Xtreme Vogue London Desk: Sarah Marshal
In a viral tweet that has the internet up in arms, the New York Post claimed that “heroic chic is back” and curvy bodies are out. Now, people are clapping back as they declare that women’s bodies are not fashion trends.
On Wednesday, the official Twitter account for the New York Post tweeted: “Bye bye booty: Heroin chic is back.” Attached to the tweet was a link to a recent article, which explained how the “thin, heroin-chic body” of the 1990s and early aughts is “making a comeback.”
The article published by the Post claimed that there’s been a shift in the fashion industry. Once upon a time, “slim thick” figures were celebrated in fashion, and were popularised by celebrities like Lizzo and Megan Thee Stallion.
Now, “waifish girls” are supposedly in, as supermodels Bella Hadid, Lila Moss and Kaia Gerber dominate the runway.
It continued: “Even the famously bootylicious Kardashians seem to be turning away from curvy physiques. Kim and Khloé are looking increasingly skinny of late, leading fans to speculate that they’ve reversed their Brazilian butt lifts — though it has never been confirmed either had the procedure to begin with.”
Unsurprisingly, the tweet received widespread backlash from social media users all echoing a similar message: Bodies are not trends.
Among those criticising the article was Jameela Jamil, who took to Instagram to condemn the article. “No. No. F**k this,” she wrote. “We are not going back, and how dare the media give this bullshit any oxygen?! I am of the generation of the first wave of this. We never fully recovered. I lost two decades of my life.
“I’m BEGGING you to violently reject this, and to VIOLENTLY REJECT any people, or magazines or news outlets who are particpating in the spread of this hell. We worked so hard and made so much progress and we are not being dragged back.”
In the post, The Good Place star then claimed that we should “defund” diet culture, before acknowledging that men are “not forced to tolerate” the same unattainable body standards.
“I am disgusted,” Jamil continued. “Promotion of this sh*t should be seen as a crime. There is nothing *chic* about a deadly drug addiction that makes you so thin because you’re slowly dying.”
The actor concluded the post revealing that she is “so bored” of this “huge underestimation of our right ot be happy with ourselves,” before proposing “happiness chic”.
The article was also criticsed on Twitter, where writer Sauleha Kamal wrote: “Women’s bodies are not trends.”
“Again why must women’s bodies be a trend,” another person said.
Many users felt the tweet positively promoted eating disorders and drug usage, while some people were simply shocked that women’s bodies were still a topic of conversation in the 21st century.
“In the 2020s we’re rebooting everything, including debilitating eating disorders,” one user wrote.
“Repeat after me, women’s bodies are not trends. Eating disorders are debilitating and should not be glorified. Drug addiction isn’t an aesthetic,” said someone else.
YouTuber Sally Le Page tweeted: “Nope nope nope. I was a girl while heroin chic was ‘in fashion’. I remember the TV shows telling you how to be a double zero. When it was impossible to tell whether a model had anorexia. The incredible shame for being a healthy weight. Gen Z, do not let them bring this back.”
Others simply pointed out the obvious – that skinny was never not in fashion – when they wrote: “This just being a variation of ‘skinny is in’ like it was ever out in the fashion world.” person said.
This year alone, there’s been a handful of fashion trends that dictate women’s appearance. “Clean girl aesthetic” tells women to wear minimal makeup and slick back their hair in a bun so they appear as youthful as ever, while still looking presentable at all times. Coastal grandma, although somewhat easy-going with its laid-back aesthetic, is still just another viral trend that tells women how they should look or dress.
This is not the first time the New York Post has received backlash for declaring a controversial fashion trend. In March, the Post tweeted a link to an article with the caption: “‘Dressing like a lesbian’ is the sexy and ‘powerful’ new fashion trend”.
However, the viral tweet sparked a conversation about the co-optation of queer identity in fashion, as many people stressed that not all lesbians or LGBTQ+ people dress the same.
Perhaps going into the new year, fashion should abandon its reliance on viral trends and just let women live.
