Attractiveness, Petite Celebs and Non-Petite Celebs

Readers (guys and girls; straight, gay or bi),

I would love to see your views on petite celebs vs. non-petite celebs and their attractiveness. Below is a list of female celebrities (some are petite, some are not). What do you think of them? Are they pretty? Sexy? Beautiful? Glamourous? Elegant? Can a petite celebrity be elegant? Please email me your answers by the DECEMBER 31, 2009. Shorty Stories will post results in January 2010.


Celebrity List:

Reese Witherspoon
Lady Gaga
Nicole Kidman
Eva Longoria
Sarah Jessica Parker
Jada Pinkett Smith
Heidi Klum
Jennifer Aniston
Angelina Jolie

Cute or Beautiful?

It really bugs me (and I'm sure many other petite women out there) that shorter women can never be "beautiful" in a classic sort of way. We can be cute (a given), pretty and even sexy/hot (many Maxim girls just aren't that tall), but "beautiful"? NO WAY! At least not in this century. Sure, many glamourous movie stars of the past have been petite and beautiful (Elizabeth Taylor isn't that tall, nor was Natalie Wood), but can you name ONE in 2009 who is (from a MEDIA perspective, not your own)? I can't!

Alternative Model Appreciation Week: August 11-17

An "alternative model" is anyone who doesn't fit the "standard" model one sees in magazines. While most people, including those in the Facebook event page fall into categories like roleplay, cosplay, etc, petite and plus sized models fall into the category too.

Suggestions to Alternative Model Appreciation Week (from a petite perspective):

Comment on a petite model's blog

Write to fashion-related companies an tell them why it's important to not only have a petite line, but use petite models

Make a video about the importance of petite sizes and upload it to YouTube

Send a letter to your local newspaper about the importance of petite sizes, and how it is often overlooked

Go to a body image board and write about beauty/body image from a petite perspective

What about you? Do you have any suggestions?

Alternative Modelling and Petites

Petites, of course, are supposed to fall into this category, but for some reason, we aren't included in the Facebook Event celebrating alternative models (Alternative Model Week is in August. More information will be posted here and in Prospere Magazine closer to the date). I've even posted a note on the wall, but the admins have not changed anything as of Wednesday afternoon. Perhaps we need to have a bigger voice. You see tattooed people, people with multiple piercings, goth and even the more mainstream plus being celebrated, but us shorties? Nope. Nada.

Maybe there just aren't enough designers interested in risking it, especially in Canada. Maybe we need to encourage fashion students to go an alternate route. Isn't it interesting that people are more willing to be "weird" alternative than mainstream-alternative (i.e. plus and petite)? I would think that there are more people who'd be interested in mainstream-alternative, especially in a country like Canada. We're, after all, generally less risk-taking. Even Ben Barry, the Canadian modelling agent who encourages all shapes and sizes seems to ignore the shorties.

So what can we do? Well, starting a website to talk about these issues is one. This seems to be the most common, though most petite websites don't seem to update very regularly (Serafina, Petite Fashionista and this site are the most regular). Encouraging designers to think outside of the box is another. Of course, the latter can be hard. The fashion industry, as creative as they are, seem to be very narrow-minded when it comes to what looks good. Last year, I was at an event where one of the guests was a Canadian designer who has had shows in L'Oreal Fashion Week (won't name this person, as I am afraid of getting into trouble). I told this designer about this blog, and though this person was very friendly prior to my mentioning Shorty Stories, stopped talking to me all together afterwards. And trust me, it was NOT the alcohol. Petite fashion shouldn't only be shows like Petite Fashionista Presents. Petite fashion should be everywhere.

Of course, even if we are successful in encouraging designers to go petite, there's no guarantee that the Canadian Fashion Design Council will respond well to them. I've heard that some people there have a reputation to be pretty much the Anna Wintour of the North. And we all know what that means.

In Britain, the "ideal man" must be at least average height....

and wealthy. This is, of course, not really such a surprise, IMHO. According to a Daily Mail article, qualities the ideal man should have include: being at least 5'10", weighs exactly 12 stones, 7 lb (175 lb - I would assume that this would be in proportion to his height...a 6'2" male can weigh more), holds a university degree and is a doctor or a lawyer (other qualities include not having more than six sexual partners and no previous marriages or kids.) British women, like their North American counterparts, don't like smokers nor do they want to be "sports widows" (the article specifically said that "football [soccer] fans were given the thumbs-down.") The article also sites Jake Gyllenhal as an example of the "ideal." So ladies, do you agree with this "find"? Does Jake fit your ideal? (Jake isn't really my type...Guys I do like: Ralph and Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Harry Connick, Jr.)Or do you prefer shorter guys? Would you choose, say, Daniel Radcliffe or Elijah Wood (both 5'6" according to IMDB) over someone who is at least average height? And what about the ideal woman? Do guys have one "ideal" for a shorter term relationship and another for marriage/long term (I'd prefer a straight male answer this, but I'm open to other answers too)? Do you think this "ideal" comes from cultural conditioning? What's the "ideal" in other cultures? I would assume that in say, Japan or Hong Kong, the "ideal man" is a variant of the above, though appearance will differ slightly.

By the way, according to this same study, only 2% of British women say they'll date a guy shorter than 5'.