Why do we let supermodels tell us how to dress? Reflections on why we only bring classically beautiful people to fame and then let them tell us how to be
Have you ever wondered how canonical beauty, respecting the classical standards of Western society, affects the way we see others and ourselves, including how we dress? Through a series of videos on TikTok, supermodel Taylor Hill's sister Logan light-heartedly and never too rhetorically explores the relationship between status, body and fashion, crystallising it in the characters idolised on social media for their perfect style.
But then other factors come into play. First and foremost is the body. It's no coincidence that these girls are also always thin and white and considered beautiful. This has been debated for a long time. On social media, in addition to Logan Hill, there have already been a number of series where the question has been asked: "Is it the beautiful look or is the person wearing these clothes just thin?" As observers, we have to learn to ask ourselves this question, because the tendency to see everything a thin person does as aesthetically 'right' or to more easily 'forgive' style breaches is forced upon us by decades-old beauty standards, there is no doubt about that, but it is also a self-feeding phenomenon, a kind of domino effect by which we only bring fame to the stylish people. For this reason, it is also important that characters with other bodies or in a minority position expose themselves and express all their disguise creativity without being ridiculed. The eye gets used to what is highlighted and words and speeches follow suit.
There is no single antidote to this problem that does not come from thinking about these mechanisms, about our relationship to fame and norms. Ideally, we should become aware of these mechanisms and dismantle them 'from within'. Certain groups of users have already achieved this. Just think of the phenomenon of anti-influencing. We are on the right track, but there is still a lot to do!
