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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/oct/16/refuse-lose-weight-model-fury-fashion-agency-charli-howard
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| I refuse to lose weight, says model who vented fury at fashion agency | I refuse to lose weight, says model who vented fury at fashion agency |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A fashion model who criticised her former agency in an open letter for allegedly telling her to lose weight has said she intends to continue working in the industry, but on her own terms. | A fashion model who criticised her former agency in an open letter for allegedly telling her to lose weight has said she intends to continue working in the industry, but on her own terms. |
| Charli Howard made headlines around the world after posting on Facebook: “Here’s a big FUCK YOU to my (now ex) model agency, for saying that at 5’8” tall and a UK size 6-8 (naturally), I’m ‘too big’ and ‘out of shape’ to work in the fashion industry.” | Charli Howard made headlines around the world after posting on Facebook: “Here’s a big FUCK YOU to my (now ex) model agency, for saying that at 5’8” tall and a UK size 6-8 (naturally), I’m ‘too big’ and ‘out of shape’ to work in the fashion industry.” |
| The south Londoner’s retaliation against what she termed the fashion world’s “unobtainable” beauty standards was reported on from as far afield as Israel, New Zealand and America. Since posting, Howard said she had been “blown away by the support” she had received. | The south Londoner’s retaliation against what she termed the fashion world’s “unobtainable” beauty standards was reported on from as far afield as Israel, New Zealand and America. Since posting, Howard said she had been “blown away by the support” she had received. |
| However, not all responses had been supportive, with one suggesting there may be more to the story. Replying to the original post on Facebook, Annette-Marie Kjean, head of women at Wilhelmina London, an agency which has represented Howard, wrote: “You have chosen a very public forum to air your feelings. | However, not all responses had been supportive, with one suggesting there may be more to the story. Replying to the original post on Facebook, Annette-Marie Kjean, head of women at Wilhelmina London, an agency which has represented Howard, wrote: “You have chosen a very public forum to air your feelings. |
| “In fairness you should be obliged to tell the whole truth of our experience representing you as a model. You are quick to fat shame the women in the office yet you claim that this is the precise reason why you feel hurt. | “In fairness you should be obliged to tell the whole truth of our experience representing you as a model. You are quick to fat shame the women in the office yet you claim that this is the precise reason why you feel hurt. |
| “Perhaps now is a good time to reflect upon the facts of how and why we truly decided to end our management relationship with you ... Remember that you left us once for another agency and then came back a second time asking to be with us again and we welcomed you back. You left that part out. | “Perhaps now is a good time to reflect upon the facts of how and why we truly decided to end our management relationship with you ... Remember that you left us once for another agency and then came back a second time asking to be with us again and we welcomed you back. You left that part out. |
| “After many years of trying our best with you, it is unfortunate that you still refuse to see the facts and choose to only share your opinions, much to the disservice of anyone reading your post.” | “After many years of trying our best with you, it is unfortunate that you still refuse to see the facts and choose to only share your opinions, much to the disservice of anyone reading your post.” |
| It is unclear whether Wilhelmina was the agency to which Howard was referring in her Facebook post. A woman who answered the phone at the agency on Friday morning would give no comment on the letter or Kjean’s riposte. | It is unclear whether Wilhelmina was the agency to which Howard was referring in her Facebook post. A woman who answered the phone at the agency on Friday morning would give no comment on the letter or Kjean’s riposte. |
| Howard, who is 23 and has been modelling since the age of 17, published her open letter on Tuesday evening. She wrote: “I will no longer allow you to dictate to me what’s wrong with my looks and what I need to change in order to be “beautiful” (like losing one fucking inch off my hips), in the hope it might force you to find me work. | Howard, who is 23 and has been modelling since the age of 17, published her open letter on Tuesday evening. She wrote: “I will no longer allow you to dictate to me what’s wrong with my looks and what I need to change in order to be “beautiful” (like losing one fucking inch off my hips), in the hope it might force you to find me work. |
| “I refuse to feel ashamed and upset on a daily basis for not meeting your ridiculous, unobtainable beauty standards, whilst you sit at a desk all day, shovelling cakes and biscuits down your throats and slagging me and my friends off about our appearance. The more you force us to lose weight and be small, the more designers have to make clothes to fit our sizes, and the more young girls are being made ill. It’s no longer an image I choose to represent. | “I refuse to feel ashamed and upset on a daily basis for not meeting your ridiculous, unobtainable beauty standards, whilst you sit at a desk all day, shovelling cakes and biscuits down your throats and slagging me and my friends off about our appearance. The more you force us to lose weight and be small, the more designers have to make clothes to fit our sizes, and the more young girls are being made ill. It’s no longer an image I choose to represent. |
| “In case you hadn’t realised, I am a woman. I am human. I cannot miraculously shave my hip bones down, just to fit into a sample size piece of clothing or to meet ‘agency standards’. I have fought nature for a long time, because you’ve deemed my body shape too ‘curvaceous’, but I have recently began to love my shape. I don’t have big boobs, but my bum is OK plus, a large majority of my clients are OK with this. | “In case you hadn’t realised, I am a woman. I am human. I cannot miraculously shave my hip bones down, just to fit into a sample size piece of clothing or to meet ‘agency standards’. I have fought nature for a long time, because you’ve deemed my body shape too ‘curvaceous’, but I have recently began to love my shape. I don’t have big boobs, but my bum is OK plus, a large majority of my clients are OK with this. |
| “And anyway, let’s face the facts: when I was seven and a half stone, I still wasn’t thin enough for you. When I went to the gym five hours a week, you still weren’t finding me work. I can’t win. | “And anyway, let’s face the facts: when I was seven and a half stone, I still wasn’t thin enough for you. When I went to the gym five hours a week, you still weren’t finding me work. I can’t win. |
| Related: Meet the nodels: fashion beyond skinny models | |
| “Ironically, I do love modelling – the people I’ve met, the places I’ve visited and I am proud of the jobs I’ve done. I will continue to do it, but only on my terms. My mental and physical health is of more importance than a number on a scale, however much you wish to emphasise this. | “Ironically, I do love modelling – the people I’ve met, the places I’ve visited and I am proud of the jobs I’ve done. I will continue to do it, but only on my terms. My mental and physical health is of more importance than a number on a scale, however much you wish to emphasise this. |
| “Until (and if) an agency wishes to represent me for myself, my body and the WOMAN I’ve become, give me a call. Until then, I’m off to Nandos.” | “Until (and if) an agency wishes to represent me for myself, my body and the WOMAN I’ve become, give me a call. Until then, I’m off to Nandos.” |
| Amid the uproar caused by the post, Howard said her only regret was that she hadn’t done it sooner. In a blog for the Huffington post, she wrote: “I can’t help but feel ashamed for not being brave enough to stand up to my agency and for my body shape earlier (best described as a ‘pear’). | Amid the uproar caused by the post, Howard said her only regret was that she hadn’t done it sooner. In a blog for the Huffington post, she wrote: “I can’t help but feel ashamed for not being brave enough to stand up to my agency and for my body shape earlier (best described as a ‘pear’). |
| “There’s no doubt about it – modelling itself is fun, hence why I said I’ll continue to do it on my own terms. But it is not a career.” | “There’s no doubt about it – modelling itself is fun, hence why I said I’ll continue to do it on my own terms. But it is not a career.” |