Skinny window dummies at Ludwig Beck - Munich

Has anyone seen the new dummies in the display windows at Beck's department store? I was walking past there today and couldn't believe how disgustingly skinny their dummies are. They all have "Size 0" trousers on, and the ones with dresses or skirts on have legs that look like toothpicks. I've heard that Size 0 is all the craze in America now, thanks to people like Victoria Beckham, but did Germany really have to jump on the bandwagon? I definitely preferred their last range of dummies with the huge Barbarella breasts.

Does Size 0 really look good? In my opinion people that skinny just look sick. I'd be interested to hear what other people think. Do men think a skeletal woman is sexy - ala, makes you want to "jump their bones"??

Most studies say: men like a "healthy" weight, and given a choice between skinnier and larger, prefer the curvier one. Most women however are the opposite when judging other women.

Too lazy to find a link now, remind me later.

I'd be afraid of hurtin' somethin'. Either breaking something of her's or poking myself with her boney parts.

But then again, I am enthusiastic about what I do

Ahem... MOST? Please, by all means, cite a number of studies to back up this claim. MOST? Most magazines catering to the big girl market, perhaps. Sorry, but no. In Western society, thin is the ideal. In societies without an abundance of food, that's where larger is attractive. Whatever's harder to attain will always be the lead in attraction, for reasons so legion Desmond Morris was able to milk three books and two TV series out of them.

woof.

Anyone can starve themselves, yet to be a female body builder, that is much harder. Yet for some reason...

What, so the U.S. should go back to its 'Big Mac and Fries' craze where they're well known as being the most obese nation on the planet?

Too skinny is not good, though curves in the right places are much better. But fat girls... it seems that most men don't find that attractive, but of course there are always exceptions to the rule.

I was back in the UK over Christmas and I was appalled by how it seems that many women let themselves go compared to their continental European counterparts. I remember growing up at school many years ago and thinking "wow, there's a lot of pretty girls around" then when girls get to about 18/20, they just let themselves go. What's that all about?! No wonder more and more British men look abroad for more attractive girls.

i think Parnel would disagree with your line of thought.

If you want your man to drown in your lust
You must, you must increase your bust

Do that dance.

@ BadDoggie: but do you mean "thin" as in slim and not overweight, or thin as in practically anorexic, which is the case with size 0? I too think that men seem to prefer slimmer women, but do they find thin (Size 0) attractive too? I think there is quite a difference between being slim and being a size 0.

@ Kent 73: I agree that one should try and maintain a slim and healthy figure and not let oneself go, but striving to reach a size 0 is just ridiculous. A friend of mine is a psychologist who worked in a clinic for eating disorders. She worked first hand with young women who had strived to reach that trendy and desirable thin body (and attainted their goals), and ended up seriously sick people who spend a long time in therapy trying to become normal again. Some even died.

I think you're generalizing this size 0 thing, Bungeesheep. Some girls are just very small and have to wear size 0, sometimes even childrens' clothing. It does not mean they are "anorexic".

The mannequins are there to showcase the clothing, not to be desired and lusted after!

Yeah, mannequins are freaky. Especially the ones with faces and wigs.

The Autons from Dr Who...

Spot-on.


Either way. Both work for me. I also resent your claim that a size 0 girl must be an anorexic or bulemic. You ever seen Suzanne Vega? I mean up cklose and personal. I did a couple of her tours and saw her quite a bit. My arm is bigger around than her leg. She's a waif; that's just how she's built. Same with Knightly and Co-Kate, although Beckham jamming a finger down occasionally wouldn't surprise me.

woof.

Personally, I wouldn't want to fuck a fattie, but I can't honestly say that the Belsen look gets me hard, either. Beckham? Wouldn't touch her with someone else's. What's wrong with a fucking smile from time to time?

There's a pretty long and related thread Italian campaign against anorexic models.

Hang on, why did I leave the UK again?

Anyway, while I have little doubt that the store dummies are "skinny", "skinny" and "anorexic" are not interchangable terms.
Being in Tokyo the other week, I felt really huge in comparison. Not just obese, but tall too (and I'm neither). Were the local ladies anorexic? No. Not judging by the amount of udon et al I saw being consumed.

