Here’s a subject we haven’t considered before.

Susie Orbach, the foremost British psychologist on issues of body image and author of the book Fat Is A Feminist Issue, has accused lingerie companies of misleading the public by hiring models who have had breast augmentations to pose in their goods:

“I have plenty of clinical evidence to show that surgically enhanced models create a situation in which young women and girls feel inadequate,” Ms Orbach said. “They begin to think about how they can get their breasts to look like the ones that they see on ads. They feel dispirited because even though they know these images don’t necessarily relate to ‘natural’ bodies, they appear to be the norm and they feel left out.”

This reminds us of the controversy over using false eyelashes in mascara commercials, an issue over which a Rimmel ad was banned in 2007. But let’s open it up to the commenters: Do you feel inadequate when looking at lingerie ads featuring models who have surgically enhanced their bustlines?

This excerpt of the New York Times’s review of Balmain’s fashion show in Paris today caught our attention for its insinuation that even the highest of high fashion can still be disposable:

Yet, even without any fashion innovation, Balmain has still caught a vibe. A taut pantsuit, with its short jacket resting on the derrière, the designer’s signature short party dresses with sharp shoulders and, above all, the gilt trip will feed the greedy maw of fast fashion — and give a lot of young women just what they want for right now.

Usually “fast fashion” is taken to mean cheaply-made clothes from H&M, Forever 21, and the like — the fashion equivalent of a Big Mac, not a Kobe beef burger. But if a design is so trendy, so recognizably “this moment,” couldn’t that be equally short-lived in the closets of people with the deepest pockets? Discuss in the comments!

From Lizzi Miller’s celebrated nude photoshoot in Glamour to the ascension of Crystal Renn on high-fashion catwalks, everyone is buzzing about size diversity. All of a sudden, pin thin is not the only acceptable silhouette in the fashion world.

So in our second-annual body issue, we explore variations on the weight theme.

• British designer Mark Fast has made waves again for employing plus-size models (including the aforementioned Crystal Renn) for the second time in his Fall 2010 Ready-to-Wear Collection, presented at London Fashion Week on February 20. But, as excited as we are about this development, there remains some room for improvement.
• We surely can’t be the only ones who miss Mad Men while the television drama is on hiatus, but to fill the aching hole left by empty space on the Tivo, Christina Hendricks appeared in a bustier on the cover of New York Magazine this month. We totally understand why everyone is gaga for her classic curves, but why all the controversy?
• If there’s one must-read article in this issue (we like to believe that includes all of them, but regardless), it’s Kara’s profile of the exceptionally insightful ballerina known as Melissa T. in our second Real Girl Ethics column. Ever wonder what it would be like to work in an industry that constantly pesters you to be thin? As Melissa shows, it requires self-confidence (as well as buns) of steel.
• Of course, if all these stories merely whet your appetite for more, check out Seam Ripper for a few more articles on the subject of body issues.
• And don’t forget: A few days remain to enter our Weleda hand cream giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment on this very blog. So simple it’s criminal, right?

Italian Vogue’s groundbreaking “Black Issue” in 2008 took a giant leap forward in diversifying mainstream fashion magazines, but we can’t help but feel that a similarly-minded drive behind Vogue.it — the magazine’s newly relaunched website, complete with English translation — doesn’t have quite the same impact.

With tabs like Vogue Black and Vogue Curvy, the website strives to cover the full range of fashion newsmakers. But does highlighting such topics in their own sections instead set them apart? Wouldn’t including them in regular magazine content be more, you know, inclusive?

New York Magazine’s The Cut agrees:

We were reasonably amused perusing Italian Vogue’s new Internet collective, but why must curvy women, women of color, and burgeoning design talent be viewed in separate channels? Is it not possible to have a fashion magazine that embraces women of all sizes and colors who wear young and established labels? Italian Vogue seems to think not.

What do you think? Commendable on Vogue Italia’s part and nitpicky on ours?

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has for years been behind a retailer boycott of Australian wool, charging that the practice of mulesing is inhumane. (Which, as we’ve written before, is far from a settled matter.)

But now, the activist group is taking it a step further and alleging that all wool is unethical and should not be bought:

In its latest campaign, “Have a heart: don’t buy wool”, PETA claims “sheep and other animals used for their wool are turned into living yarn factories and are denied everything that is natural and important to them”.

The online campaign encourages buyers to instead seek out cotton, polyester or synthetic fabrics.

This is seemingly at odds with other campaigns that champion the sustainable benefits of wool (like the one spearheaded by Prince Charles). Moreover, polyester and certain other synthetic fabrics have a whole host of ethical problems associated with their manufacturing and biodegradability.

