They're models but not as you know them: Women with body issues strip off to challenge 'increasingly soulless fashion world'
A host of diverse women, many recovering from issues related to body image, are bravely taking their clothes off for the world to see, as part of a deeply intimate new video web series about body image, What's Underneath.
Model Melanie Gaydos - who was born with a rare genetic disorder called ectodermal dysplasia, which affects the hair, teeth, nails and sweat glands - is the latest to strip down to her underwear while answering a series of tricky questions.
'I think people think I'm pretty f*****g weird,' Melanie admits, as she slowly peels off layer after layer of clothing. 'A lot of people [in the fashion world] think of me kind of as a gimmick. It’s pretty difficult.'
Undressed: Melanie Gaydos - who was born with a rare genetic disorder called ectodermal dysplasia, which affects the hair, teeth, nails and sweat glands - is often judged, but has still found success as a model
What's Underneath was launched three months ago by former fashion editor Elisa Goodkind along with her daughter Lily Mandelbaum. She claims to have grown 'disheartened by the increasingly soulless fashion world.'
Speaking to MailOnline about her web series, which appears on StyleLikeU, Elisa says: 'The primary objective of the project is to empower people to realize that true style is not about money, trends, Photoshopped imagery or a singular ideal of beauty.'
For Melanie - who claims she has never felt beautiful - life was troubled right from the start; but despite often being judged for her appearance, she has found unlikely solace in modeling.
Harsh start: After a tough upbringing, fraught with 'alcoholism and abuse,' Melanie thought she would never make it past 18, but now loves her career and says modelling allows her to be 'completely open'
Would she trade? 'No. I think I'm like the only person that could deal with what I've been through and I wouldn't want to wish what I have, or what I've experienced, on anyone else. I like where I am'
'I didn't really have a good family environment. There was a lot of alcoholism and abuse,' Melanie says, adding that as a young girl, her '30-40' surgeries, and the belief that she wouldn't live beyond 18, was just the 'icing on the cake.'
I never thought I was beautiful but also I never thought I was ugly
In the incredibly candid interview, made all the more poignant by her taking off her clothes, Melanie chokes up several times.
Asked what some of the happiest moments of her life have been, she describes modelling as something she 'loves' - a time for her to be 'completely open.'
Truth session: Tallulah Willis, 20-year-old daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, also stripped down for a deeply personal interview and discussed her body dysmorphia and her battles with anorexia
Demons: Tallulah, who weighed 95lbs at her lightest, said, 'When I lost my curves and my boobs shriveled up into nothing and I had no shape... I viewed super-skinny me as the smart, intelligent me'
At one point, Melanie mentions a Russian newspaper who named her as one of the '25 top ugliest celebrities.'
'I never thought I was beautiful but also I never thought I was ugly,' she says. 'For me beauty was always just a feeling or a state of being.'
The model, who was discovered while at art school in New York, reveals that after years of genuinely not wanting to be alive, she has recently found joy in the place she feels most 'vulnerable': being in love.
Her boyfriend, she says, is 'very present,' and has helped her to 'feel comfortable' with who she is.
Graceful: Another video stars Jacky O'Shaughnessy, the 62-year-old ex-legal secretary who shot to fame late in life when she became an American Apparel model
Open book: 'I think there’s just an epidemic of poor body image, certainly for women at my age and getting older,' she says, adding that an ex-boyfriend once told her: 'You’re too old; I don’t want to be seen with you'
Insights: Jacky speaks of her past insecurities, saying, 'I would think, "Why is my weight fluctuating and why do I drink too much wine sometimes, why am I not sleeping?" The bottom line is, I wasn't happy with myself'
When Melanie is asked at the end of the interview, stripped of all but her lingerie, whether she would 'trade' with anyone else she ponders for a moment before replying, 'No.'
'I like where everything has brought me today. I like where I am.''I think I'm like the only person that could deal with what I've been through, and I wouldn't want to wish what I have, or what I've experienced, on anyone else.
Also willing to bare all for What's Underneath was Tallulah Willis; known best as being the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, but also more recently for her struggles with anorexia and addiction.
The video interview, which was uploaded in April - two months before she reportedly entered rehab for cocaine and alcohol addiction - sees Tallulah talk openly of her many demons.
Standing out: For fashion editor and sometimes-model Jillian Mercado, who has faced campaigns for Diesel and Nordstrom, she thinks there's beauty in diversity. 'It’s boring to see the same people,' she states
Embracing those curves: Jillian, who has muscular dystrophy, advises, 'If you have big boobs, embrace it. If you have big thighs do it'
Struggles: She admits that her biggest insecurity are her legs. 'Even being in a skirt right now,' she laughs, later remarking, 'It's like I'm an art exhibit or an alien'
Speaking of her eating disorder, which Tallulah claims shrunk her down to 95lbs, the 20-year-old said: 'When I lost my curves and my boobs shriveled up into nothing and I had no shape... I viewed super-skinny me as the smart, intelligent me.'
If you’re different, that’s sunlight in somebody’s world
Since gaining weight and working on her body dysmorphia, which she says centers mostly around her face, Tallulah says she's uncovered a more authentic aspect of her personality.