We all are attracted to various things.
OK, there appears to be some kind of prescribed beauty ideal, while that ideal may change according to fashions, individual tastes remain just that - individual.
Some love a straighter, sharp look.
Some go ga ga for Rubenesque curves.
Some go for anything that makes them an offer ha ha.

Anyway, I really can't abide one group alienating another for comfort. Whether the slimmer person is therefore "anorexic" or "not a real woman" (what are the slim? Fictional?), while Britney Spears' "issues" are international news or we watch the eternal soap opera of others' lives, as long it's a case of "I'm all right Jack, eh"? A real "at least that's not me" manner.
Why does someone have to be less so that we can be more? Seems a bit odd really.

Ludwig Beck picks their market - either it appeals or it doesn't. Afterall they sell clothes, not mannequins. There are other stores. Take your pick.

And another blatant plug for a good cause: ANAD Pathways is a Munich-based charity offering friendly help and advice to those concerned with eating disorders of all types.

Yes they are there to showcase the clothing, but why all of a sudden are they thin as toothpicks? The dummies seemed to showcase the clothing just as well before when they weren't so mega skinny. In my opinion because they are promoting the next trend - to fit into really tiny sizes.

I am also aware that some women are small and can fit size 0 or even children's clothing, but is that the norm (here in Germany anyway)? Not really.

I hope I didn't come across as saying everyone who is a size 0 is anorexic, I didn't mean that either. I just feel that marketing is a very strong medium, regardless of whether in print form, on television, or in this case the window dummies. And in my opinion these dummies are pretty much telling people that thin is in.

Anyway, thanks for the interesting opinions!! I'm off now to have a very late lunch now (and no, not just carrots)

In my (vast haha) experience men do prefer thinner women but don't tend to discriminate between a healthy size 2 and a healthy size 10. Once you get outside of those sizes you tend to eliminate those guys who either prefer really thin or really curvy women (but there are plenty of both). Once you get over a size 14 or under a size 0 (whatever Amy Winehouse is) you tend to eliminate the majority of men who aren't one of those extremes themselves.

Looks like they're gonna need a bigger window.

For Roy.

Because all the men were leaving or many had already left?

Was she a big fat person?

--Buffalo Bill

Yes it's a total disgrace that the media is portraying slimmer as better, and shop window dummies are getting even skinnier. We all know how impressionable people are, and this would clearly explain the sudden problem we are experiencing here in the West with everyone getting so scarily underweight. You can clearly see the direct link between Size 0 shop dummies and the underweight people in the West. If only they used bigger shop dummies maybe we could work through this underweight epidemic. Where did all the fat people go anyway?

When someone says "I wouldn't want to fuck a fattie" -- there are tons of girls out there who feel you are talking about them. While I acknowledge that I can be described with that term, there are some quite normal girls out there feeling fat and getting into eating disorders, and taking comments like that to heart. It's really nothing new that thin is in. As Bad Doggie pointed out, whatever is (in general) more difficult to achieve is the desired effect.

You keep hearing rumors of a new wave of "normal" models coming along, but this never seems to materialize, which I think is a shame. I also think it would make more sense to have mannequins in the size that the majority of people wear (what's the average - 40?) so that one can see what the clothes look like on a person, not a plastic ideal.

JE: maybe if the ideal goal were achievable, more people would attempt to reach it

JE's brand of market research is interesting to say the least.

Oddly enough I was at a party at the weekend, and we even commented - there were like almost NO fat people. 95% of the german punters were slim/correct weight. Peer pressure I think in that group.

As it happens I suspect they were all whispering "Who let the fat english fucker in?"

I think people attempt to reach it, they just try and fail repeatedly and get caught in a viscious cycle of extreme restriction which then turns into extreme overindulgence. I don't think you'll find a fat person who has never been on a diet.

I don't think you'll find a thin person who has never stuffed a huuuuuuuge bar of galaxy, and a litre of vanilla ice cream, and 6 donuts at one sitting.

or maybe that's just me.