So where do you stand, E.S. readers? Do you wear wool? How about polyester?

We have gained a ton of respect for young model Coco Rocha for writing this insightful, articulate essay on just how ridiculous it is that at size 4, she’s been accused of being too fat for the runway in respected publications like The New York Times and the New York Daily News.

Let’s let Ms. Rocha have the floor:

I’m a 21 year old model, 6 inches taller and 10 sizes smaller than the average American woman. Yet in another parallel universe I’m considered “fat”… This was the subject of major discussion this week and the story that was spun was: “Coco Rocha is too fat for the runway”.

Is that the case? No. I am still used and in demand as a model. In fact I find myself busier than ever. In the past few years I have not gained an extreme amount of weight, only an inch here and there as any young woman coming out of her teenage years would.

But this issue of model’s weight is, and always has been, of concern to me. There are certain moral decisions which seem like no brainers to us. For example, not employing children in sweatshops, and not increasing the addictiveness of cigarettes. When designers, stylists or agents push children to take measures that lead to anorexia or other health problems in order to remain in the business, they are asking the public to ignore their moral conscience in favor of the art.

Surely, we all see how morally wrong it is for an adult to convince an already thin 15 year old that she is actually too fat. It is unforgivable that an adult should demand that the girl unnaturally lose the weight vital to keep her body functioning properly. How can any person justify an aesthetic that reduces a woman or child to an emaciated skeleton? Is it art? Surely fashion’s aesthetic should enhance and beautify the human form, not destroy it.

We are in awe of Ms. Rocha’s poise and grace in responding to such heartless and baseless criticism, and we hope others listen to what she’s saying.

As promised yesterday, we’ve spent a lot of time looking at the New York Fashion Week coverage and came to an obvious conclusion: Fur is big again for Fall/Winter 2010.

Michael Kors in particular used a ton of fur in his new collection (pictured here), for both men and women.

And a protégé from Kors’s own Project Runway, Season 6 winner Irina Shabayeva’s debut collection made fox fur the centerpiece of several designs. “From her opening look, a camel cashmere pheasant-print coat with crystal fox collar, the tone was set,” reports the Fur Industry Council of America in Women’s Wear Daily.

With so much fur conspicuously used by the most buzzworthy designers, it begs the question: Has PETA’s influence dimmed over the years due to its increasingly outrageous stunts? Is the era of fur-shunning over for good?

We’ve been pretty clear that we think Mad Men’s mesmerizing Joan Holloway is the awesomest character on television (and not just for her fashion sense), but what we’ve come to realize in recent months is that she gets her moxie solely from Christina Hendricks, the actress who portrays her.

Her now-famous curves have had the whole Internet buzzing since she made the Golden Globes’ best-dressed lists, but to her it’s one big mystery:

“It kind of hurt my feelings at first,” she says. “Anytime someone talks about your figure constantly, you get nervous, you get really self-conscious. I was working my butt off on the show, and then all anyone was talking about was my body!” …

As for the body question, she’ll answer it when asked, but mostly it bores her. “It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth,” she says. “Back when I was modeling, if someone said ‘I’m fasting,’ I would say, ‘Can’t we talk about something else?’”

We say good for her for not engaging the debate. The media obsession is what it is, but more important than her bust or hips is the head on her shoulders.

Just a reminder that our February commenting contest still has two weeks left!

Write a comment on any story on Behind the Seams and you could be randomly selected to win a Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Hand Cream (a $12.50 value).

Got strong feelings over the Johnny Weir fur controversy? Or feel like Aeropostale is unfairly being criticized for its Haiti charity effort? We know you’ve got opinions — let’s hear them!

(And yes — the more comments you leave, the better your chances of winning. So simple.)

We were surprised to read this environmental statement by Canadian outdoor-gear brand Arc’teryx regarding its refusal to use recycled materials:

Arc’teryx believes in integrity and responsibility. Due to the present state of textile technology and our unwillingness to sacrifice technical performance, the majority of Arc’teryx products are made with materials derived from non-renewable resources. We have not yet found acceptable renewable alternatives that don’t substantially affect our product’s performance or durability.

This is likely a direct shot across the bow of Patagonia, one of Arc’teryx’s main competitors, which was one of the first companies to distinguish itself with its high-quality eco-fleece. But it’s also a bit mystifying that Arc’teryx is seemingly justifying the use of non-renewable resources to its consumers given that people who love the outdoors are also probably the ones who want to save the environment.

In other words: Isn’t Arc’teryx alienating its market?

(via TreeHugger)