had long “made it a priority to showcase a healthy size image”, adding: “The mannequin in question has been used in stores the past four years and is based on a standard UK size 10. The overall height, at 187cm, is taller than the average girl and the form is a stylised one to have more impact in store and create a visual focus. Mannequins are made from solid fibreglass, so in order for clothing to fit, the form of the mannequins needs to be of certain dimensions to allow clothing to be put on and removed; this is therefore not meant to be a representation of the average female body.”

In the age of online shopping, the cultural influence of dummies in bricks-and-mortar stores is arguably waning – but the debates continue apace. Even those who have sought to promote positive body image have come under fire. Alongside the praise for the Debenhams size 16 mannequins, for example, came warnings from Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies that larger shop dummies were “normalising” being overweight. Yesterday, Hopper was moved to write a blog explaining that she had no intention of “body-shaming skinny girls”, in response to angry messages online. As ever – when it comes to women and body image and the great talking shop of Twitter – it’s impossible to win.

The Woman who Walked into Doors - Analysis

This short story includes imperative sentences such as ''Ask me about it'' and ''Look at the burns'' to mirror how desperate she is feeling as she is begging the nurses to question how she obtained the injuries. The desperation is due to the little love and care she has recieved as a result of her abusive relationship she has been experiencing.  As she is demanding the nurses to ask her, it shows how shw wants help immedatley but she is terrified to admit what she is going through incase her partner dsicovers what she has told them.

Additionally, the adjectives used to desribe her injuries are also metaphorically included to mirror how her relationship is completley destroyed wiht no hope in sight. For example ''broken'' ''loose'' and ''cracked'' are all used to describe the state of her body as a result of the physical abuse she has had to encounter. It is also used to simply prove how she is feeling because of the injuries as her body is no longer how it used to be.

Also, she includes rhetorical questions such as ''what about the burns on my hands?'' ''the missing hair?'' and ''the teeth?'' to provok the nurses to ask her about her traumas. It is also used to question the nurses about their ability as she thinks it is absurd that they haven't noticed the agony she is going through, This could also lead to her becoming increasingly depressed as she may start to believe no one is concerned about her or cares for her well-being.

She also shows how disconnected she feels from other people by using various pronouns such as ''she'' ''they'' and ''he''. However, she may be using these pronounsto be protecting their idenitity as she could feel fearful that the man abusing her will discover what she has been thinking and will continue to disfigue her body. She may be referring to her partner as ''he'' instead of their name as she feels obligated to protect them although she wants to get away from him.

She includes several concrete nouns such as ''hospital'' ''nurse'' and ''clinic'' to emphisise the only things real in her life are related to pain and being in a medical area. This shows the readrer how seperate she feels from the outside world as she can only relate to the objects around her which mirror the hurt she is going through. Abstract nouns are also used to explain how she is currently feeling as ''ashamed'' and ''pain'' but she also includes how she wishes to feel in the future as she desires to be ''safe''. This would make the reader feel almost sorry for the character as she repeats how much pain she feels.

Verbs are also used to explain to the reader the abuse she encountered. Lexis such as ''pulled'' ''kicked'' and ''hit'' are all included to emphise how many types of harm she has been through and shows actually how serious the situaition she is in, actually is. All of the verbs she uses are dynamic verbs which are showing motion as she can only think of the physical side of her relationship.

Analysis of Like Dreaming, Backwards

In the opening paragraph many personal pronouns are used such as 'you' and 'you're' to immediately involve the reader. This is used to involve the reader emotionally and ensure that later on in the monologue that they will feel attached and part of the story. In addition, dashes are used for parentheses to indicate added emphasis on how serious her episodes can be. This also links the audience to the character as it shows how distant she is feeling as her thoughts are not joined together and are very complicated.

Furthermore, she used asynsetic listing to describe the various different ways she attempted to commit suicide. The use of this is to highlight her panic and desperate need for help as it speeds up the pace of the sentence which is a sign of urgency.The fact that this is used to explain the ways she has tried killing herself shows that it is a subject many people do not feel comfortable talking about.