'I can talk and have a conversation with someone now without being drunk and naked and the life of the party,' she remarks. 'It's crazy to like yourself, not the way you look.'
Tallulah, who runs a fashion blog called The Clothing Coven, also touches on the giant machine that is contemporary celebrity culture.
'For the most part, is very much about "look what designer thing I'm wearing and look what bag I'm carrying with these people at this event that you can't go to," and you're not even enjoying it!'
Fashionista: Another star of the series is plus-size model and writer Paloma Elsesser, who has experienced her own battles with self-acceptance in the past
Set apart: 'I think I felt pretty alienated, being bigger, being mixed race, being of lower socioeconomic standing,' she says her depression and former drug use
Keeping it real: 'You can fly your liberal equal flag, but s**t isn't equal,' she continues. 'It’s important to see color. We are not the same. We have very different experiences'
Another video stars Jacky O'Shaughnessy, the 62-year-old New York inhabitant who shot to fame later in life when she became an American Apparel model.
Jacky, who was a legal secretary and had never modeled before her American Apparel gig, has witnessed much regarding the industry in a short time.
'I think there’s just an epidemic of poor body image, certainly for women at my age and getting older,' she says, adding that an ex-boyfriend of six years once told her: 'You’re too old; I don’t want to be seen with you in public.'
Jacky admits to having plenty of insecurities, but says a therapist has been helping her to gradually let them go.
'I would think, "Why is my weight fluctuating and why do I drink too much wine sometimes, why am I not sleeping?" The bottom line is, I wasn't happy with myself.'
These days, she has a more solid outlook. 'I don’t want to wear a one-piece,' she remarks. 'I’m always going to be in a bikini. I don’t care if my stomach’s wrinkled.'
Not easy: For artist Eryn Lefkowitz, who visibly struggles with removing her clothes on camera, she's still recovering from her anorexia
'Everybody gave me positive reinforcement, telling me that I should model and that I had a sick body,' she reveals. 'No one ever said, "Oh my God, you look so skinny, not so cute"'
Recovering: At her lowest, Eryn weighed only 94lbs, and claims she has gained 30lbs since January
For wheelchair-bound fashion editor and sometimes-model Jillian Mercado, who has faced campaigns for Diesel and Nordstrom, she thinks there's beauty in diversity.
'It’s boring to see the same people,' she states. 'If you’re different, that’s sunlight in somebody’s world.'
'We live in a world where men feel so entitled to women’s bodies, that when they don’t get what they want, they go on killing sprees'
Jillian, whose muscular dystrophy is a result of a 'f**ked up birth,' admits that her biggest insecurity are her legs. 'Even being in a skirt right now,' she laughs, later remarking: 'It's like I'm an art exhibit or an alien.'
Still, the WeTheUrban editor's advice is simple. 'If you have big boobs, embrace it,' she says. 'If you have big thighs do it.'
Another star of the series is plus-size model and writer Paloma Elsesser, who has experienced her own battles with self-acceptance in the past.
'I think I felt pretty alienated, being bigger, being mixed race, being of lower socioeconomic standing,' she says her depression and former drug use.
'You can fly your liberal equal flag, but s**t isn't equal,' she continues. 'It’s important to see color. We are not the same. We have very different experiences.'
Stereotyped: Musician Meredith Graves, the lead singer of Punk band Perfect Pussy, says it makes her 'furious' when people judge her by her looks and not her 'politics'
Vile: She is regularly met with a shocking level of internet abuse. 'People will... say, "This band sucks, and I hope the lead singer gets raped and killed”,' she reveals
'The primary objective of the project is to empower people to realize that true style is not about money, trends, Photoshopped imagery or a singular ideal of beauty,' says Elisa Goodkind, who launched What's Underneath
For artist Eryn Lefkowitz, who visibly struggles with removing her clothes on camera, she's still recovering from her anorexia.
In part, Eryn blames the distorted mirror society holds up to young women. 'Everybody gave me positive reinforcement, telling me that I should model and that I had a sick body,' she reveals.
'No one ever said, "Oh my God, you look so skinny, not so cute."'
At her lowest, Eryn weighed only 94lbs, and claims she has gained 30lbs since January.
Musician Meredith Graves, the lead singer of Punk band Perfect Pussy, says it makes her 'furious' when people judge her by her looks and not her 'politics,' and is regularly met with a shocking level of internet abuse.
'People will... say, "This band sucks, and I hope the lead singer gets raped and killed”,' she reveals.
'We live in a world where men feel so entitled to women’s bodies, that when they don’t get what they want, they go on killing sprees.'
Elisa, who admits to getting choked up while filming these segments 'all the time,' hopes her project can redefine the element of 'true style.'
After many years in the fashion industry, having worked at magazines including Vanity Fair and InStyle, she has watched a disturbing change unfold.
'It has become much worse in terms of making people hate themselves today,' she says.
'Over the past 25-plus years that I have been in the industry, it has morphed from a creative place to a corporate giant that is all about money and selling things.
'All too often in the media, we are shown one single ideal of what it means to be fashionable, and it is usually quite dis-empowering.'
She concludes: 'We feel that everyone with true style possesses a comfort in their bodies and an authenticity in the way they dress and express themselves, and that's what makes them beautiful and cool to us.'
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario