Crystal Renn Admits to Losing Weight, Says She Is Still Plus-Size
July 23, 2010 in Beauty & Body Image, Crystal Renn, Hot Models by Versus
Crystal Renn was a guest at The Today Show and she had a bunch of interesting things to say:
1. She did lose weight.
2. She is still a plus-size model.
3. … and a size 10 (does she look 10?).
4. But wants to get rid of labels and wants models to be… ‘just models’.
Take a look at the video and let us know what you think!
im happy that she isn’t relapsing
her face is just so freaking beautiful, who can even pay attention to her body?? she reminds me of movie stars from the 50s and 60s.
her face is gorgeous. her body looks fantastic and i wouldn’t think for a second that she’s a size ten. she carries it very well.
what do you guys find so striking about her face? to me she’s pretty but nothing incredible… I know a lot of girls that are as pretty as her or more…
i dont know what it is about her…She has a perfect nose, nice skin and great eyebrows. There is also something slightly masculine about her face, but it is clearly feminine, and I think that is attractive. I could see why someone would think she is plain, but sometimes plain features can be beautiful (think Jessica Alba).
Yeah I agree.Where I live she would be very average.I dont find her so beautiful.And thats her real name? Sounds like a pornstar name to me.
Is it just me, or does she not look THAT different in the two pictures? I mean…it really does seem like the retouching was pretty minimal and “standard”. They’re making it out to be like they just cut her body down to half it’s size. And they really didn’t seem to alter it all that much. :/
i don’t see a lot difference between the before and after pictures. angles can make ppl look a lot different anyways. poor photographer being blamed on for nothing
This is so true !
What a classic beauty! I thought her face was stunning before, but seeing her on film…what comportment! She’s also so assertive and articulate! Girl crush alert!
Wow. Out of all plus-sized models, she sounds the most intelligent. Listening to that interview, I felt like I was speaking to someone who was truely comfortable with their body and was honest, and not someone who felt the need to put down or disparage thinner models (as most plus-sized models seem to do).
I especially found it interesting how she addressed losing weight…that she finally felt comfortable about introducing exercise back into her life. It’s kind of shocking because you think, “Oh well, now you’ve stopped being anorexic, so you can do all the things everyone else does!” But the truth is, anorexia is a life-time battle, and things like diet and exercise really have to be carefully introduced and the person has to be aware to not let those things rule their life. That can take years to learn, just as Crystal is demonstrating.
This is so true. I don’t think you ever fully recover. Once someone develops an issue with food I believe they still can have problems for the rest of their life….maybe not to the same extent as before, but they always have to be careful
Yes. It’s Pandora’s Box. Once you go down that path and once you’ve seen that side of food…it’s always with you, even if it’s inactive. It’s a dormant monster.
I love what she’s saying, especially the last part, about models being “just models” and the way women should see other women.
She seems to really know herself, her objectives and the boundaries between the prerrogatives of a human being and the responsibilities of a role model, which she sure is for a lot of girls and I can see why.
But anorexia nervosa isn’t about seeing thin models and wanting to be like them … ? It’s a psylogical disorder that you can’t give to others or be given by certain pictures. The motivation lies somewhere different…. deeply layered in the brain.
Chrystal talks about giving a wrong message to girls suffering from an eating disorder, which I really don’t understand. Yes, maybe it’s a wrong message to send, but more than everything I think it influates healthy girls who does´n’t have an eating disoder and “just” starts to starve themselfes. There’s a difference between starting on a way-to-strict diet to come to look like the models in the magazines, and don’t be able to eat normally because you are suffering from anorexia.
But shouldnn’t Chrystal know this? I mean, afterall she had the ED herself.
(I don’t have, never had, an ED, but I’ve had it close to my life so I think I know something about it. Sorry if I misunderstood everything. Secondly, English is not my first language – I apology for the mistakes there might be in this.)
Hey. I am suffering from an eating disorder for 5 years know. And it didn´t start by seeing skinny models. I think she meant that seeing skinny models/celebrities etc. can support the wrong picture you have from a “perfect body”.
But she is a beautiful girl. And to me she doesn´t look like size 10 either, more like size 6/8.
i agree.
i used to suffer from an eating disorder due to a childhood trauma, and skinny models never really figured in the greater picture, for me. I have to admit that it never helped, though: the media does at least reinforce the issue, and encourages us subliminally to keep dieting.
I guess it’s a mixed bag of all sort of factors, but in the main my own trouble was deeply personal, concerning repressed anger, self control and emotional safety.
I have been more or less free of it for four years now, but the challenges continue. I feel it does get somewhat easier as we age: i have become much kinder to my body, and have learned to listen to is positively to a large extent.
i hope yours becomes manageable too x
You are absolutely right about eating disorders like anorexia not being about being thin like models. That’s the popular version of anorexia you see in the media, but it’s not reality. Eating disorders are often about control..something is wrong in a girl’s life and she cannot do anything to fix it, so she develops an obsession with something she can control…her body. As the original problem gets worse, so does the anorexia.
