Nothing is guaranteed to make one feel more like a heaving mound of flab and blocked pores than the images of ‘perfect’ feminine beauty bandied around by the fashion industry. Not only are models taller than average, thinner than average, and richer than average – which makes the £850 worth of ‘required’ monthly beauty treatments rather easier to afford – their already non-standard images are routinely photoshopped by magazines to make them taller, thinner, glossier-of-hair, flatter-of-stomach, and bigger-of-boob. Hope of some kind is on the horizon, however, as the British Fashion Council has just noticed that models’ photos are being regularly airbrushed, and asked everyone nicely to stop. (Quite how it has missed this practice for so long is more of a mystery.) Let’s hope someone takes some notice. Don’t hold your breath though – the BFC’s recent recommendations on not using ultra-skinny models, only employing those over the age of sixteen, and ensuring that their working environment was smoke and drug-free have not been greeted with much enthusiasm by the fashion industry.

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