"People who are already large are getting larger and on the other side is this shrinking ideal."

That's a quote from eating-disorder expert Cynthia M. Bulik, in Robin Givhan's excellent article describing super-thin runway models. "That makes the gulf between the actual and the ideal even bigger and that makes self-esteem plummet."

Designers claim to need extra-thin models to make their clothes look good when the clothes are designed thin. But isn't this a problem at the sales point? If the clothes are designed to look good when hanging from hanger-like shoulders, how is any real woman going to think they look right on her?

People buying designer clothes are super-thin.

Well, yeah. That's my point though. There are other people choosing not to buy. Why don't you want them as customers?

In the meantime, companies catering to the mass population, such as Coldwater Creek and Chico's, offer sizes 14 and 16 in lieu of 0 and 2.

Why do the designers concede all these customers?

Those in the fashion industry offer this reassurance: The pendulum will swing the other way. In due time, the industry will celebrate a more athletic ideal. This is discussed as if it will magically happen -- as if an outside force beyond the control of the industry will determine when that shift will occur.

The force of the market?