However, Crystal is also correct that what was done with her image does affect young girls with eating disorders or who are at risk of developing eating disorders.
When you are someone who has developed an eating disorder, the rest of your life is a battle to keep compulsive thoughts at bay, no matter what stage of recovery you are at. It is always there.
The issue with photoshopping Crystal’s image is that it can reverse the recovery process. By making her thinner, it is saying her body is not good enough. For most normal people and normal girls, the reaction they would exhibit is that they may diet for a little while, etc etc. But for women with eating disorders, it creates a lot of anxiety and compulsion. Think of a person with a phobia of spiders coming into contact with spiders. They may again feel like their life is spiraling out of control, and will again feel the need to control it via their weight.
Even if it the photoshop had no effect on any other person in the world, it is still irresponsible because the photographer was most likely aware that Crystal was someone who has had an eating disorder in the past.
her face is very beautiful. When they size 10, do they mean US size 10?
and if so, wouldnt US size 10 be an Australian 18? Cuz if so then i dont think she is a size 10!
US 10 is aussie 14
nah, a us 10 can be anything from an australian 12 (if the brand runs small) to a us 18 if it’s a bit big, “normal” us 10′s seem to be an aus 16.
us seems to have vanity sizing and no industry standards at all. all the size charts are the same but the clothes definitely aren’t
more than obvious that she lost weight.. she looks like a size 6 to me. love her face, hair, eyebrows… girl crushhhhh *-*
It’s hard for me to gauge sizes on taller women. I’m 5’5″ (ok. I lied! I’m 5’4″!) and a size two. I swear, she looks like a size 4. But she’s tall…I mean, that could be 10. She’s so small, though.
I know what you mean – I was recently shocked to learn that a friend who is 6 inches taller than I am was a size 10. When you’re average/slightly below average, the small sizes seem reasonable.
She’s definitely a US size 10. She probably wears a US 7/8, but measures a 10. I’m her exact height and build. people are always telling me that I should model, and I have to respond that I’m not thin enough. I think most people forget about height and how that applies to seeing a person in real life. For instance, straight sized models that are a size 3 and 5’9-5’11 look crazy, crazy, crazy thin in person. Beautiful… I’m not criticizing, but very thin. People are always surprised to learn my size because of my height and proportions.
She looks like a size 10 to me, when I was a size 10 I looked pretty similar (I’m 12 now and slightly curvier–how she was before).
the photos don’t look that different. They show the video and I see no different. She’s wearing a baggy shirt and her legs are together, it’s a thin pose. She’s a very beautiful woman though!
Truly inspiring! Give it up for Crystal
)
It will be hard for her o get jobs if she keep making all that mess and noise because of those pics.
About models being “just models”, it would be great, but still exist the sample size.
True, she may have burned her bridges with one photographer and perhaps one magazine editor, but I hardly think that will make it hard for her to get jobs.
The fact is, the reason she is so famous is because she chose to get loud, to make noise, to complain, and to write a book spreading the message that it’s okay not to be a size 0 or 2.
Frankly, she’s not a famous model because of her modeling — she’s a famous model because of her activism. And while a regular model might have to worry about losing jobs by complaining about her clients, Crystal is being smart. She’s staying true to her message, and she’s making her complaints in a way that gets her lots of positive publicity and gives the people she’s complaining about lots of negative publicity. If anything this is going to get her more jobs.
The fact is, powerful industries can and do change for the better. Yes sample sizes do still exist, but 15 years ago no one would have been interested in a model as big as Crystal Renn and today she’s internationally famous and making appearances on the Today Show. I think that’s evidence enough that the fashion industry has *already* changed, and it will continue to change because of activists like Renn who speak out against the industry’s unrealistic and unhealthy standards.
I am all about more body diversity, but I think it will be easier to happen in magazines and harder on runway, even if they make the sample size bigger, curvy girls use to have different measures, while tall super-thin models are able to wear the same clothes…
Well, if I were a magazine-editor/photog I would be afraid of hiring Crystal and then have to deal with all this negativity if she does not like the angles, photo edition, etc…
I don’t think you can really call a tall size 10 woman ‘plus size’. Also her agent said her hips were 39/40 inches which is more a size 8 and she is even smaller on the top half.
Most size charts are based off a pear shape because most women are pears. Clothing sizes are made to suit women who are slightly smaller on top than they are on the bottom. Being smaller on top doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a size smaller on top.
Size charts usually only cater to slightly pear shaped women, i.e. 2 inches bigger on the hips than the bust. And usually there is no more than an 8-10″ difference between waist and hips measurement.
Crystal’s original stats were listed as 38-30-42 so she’s always been significantly smaller up top to the point where she may need different sizes. As a pear shape myself I know this is the case for me.
My experience has been different. I guess it depends on the brand?
