Today's Models More Prone To Slouching

[matcom]

<snip>

When J. Mendel summoned a young model named Dalia Dubrindyte for a photo shoot last spring, the furrier known for swathing Jennifer Lopez in cotton-candy-pink mink knew it had found the right girl.

The fashion company had been chasing a celebrity to star in its fall ad campaign. But then 17-year-old Dalia arrived, put on the goods, and threw everybody a curve. "It was the way she stood," marvels creative director Kym Canter, who gave the model high marks for her height, her beauty -- and her slouch. With lynx-draped shoulders slumped forward in an unconventional pose, the model had a perfect attitude, says Ms. Canter: "I'm so beautiful, so rich, so bored. What's next?"

From editorial spreads in Elle and Vogue to ads for Perry Ellis, Marc Jacobs and Moschino -- as well as star turns on the Hollywood red carpet -- the sultry slouch is the latest fashion accessory for legions of well-heeled young women.

Next-generation actresses like Dakota Johnson and Alice Braga happily hunch in the October issue of Teen Vogue. They follow the lead of other young women such as Princeton student Lauren Bush, President Bush's niece, who helped legitimize the look in the magazine several issues ago. Other young female role models, like director Sofia Coppola, are often captured looking cool in a crouch. Even some store mannequins are stuck in a stoop.

"It's so glamorous, something different to do," says Neal Hamil, executive vice president of Ford Models Inc. "This isn't ugly slouching. When it's done right, it's magnificent."

Until the early 1990s, good posture -- think of women in power suits -- was in fashion. Even supermodels such as Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer made it chic to stand tall.

Now, as designers help usher in a new wave of elegance, luxury and lounging, the slouch offers a matter-of-fact way to express rebellious behavior and wealth. The message: "Come buy this $2,000 blouse, but wear it like you don't care," says Patti Wood, a body-language expert who performs celebrity posture analyses for magazines including Us Weekly and Cosmopolitan.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB109648714805031561-IBjgINllaF3nZ6mZH6JaKWIm4,00.html

[Wickerman]

1. How can you run this thread with no pictures?

I am disappointed in you, Matcom. We need pics...

:7

[Phillycat]

2. Because scoliosis is HOT.

[pagerbear]

3. That's why I slouch

It's certainly not the accumulated pain and sorrow of 41 years on this earth! You get that idea right out of your head!