She also uses taboo language to mirror her anger by telling the audience that suicide is not ''fucking easy''. This aggression is used to reflect how she feels towards people stereotyping suicide. She also uses a simple sentence when explaining this to link with the irritation she feels as a result of people telling her killing herself is the easy way out. Also the simple sentence makes it stick into the audiences head almost as if it is a message she needs to send to everyone to ensure that all people know just how difficult it is.

In the following paragraph, she continues to explain how she was admitted into hospital after one of her 'episodes' and describes the feeling of everyone knowing about her depression as ''refreshing''. This adjective suggests she is feeling positive and implies there may be a chance she will get better. I think this as refreshing is usually associated with something changing and becoming different so the fact she is describing how she feels using this adjective hints that her attitude towards living could possibly change. However, this is immediately proven wrong by the opening phrase ''but then'' showing that nothing has actually changed and instead things may be becoming worse,

In the last paragraph she makes her perspective of living very clear. She explains how she is ''surrounded'' by patients who have been in hospital for most of their lives. The verb 'surrounded' hints that there are lots of people suffering for the same depression she is experiencing which shows the audience just how common suicidal thoughts are and how it is something that is affecting a lot of people. In addition, she opens several of her sentences with ''and'' which shows informality and her thoughts changing rapidly. This may me because she is coming to the conclusion of death which is what most people fear which is a result in her pace increasing.

Style Model - Monolouge

Have you ever had a dream and suddenly, you realize what's happening doesn't make any sense - and you realize that you're dreaming? And you realize: if you know that you're dreaming, then you can control what's going to happen next? When I have an episode, it's exactly like that - only backwards.

The first time I tried to kill myself, I was ten. When I woke up the next morning, I was relieved. I was happy that I hadn't succeeded. I didn't tell anyone. And for a while, I was happy to be alive. But then, a year later, I tried again. I've lost count of how many times I've tried and failed. I tried to poison myself, overdose on sleeping pills, hang myself, drown myself, suffocate myself, and throw myself into traffic. Now, when I wake up after taking every sleeping pill in arm's reach and washing it down with a bottle of wine, I'm never, ever relieved. I feel trapped. I feel desperate. I feel like even more of a failure. And I have even wondered if the reason that I can't kill myself is because I'm already dead and in Hell. This is a living Hell. They say suicide is "taking the easy way out". Let me tell you: It's not that fucking easy. Your physical drive to live undermines your mind's desire to die. Your instincts to breathe are hard to overcome. You can't bear another second of misery - but your heart just refuses to stop beating. It has some nerve.

It's hard to tell the people I love that I want to die. So I spend a lot of my time and energy pretending to be normal. When I ended up in the hospital, it was almost a relief. Because I didn't have to act for anyone, anymore. I just cried all day. And no one took it personally. No one wanted to blame themselves. I could cry, and it didn't hurt anyone's feeling. The honesty was refreshing.

But then, I started to look at the other patients around me. I was surrounded by people who had been miserable their entire lives. There was an eighty-year-old woman there, who had been in and out of psych wards since she was my age. She stared into space all day, crying. And every day, she would look at me, and ask, "Why won't they just let me die?" And I didn't have an answer. And I realized: That was my future. I understood with perfect clarity that I was never going to get better. No therapy can help me. No medication can fix me. I can make everyone think I'm normal, that I'm coping, that I'm okay. But I've never been okay. I'll never be okay. I will always be one bad day away from killing myself. Until I'm dead. I spend my life trying to delay what I know is inevitable. And any day could be my last.

- Kellie Powell 

- http://notmyshoes.net/monologues/nell.html

Monolouge - Geoffery

A Grave Burried for Love

Geoffery is a vicar. He's fat and dellusional. He wears a Christian cross around his neck. He stands infront of  the altar in a church. It is evening.