I have a 32″ bust, 25″ waist, 35″ hips. The inch difference differs because I am significantly shorter than Renn, but the ratio between my bust, waist and hips is almost identical to the ratio between Renn’s bust, waist and hips according to those measurements you just gave me. Thus I have the same pear shape as Renn.
I have a hard time finding button downs that fit because they’ll fit my shoulders and waist and be too tight across my chest, gaping unattractively between the buttons, meanwhile the corresponding pant size will fit me just fine. I often find I am not pear shaped enough for conventional sizing.
The last pair of pants I bought were from MaxStudio. Their clothes are usually cut for a 10 inch waist/hip difference, with enough stretch to accommodate an 11-13 inch difference. I find 2% spandex gives 1 to 3 inches extra leeway in the hips depending on how big the pants are to start with. Skirts and dresses are often made of softer, stretchier material, and I’ve found they’ll often have 3 to 5 inches leeway from the printed hip size.
My measurements are similar to yours (32-25-36) but I usually wear a different size top and bottom.
But yeah, skirts and dresses can usually fit a smaller size if they are stretchy or flowing.
She is a beautiful, strong woman.
I never realized how beautiful she is until watching this video. I love her facial features and dark hair. I think her body looks awesome here and she looks to be around a size 8 especially with all the vanity sizing today. I am glad she has not relasped back to her eating disorder. That is a rough recovery road to be on. Good for her!!
I’m disappointing in her. It is not as if the photoshop was completely out of her reach. I’m pretty sure she gets a say in which pictures look fine and which don’t, not to mention if she plays it smart she could start a lawsuit. No one should get away with this kind of bs photoshop. They literally went from ‘fatty’ to ‘skinny’.
i love the dress!
she looks a size 6 but that doesn’t mean she’s not a size 10. she’s beautiful.
a size ten falls differently on a person of her height.
this diagram will show the difference:
http://ecommons2.library.cornell.edu/web_archive/explore.cornell.edu/feature_bodyscanner/img/narrative_sizingresearch/size10s.jpg
she’s also very fit. i have a friend who is her height and is a size 10/12– you would never guess it.
This thread is interesting because it represents part of the problem with the modeling industry. People look at models and judge them as though they are average height. I’m 5’9″, and I’ve always felt insecure because my size fluctuates between a 6-10. My friends and co-workers comment on how thin I am. Random people even tell me that I should model, look like a model, or in rare cases I’ve gotten the comment, “Hey were you on America’s Next Top Model Cycle ?” And I always respond, “No, I’m not thin enough.” People are often shocked. Some women are even offended to hear that the modeling industry calls me “plus-size.” And for a long time, in my head I felt overweight because my size was bigger than my 5’2″-5’6″ friends. In the media, size is emphasized as a means of determining thin and fat but in reality a size 10 on a woman who is 5’9″ is very healthy and even thin. Seeing Crystal here helps me to see how other people view my body. She looks healthy, tone, and well-proportioned. It’s really helpful for me personally to see my own shape and size in the media. Knowing how much this helps me, makes me understand why it is so important for all shapes and sizes to be represented in the media. I hope Crystal’s actions lead to even more healthy body types being represented in the fashion industry.
She’s wearing a really baggy shirt…you can’t really tell the difference.
Recently I read in a magazine that some models actually weight so much more than people realize. I am 5’8 and used to be a size2/4. Now I am a size 8. It is funny to think that I was ever that small or had thought I needed to be that small. I think the media needs tor recognize the girls who are in between plus and straight size. I mean I guess right now I am normal, what do you all think?
Screw society. Let it dick around all it wants, do not allow it to alter you happiness or your life. I adore Crystal Renn for you superb strength ion charactar. I had anorexia nervosa, too. only for a year however. Worst year of my life. After that I gained all the weight I had lost through that in half the time of 6 months. Difference is though, I am a much more happier, “healthier” (talk about eating junk to gain weight.) and self directed individual. I never want to be in the place I was once was. I was all over the bmi in my life time and i am only 16. I was hitting overweight as a preteen and hitting underweight as a 15 year old. Now, after getting a good heads up on recovery and eating disorders and self image in general-i have learned to love myself. But during my time of recovery i did alot of research on people with the same problems as me (weight, eating habits etc.) Crystam Renn was one of them. Hearing her story, individuality and balls to do what SHE wants ad what makes HEr happy really shook me up. SHE (along with a few other people) really were the spark to get me thinking clearly once again. She is an inspiration and really has saved my self esteem and mind. Her and people like Kate Winslet, Monroe and some other plus size models have opened my mind. Thankyou Renn.
Renn mentioned a quote that I would like to type here. I dont remember how it goes, but I know the general idea, and this qoute craked my out of my size 0 shell. Renn quote: “i dont understand todays norm of the size 0, it seems to me that all our society wants today is not a strong woman but smaller and weaker ones without a say.” AMEN.