'Glamour' image scores big points
Many women can pinch an inch around the middle, but many women aren't models.
Miller, in nothing more than a G-string and her smile, appeared on page 194 of the magazine. Right there for all the world to see was an extra roll around her belly. No Photoshopping. No airbrushing. No sitting ramrod straight and sucking it in.
A blog by editor-in-chief Cindi Leive noted the response from readers “started to flood her inbox” the day the issue hit newsstands. Moreover, there are more than 1,000 comments on that blog post, with one man (!) directing visitors to the Facebook group he launched because he liked the photograph so much. Miller also appeared on NBC's Today following the issue's release.
At 180 pounds, Miller falls into the “plus-size” category of models, despite wearing the same size 12 to 14 as the average American woman. But as we all recognize, fashion models usually reflect some unattainable too-thin image that doesn't seem to have a lot of appeal outside of tight fashion circles.
Fashion designers and magazine editors, you are hereby notified – women come in an array of shapes and sizes and that's OK. As evidenced by the hoopla surrounding the photo of Miller (and the “all-Black” issue of Vogue Italia last year), readers actually like diversity. Still, Lippe Taylor founder Maureen Lippe, speaking to the New York Daily News, has said we shouldn't expect larger models to become a regular feature in magazines. Someone please prove her wrong.
Glamour has confirmed that due to the “outpouring of interest” in this picture, it is planning to “take the conversation further for a feature in the November issue.” Let's hope it manages to capture the very refreshing and genuinely happy feel that Miller portrays in that picture.