She's lying about something. I can sense it. I dont know whether its the spirits in this church or a message from God but i know something isn't right. Shes hiding something from me and I will find out. She thinks im oblivious. Heartless is what she called me but she has no idea. I have a sixth sense. A gift from God. Thats why so many people come to church. They want to hear me talk. They want to feel the power I have. She doesnt appricate me at all. (Rolls eyes).

My wife is what she is supposed to be but its more like my child. She never cooks, never cleans and never shows any emotions. Thats whats she's supposed to do but instead all she does is moan. All the time. And drink. And swear. Its  really disrespectful. Especially at service. It can't just be me who can smell it. The stech of alcohol from her breath fills the church but most people think its the communion wine but not me. I can spell the difference. Its the same smell from home.

Tomorrow I am holding a service about honesty and loyalty. I wonder if she will come.

Geoffery is sat on the benches in the church. He has just ended his service. It is morning.

I knew she wouldn't come. She told me she was just popping to the shops. The shops are only round the corner. It doesnt take 3 hours. At least the service went well today. I met a young lady called Audery. She likes to be called Dee. She's a very pretty woman. ''That was a lovely service Geoffery'' she told me, I told her she could call me Geoff. That was a mistake.

As much as she may not think I do, I love her. Loved? Love? Loved? Does it make a difference? Does anything matter anymore?

Of course it does.

No. It doesn't. I know. I know my wife doesnt love me. I have been gifted with a sense of truth. I can see in her eyes. Every night when she tells me she is going out to the shop, she isn't getting what she told me she was. She never comes back smelling the same. Never comes back with her hair the same style. Never comes back the same woman.

Geoffery is stood infront of a grave. It is afternoon.

I burried a man today. His name was Steven. He was an alcoholic. No one came to his funeral apart from his postman... Sad isn't it. How even at death no one cares. God cares of course but he has to.(Helpless laughter) He is God. But no family, no friends just a postman who probably felt bad for him. Infact he was the one who found Steven lead on the floor when he peeked through the letter box. 

The postman explained to me how Steven used to be married. He told me how it turnt out they were both having an affair but neither of them knew. He didnt tell me how, but eventually Stevens guilt caused him to start drinking. That's why his wife left him. That was the excuse she gave him anyway. 'I can't date an alcoholic, someone who loves to drink more than they do spend time with me'. Liar. Bad as eachother! God see's everything. Sinners. God hears everything. Sinners. Even your thoughts . Sinners.

After he told me about Steven it was all made so clear. Like looking into a mirror. Or through a glass window from the eyes of another person looking onto my life. 

It was all so very clear. Clearer than vodka. Clearer than white wine. Clearer than rum.

(Looks at a photo of him and his wife on their wedding day).

If only I had realised back then.

Travel Writing - Newquay

''Jess your purse! You've forgotton your purse.'' were the last words i heard from my mum as we headed off to newquay. I could already predict this was going to be the most disorganized, chaotic week of our lifes. 23 sixteen year olds with no parents must be a recipie for disaster.

We stayed in a small building called Bookneys, a town house just off the highstreet reminding me of some sort of infernal nightmare. At arrival we were greeted by a forgein man explaining how he didnt have enough beds which meant two people would have to sleep on the floor. Just what we paid for. The bunk-beds which were avaiable were corroded and screeched in pain as we sat upon them. The kitchen was the forbidden land which meant we relied on the local chip shop most evenings. Our rooms resembled a bomb site but to us it was an extremely organised mess; clothes costing more than £10 folded neatly whilst the rest was screwed up and chucked into a pile next to the tarnished windows. It was clear by the creaking floorboards and the lack of clean bedding, not much attention or care was given to the rooms. No wardrobe, no cupboard, no table. Between 23 of us, we were forced to share 2 communial bathrooms,one for the boys and one for the girls but this rule wasnt followed. The stench off arrogance leaked from girls toilets making it apparent the boys felt they had the freedom of both facilites. Despite the lousy conditions, it was the imperfections of Bookneys which made everyone so fond of it turning it into an abandonned child who needed some nurturing.

