Are You Kidding Me? Size 4 Model Considered "Fat"

In a society where the average woman is a size 14, it's nearly impossible to believe a size 4 would be considered fat. But, despite the fact that nearly two-thirds of American women are overweight, the modeling industry continues to live in its fashionista fantasy world of size 0's, leading many women who wear larger sizes to question the beauty of their bodies.

Model Lara Stone knows this all too well. The 26-year old is a svelte 5 feet, 10 inches and a size 4, and while this is very slim, it causes many a designer and stylist to gasp -- some even going so far as to offer her a corset to wear.

"What they say is 'curvy,' but you know they mean fat," Stone told Vogue in a recent interview.

Seriously?! Take a look at this photo of Stone (right). How on earth could this woman be considered fat by anyone? We think a more accurate description for her figure would be "very thin."

The Dutch cover girl has appeared in ad campaigns for Givenchy, Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss, and strutted down the runway for major designers like Marc Jacobs, Balmain and Isabel Marant, but getting there has not been easy. After years of trying to make her body into something it's not -- a size 0 -- through dieting, exercise, weight loss pills and eventually alcohol to get through the days of criticism, Stone has finally become comfortable with her body. "People still tell me I'm fat, but when I look in the mirror, that's not what I see."

The trend of using wafer-thin models -- some with eating disorders, can be tough for the women in the fashion industry and any woman who opens up a magazine featuring them. "Designers who use the super-skinny girls defend the trend, saying clothes hang better on a coat hanger," wrote Rebecca Johnson in Vogue. "But the opposite is also true -- some clothes look better on bodies with "boobs," which is why Stone's career has flourished."

But calling a size 4 the opposite of a "coat hanger" is down-right ridiculous.

Perhaps this is why plus-size models like Lizzi Miller have received such positive feedback from real women. After she proudly bared her size-14 figure sans clothes in the September issue of Glamour, the magazine was inundated with accolades from readers. "The emails were filled with such joy -- joy at seeing a woman's body with all the curves and quirks and rolls found in nature," wrote the magazine's editor, Cindi Leive on their web site.

So, while some may want to celebrate the fact that a size 4 model is making it in the fashion world, let's face it -- what we really need are more models like Lizzi.