Ann Taylor Finally Gets Good

What happened to the Mulleavy sisters' commitment to authenticity?

(NEWSER) - Rodarte, which has become synonymous with handcrafted, authentic, extremely well-made clothes, was the last line Erika Kawalek ever expected to do a Target collection. The looks aren’t bad—some, like the leopard-print dress and blue tulle blouse, are rather nice—“but if you turn off your acquisitiveness for a sec and consider what Rodarte represents, their Target collection is a truly depressing move,” she writes on DoubleX . More»

Once scary, now stylish, skulls are trendy—and not just at Halloween

(NEWSER) - Skulls, once seen as sinister symbols, are now used on everything from children's shirts to underwear. Sara Dickerman of Slate takes a look at how the trend developed:

• In the 16th century, artists like Albrecht Dürer were still using skulls to remind people of their mortality.
• French pirate Emanuel Wynn was the first to use the skull-and-crossbones logo on his ship's flag.
• As skulls came to symbolize bravado, fighters—from US special operations to the Nazi SS—used them on uniforms.

Column blaming the thin trend on society's obesity gets lots of attention

(NEWSER) - Robin Givhan's recent Washington Post piece attempting to explain why models are so skinny—"the fatter the general population, the thinner the idealized woman," she wrote—spawned a number of responses in varying degrees of outrage. Read on for a sample:

• "'The culture' isn't insisting on emaciated models and greeting larger ones with hostility; the fashion industry is, and as such, it seems increasingly out of touch with consumer demands," writes Sady Doyle in Salon.

Sorry, Glamour : A model's size doesn't matter to an overweight woman

(NEWSER) - Never mind the hoopla surrounding Glamour’s decision to grace its pages with plus-size models—looking at any model will damage an overweight woman’s self-esteem. Meanwhile, underweight women's self-esteem climbs no matter the size of the model they’re looking at, New York reports, citing a recent study. The researchers’ advice to overweight women? Avoid looking at ads with models, period. More»

Karl Lagerfeld won't be joining the real women revolution anytime soon...

(NEWSER) - Karl Lagerfeld is not a fan of Brigitte magazine’s recent decision to stop using models in its pages. The 71-year-old designer tells Focus magazine the decision is “absurd” and “no one wants to see round women,” the Guardian reports. The women who complain about models, Lagerfeld says, “are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly.” More»