Towan, Fistral and Crantock were the three beaches Newquay had to offer us with the variety of choices from a sandy beach to a pebble one. At the end of our road was Fistral beach which was the seafront we visited the most due to general laziness we all shared. Regardless of the proximity, Fistral was by far my personal cherised place to be. If it wasn't the silky smooth sand tickling your toes, it was the sound of the harsh waves crashing onto land washing all of your troubles away. Although Newquay is located in a country famous for atrocious weather conditions, not once did i recieve a visit from the bad weather and instead, was met by a rare thing called 'sunshine'. The sun was the main contributer to why the beach was such an enjoyable place to be as it made it possible to go swimming, play ball games and sunbathe for hours. Soaking up the sun became part of my daily routine along with attempting to herdle over the immense waves speeding towards me. One thing i greatly disliked about visiting the sea was the repulisve taste of the salty sea water. It completley ruined the thrill of jumping between each wave as if it was a skipping rope. Hidden caves brought out my inner explorer and within second me and my friends were climbing inside looking for anything that looked cool. We discovered a secret passage way but to our dismay the door at the end was secured with ancient rusted locks. Unfortunatley, the masses of graffitti made it apparent that we weren't the first people to spot it.

Kimz Kitchen Dinner was also located at the end of our street and was the home to the finest selection of food i have ever witnessed. Stepping inside was like stepping straight into the 1950s with the black and white checked floor and the retro red leather seats waiting for you to enjoy a slice of heaven. People travelled miles to taste the luscious DCB burger, filled with buttermilk fried chicken breast, topped with bacon, blue cheese , coleslaw and pickles. The way the flavours fused together was something i didnt realise newquay had to offer. The women working there wore red and white dresses with their hair in tight sausage-like curls adding to the theme of the 1950s American dinner.

With two new piercings and £200 missing from my bank account, i was finally prepared to say adios. However, leaving newquay was a painful goodbye to make as i knew i would no longer be waking up to the sound of a bunch of moaning teens complaining about how much their head hurt as a result of their first can of cider or the neighbouring beaches only 5 minutes away. Although i must say, i was looking forward to sleeping on a bed not resembling a brick.

A Beautiful Game, Thailand

'A Beautiful Game' is a style model of travel writing which is explaining about a mans experince in Thailand. This piece opens with a narrative hook as iy introduces the character as 'Sauntering in the oppressiviley close night'. The verb sauntering shows how uncomfortable he is feeling as he has no energy to continue due to the oppressivley close night which highlights again how distressed he is feeling. The adverb oppressiviley inidicates the air around him is brutally humid which is the reason he isn'r feeling pleasant. He then goes on to explain how he ended up at the seafront. The beach at night is often a place associated with danger as it is incredibly dark and the waves are very harsh. This links to the fact he feels agitated as he has wandered down to a unknown beach in the muggy weather,

Furthermore, the subject specific lexis 'aimlessly' 'clueless' and 'found myself' are used to show the reader that the man in Thailand is very lost and has no knowledge of where he is or where he is going. The adverb aimlessley highlights how there is no purpose to his actions and is just strolling around in the dark until he finds something he thinks is entertaining. This also indicates that he isnt scared or nervous to walk around as he doesnt mention any fear he feels which means he must feel a sense of security in his setting. The lexis clueless supports this as it also shows how he has no understanding of what he is doing. In this case he is explaining how he was 'clueless to what the ringleader was saying' which makes us aware that he isnt familar with their language meaning he can't ask where anything is or for help if needed.

Armstrong & Miller Sketch Review

This video use's various slang words which are commonly used between groups of teenage girls to highlight how informal our english language has become and how ridiculous it can sound. I believe they have decided to use the setting of an army office to highlight how awful things could’ve been if our current slang words were used when the war was occurring. The non-standard lexis such as 'swear down' and 'well vexed' highlight how inappropriate our language would've been if we had considered using them years ago in this context and also shows how much language has developed. In addition the repetition of 'harsh' is used when the character is feeling either shocked or betrayed which indicates to the audience that nothing is taken very seriously anymore and someone’s sense of sadness is now seen as a joke or uncared for.