That doesn't make any sense. I don't think I've met a person fat or thin that is capable of consuming that amount of food (bulemics or those freaky hotdog eating contest winners being a possible exception).

Damn you, Bumpy! I've been singing 'Good-bye horses I'm flying flying flying over you' under my breath for nearly an hour now. And shuddering at the mental image of mangina.

ER, I've watched my guy eat three McDonald's Hüttengaudi burgers and two large orders of fries in one sitting, then polish the whole lot off with a weissbier. Gross but true.

Huh? Your kidding me right?

Next you'll be saying you've never eaten 4 Big Macs in one go.

WTF? Normal people (even fat ones) don't eat like that.

I definitely have never eaten 4 Big Macs, have never even had 1 whole Big Mac.

Or four cheese burgers and then accidentally gone back and got four more about 6 minutes later. Eh, a friend of mine did that recently, apparently, I'm told.

The models in the window of Becks over Christmas had moustaches... What does this tell us about the way society wants us ladies to look?

Fair point, tall men can eat a lot more than women or short men.

and fat, greedy, tall men even more.

So how do they get so fat in the first place then? Oh yeah, it's genetics or they're just big boned, right?

Sorry, but the average German is not as fat as the average Brit, and it's unfortunate it's like this.

Anyway, who gives a fuck if the mannaquins in whereever look so slim, they're fucking mannaquins. So what, women should aspire to look like them? I'm sure these mannaquins don't have nipples either.

Today's Toytown Moment of Zen (TTMOZ™) was brought to you by kent_73 and eh, the letter 'N'.

When I was a kid our GP's wife used to put lipstick on her nipples. I am not sure this is relevant - I'm just saying like. Her name was Dorothy and she was very fat. But I don't think it was the fat that made her do it.

Possibly more interesting is how I actually know this nugget of useless information.

Fat girls, by any chance?

Because they repeatedly over a long period of time consume more than they burn, they don't even have to consume a lot more to gain weight. A fat person may only consume 100 calories more a day (approximately 1 banana) than a thin person but over time it adds up. In this case it would add up to 12 lbs a year or 60 lbs in 5 years, for one extra banana a day.

My personal observation on the discrepency between the number of fat people in Germany and Britain (or North America) is not so much what they eat (a plate of Käsespätzle has more calories and fat than a Big Mac) but the amount they move, not even necessarily in the form of pure excercise but you see so many more Germans out on their bikes, walking or jogging or hiking and not every once in a while but every day.

Thanks Eleanor. I just knew it was that extra fucking banana before bed. I've been saying it for years but good to finally get confirmation. I am now banning all bananas and banana related products from the English household and look forward to some admiring glances at the next TT event.

Toytown Germany
Where Big Blokes Ban Bloaty Bananas

Oh stop being retarded.

I'm normal size (well like to think so anyway) size 8/10 and over here in summer feel big next to all the super skinny minnys. Strange how later I see photos of that same summer and think how small I looked lol. I could never ever diet though, food is just too dam tasty Woman are just never happy with how they look!

I have a friend who is also one of these naturally tiny people and she hates how people always make nasty comments about being too thin. She has bones sticking out all over the place and even after going to the doctor to ask for advice just can't put on weight. So be nice to the skinnies too!

Lies, damn lies and statistics says:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1770

Percentage of OBESE women in Europe:

1. UK at 23%
2. Germany at 21.7%

Percentage of OBESE men in Europe:

1. Malta 25.1% (like we give a fuck what they do on that pebble)
2. UK at 22.3%
3. Hungary at 19.7%
4. Germany at 18.8%

Also this:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/oct/10/politics.health

Do share! I need a good giggle this morning

You mean its not normal to smear lippie on your nipples in the morning???

So if jogging, hiking, biking is not a form of exerceice then wtf is it?

Work?

This is all over the UK papers at the moment:


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_...icle3346346.ece

What I meant was the kind of excercise you do purely to get excercise, for example going to the gym. The other activities can be social in nature as well as excercise.

Is that clear enough for you or shall I explain it a little more?