Originally written for and published on SocialVibe
If you aren’t a regular reader of Glamour magazine, you may have no idea who Lizzie Miller is. Lizzie is a model, a 20 year old, 5’11″ model who weighs 180lbs. Although her size 12-14 body is right about average in terms of healthy women, you rarely see women of Lizzie’s size in magazines. That was, until Lizzy was photographed for the September issue wearing nothing but underwear, hunched over and laughing, with a little belly showing. The article accompanying the photograph was about feeling comfortable in your own skin.
The same morning the issue hit newsstands, e-mails began pouring in praising the editors for including a healthy sized model for once, and asking more and more about “the woman on p.124.” Clearly, this was an issue that resonated with their readers, many of whom probably felt that for the first time, they could relate to the women on the pages of the magazine. Shocked by the success, Glamour’s Editor-In-Chief Cindy Levy wrote a blog post giving the people what they wanted – more information about Lizzie.
“When I was young I really struggled with my body and how it looked because I didn’t understand why my friends were so effortlessly skinny,” Lizzi told Cindy. “As I got older I realized that everyone’s body is different and not everyone is skinny naturally–me included! I learned to love my body for how it is, every curve of it. I used to be so self-conscious in a bikini because my stomach wasn’t perfectly defined. But everyone has different body shapes! And it’s not all about the physical! If you walk on the beach in your bikini with confidence and you feel sexy, people will see you that way too.”
The buzz didn’t stop there. Lizzie’s photo continued to draw attention, resulting in more than 200,000 views and countless comments in just over a week, scoring headlines across the world in publications such as Newsweek. Levy and Miller even appeared on The Today Show and chatted about the photo and its success.
All this because of a photo showing what millions upon millions of real women look like underneath.
What do you think? I’ve talked before about how airbrushed ads can be misleading. Do photos of “real”-looking models you feel more comfortable in your own skin? Do you think this positive buzz will influence editors when planning future issues?
What is a moment? How long does it last? Our lives are made up of trillions of moments, one after the other, some mundane, some life-changing and magnificent. This video is a celebration of life, a collage of all the little moments that seem so insignificant as they’re happening. It’s really quite humbling and inspiring, and in a way, puts everything into perspective. Cherish the good times. Have hope during the bad times – “this too shall pass.”
This was directed by Will Hoffman, inspired by David Eagleman’s book, Sum, and presented by Radioloab. See more from William Hoffman at anyoneeverything.com.
Her royal highness, Anna Wintour, took time out of her busy schedule to appear on David Letterman to promote The September Issue. Best part of the interview is after she finishes talking about how much she appreciates hard work and the creativity that goes into making an issue of Vogue, David gets right to it and asks, “Have you… ever put someone in a headlock?” Her reply: “Maybe you.”
As I’m sure you’ve all heard and read by now, Apple is releasing its new OS X, Snow Leopard, earlier than originally planned. The self-proclaimed “world’s best operating system” will be available on Friday for as little as $29 (if you’re upgrading from Leopard).
Now let’s get to the important issue at hand: the use of a real cat in Apple’s advertising for Snow Leopard. If you know me, you know, I love cats. Of all sizes. Including, but not limited to: kittens, large beasts, stray cats, alley cats, evil cats, fluffy cats, etc. I find it utterly adorable that Apple has chosen a full-size snow leopard (with a little powder on its noggin, no less) on the Snow Leopard homepage, e-mails, and all other marketing.
My boyfriend on the other hand, thinks it to be appalling and “cheesy.”
That is one sexy cat!
How can you say no to that face? Clearly, Apple is marketing to people like me. I will absolutely be upgrading to Snow Leopard. I want to be associated with anything and everything that adorable.
What do you think, tacky or wildly ferocious? Meow!
I came close to spontaneous combustion when I saw the trailer for The September Issue in theatres this weekend. I’m not sure how I missed the buzz about this online (what kind of a blogger am I?) but I’m making up for it now. The full-length documentary chronicles American VOGUE Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour as she puts together the Sept 2007 issue, which is the thickest, most looked-forward-to issue of the year. As the trailer says, in the world of fashion, the year begins with September.
As snaky as Anna is (they wrote The Devil Wears Prada about her, for crying out loud), she has current and future fashion trends in the palm of her hands. If you have any love for fashion, you can’t help but have respect for her (even with that highly outdated hairstyle). When it comes to fashion, she is IT. Aside from that, she’s completely neurotic, which makes for great entertainment. Bring it on!!
The film debuted at Sundance but they held the NYC premiere last night. Here’s the trailer.
Of all the places I’ve been and cities I’ve spent time in, New York has got to be my favorite. Perhaps it’s because I’m a 20-something who craves energy and creativity, but something about being in New York makes me feel so ALIVE! I lived there for a couple of months back in 2005, but due to the timing, I left very prematurely. Moving to a strange new city (even when you’ve visited umpteen thousand times) in the midst of a quarter-life crisis is either a really good idea, or a really bad idea. In my case, a bad idea, and I have a plethora of drunken memories to prove it. But given the opportunity, under the right circumstances, I’d move back in a heartbeat. Every time I visit the city it just melts my heart like nothing else – even with the smelly summer sidewalk trash and LES cockroaches.
The new film New York, I Love You seems to be more of a collection of love stories about human beings, but I can’t help but think that each character’s love for the city makes it just a little bit more special. Check out the neverending cast and crew list on this film. The trailer is pretty cute, made even cuter by the use of French band Phoenix, who released what is one of my favorite albums of 2009 so far.
It will be in theaters this fall… just in time for me to begin hating LA for its lack of seasons, just as I do every year.
Stripper heels. I’ve never been a big fan of completely raunchy looking high heels, but I have been known to wear a pair or two of towering shoes in my day. I don’t think you’ll be catching me in any of these redonkulous pairs of shoes from various designers’ Fall 09 collections (modeled below by editors of NY Mag)… and it’s not just because I can’t afford them!
To be honest, I’ve worn more flats in the last year or so than I have since before I was old enough to wear heels. Ballet flats are particularly nice, as are sandals that feel like you’re walking barefoot and knee-high flat riding boots. I’m pretty sure it’s doing my future 60 yr-old knees a favor, too.
Despite the highly coveted and respected Anna Wintour (Editor-In-Chief of VOGUE, for all you n00bs) making a “heels are out” statement by wearing a pair of flat sandals in public, I still don’t think I’ll be giving up my heels anytime soon.
I should really start updating my personal blog more. When you blog for a living, you don’t always feel like coming and “talking about your life,” you’d rather just live it. But being the person I am, a talkative one who has 5,000 different interests, hobbies and passions, I can’t afford NOT to share things with whoever may be reading this. And at the very least, I want to look back on what I am thinking/feeling/loving at the moment.
My newest obsession is Tim Walker, an English fashion photographer. I recently came across a post on strawberry lemonade about Walker’s work and was intrigued. I’ve spotted his work in past fashion editorials (when I had more time to be trolling things like that, before I had a job that consumes my life), but I’ve never truly investigated his work. I am thoroughly in love with the above dress lantern image, and several others that I’ve found.
If anyone that loves me is reading this, they will get me thesebooks for my birthday.