Additionally, the phonology which is used in this video are words such as 'like' and 'whatever' which are used to speed the speech up which is another technique they have used to make the sketch humorous. It achieves this as these types of fillers are associated with modern day slang and the bristolian accent. As the characters are placed in a deliberate scenario which is based in a war scene, it increases the comedy side of it as it emphises how we no longer put much thought or effort into what we are saying and most of the time we make no sense. The colloquial language which replaces the standard english is used especially to boost the playfulness of the video and i believe this is what makes it so funny for the audience to watch as it is very unexpected.

Analysis Of Travel Writing

The piece of text I have decided to analyse is Black Earth City written by Charlotte Hobson. This is a piece of travel writing about her experience once arriving to her new room which she describes in a very negative way. She does this through various style models which i will be now analysing in detail.

Hobson uses the subject specific lexis 'coffin-shaped' 'shouts of horror' and 'possessed her so completely' to mirror the image of a hell-like surrouning. The effect of this makes the reader almost feel like they are also expericeing the terror of the evnivorment Charlotte Hobson has been introduced to. The use of the adjective coffin-shaped makes the coupboards sound deadly and in a way haunted. Closets are often dark and compact which is very similar to a coffin and for that to be in someones room is not a pleasant thing to experience as she would have to wake up to the reminder of death. This could show her constant emotion of hatrid towards her room as she is always waking up in a poor mood. Also the shouts of horror add to the image of a living nightmare as she is constantly being interuppted by people shouting down the corridor. These people shouting could infact be her emotions drving her crazy and causing her to become dilusional.

In addition, the phonology she uses also reflects the way she feels about the place she is currently being placed in. Hobsom explains how the televeision in her room 'crackled and buzzed' which clearly shows it is very old and not very practicalr nor functional. This links to her emotions as it mirrors the lack of hope as everything around her is falling apart which means she will soon too. The simile ' the fridge chugged like an idiling truck' also echos how she feels like there can be movement and improvements made but it will take a while to get to the goal she wants to desperatley achieve which is to make the area she is in a nice place to stay. Sibilance is also used when she desribes the air as having a 'stale sweaty smell'. This is used to slow the reader down to show how miserable they are feeling as the sibilance slows the reader down and often a slow pace is related to sadness and no motivation. The adjective sweaty also shows how she must be feeling very hot and uncomfortable which ties with the theme of unhappiness and stress,

An Introduction To Me

I dont know where to start but here we go,
I was born on the 4th of july, 16 years ago.
I live with my mum and younger brother too,
He may look adorable, but hes not it's true.

When i was three my mum introduced me to dance,
The outfits made me look like a transvestite at first glance.
In a couple of years i made it to a professional level,
But i quit as half of the competitors turnt into the devil.

My friends and family are very important to me,
And as cringey as it may sound, without them i dont know where i'd be.
My bestfriend has now moved 6652 miles away,
And facetime is the only way we can pyhsically say hey.

John Cabot Academy is where i have come from,
The school with the harshest rules about chewing gum.
Its somewhere in kingswood, 5 minutes from my house,
The school with the cupboards infested with louse.

Struggling through exams all i could think of was prom,
Then arrived results day, ''come on jess keep calm''.
After 4 long hours i finally opened the sealed letter,
I had passed everything, i couldnt of felt better.

Not long after, it was time to apply for college,
Time to decide where i wanted to expand my knowledge.
It took me a while to finally make a decision,
But St Brendans was the one which was set in my vision.

So i guess thats it, theres nothing more to tell,
I hope this poem wasnt too similar to hell.
But yeah thats me, Jess Silverthorne,
I hope you dont think im Satan reborn.