"He Don't Eat Nothin' But a Bear Cat Stew"

Jan 07, 2008 @ 1:30pm

Those of you who pay as much attention to print advertisements as we do may have noticed a curious inclusion in this month's Vogue - an ad for Alli, the newest over-the-counter diet pill.

Nevermind that the idea of a diet pill is too disgusting (and cliché) to take seriously. People who've used the "capsules" (isn't that such a harmless sounding word?) have cited some pretty gross side-effects, mainly that users experience loss of their bowels (an "alli-oops," if you will,) after eating too much food.

This kind of reminds us of senior year of high school - when, a few months before prom, everyone suddenly couldn't keep still, a side-effect of the once popular Stacker 2, a pill intended for Type Two Diabetes but reinterpreted by 17-year old girls as the only way to fit into a size 0 Jessica McClintock.

And yet, this ad comes with a magazine intended for adult women, complete with a 2008 calendar, so you can think about your weight every day of the coming year.

Also: does anyone else find it strange that some of the only curvy girls to appear in Vogue are posing for a diet pill?

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 1:58PM

jejeje that is true the only curvy girls in vogue pose for alli. But anyways is there any curvy girl that READS Vogue?

posted by FWD

Jan 07, 2008 2:06PM

This is only tangentially related, but this weekend I was a little horrified to see Fashionista.com sporting a bunch of hot pink ads for a stick-on diet pill patch.

posted by britt

Jan 07, 2008 2:06PM

i'm a pretty curvy size 8, (6 on a good day), and i read vogue religiously, (even if i mock it just as religiously)

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 2:12PM

well that's just the funniest comment i've ever seen on this site! why wouldn't curvy girls READ vogue! give me a break.

posted by queendistructo

Jan 07, 2008 2:13PM

I actually took Xenical when it was prescription only, before it was renamed Alli and sold as OTC. It was horrid- I completely regret taking it. The doctor said I would change my eating habits and he was right; instead of eating protein and veggies and salads like I had been, I started eating nothing because the Xenical made me so ill.

Nothing like oily stool, gas bubbles so big and painful that I could literally move them through my intestines by pushing on my stomach... bloating... oh, and the pain of course.

I assume people wont listen and they'll have to learn themselves, but it's frightening that any reputable magazine would push these pills...

posted by rachael

Jan 07, 2008 2:20PM

I'm curvy and proud of it. And I don't think the fact that I am size 8 should have any relation to my love of vogue and all things fashion.

It's pretty funny that there are people out there who actually believe only skinny people are interested in fashion. What an ignorant comment. I believe that only intelligent people should be allowed to post comments on the internet...maybe in a perfect world.

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 2:38PM

Curvy is a stupid word. Yall are using it to describe size 8s and the women in the ads who are obviously not size 8s.

posted by Nikki

Jan 07, 2008 2:57PM

One day curvy girls will be able to drive, vote and read just like skinny girls can.

I have a dream.

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 2:58PM

I am larger than a size 8 (gasp!) and I read vogue and I don't take offense to the word curvy (I have been called horrible things in the past). I do, however want to lose weight for myself and my health. I would be so scared to take Alli and get all of those crazy side effects. It just doesnt seem worth it to me. If I cant lose the weight by diet and exercise then I have a real problem.

As for Vogue featuring the Alli 2008 calendar...it seems a little cheesy. They should make a calendar like French Vogue does, I would totally hang that on my wall!

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 3:00PM

I didnt know a size 8 was curvy. I thought it was ya know, average/normal....

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 3:15PM

no diet pills.....i'll stick to my adderall.

posted by studioQ

Jan 07, 2008 3:40PM

I've read Vogue, Harper's,Elle, etc. religiously since before high school and have been curvy plus (since 8 is curvy now) the whole time and just adapted what I liked to what I could fit.

Now I'm getting in pretty good shape for both health and fashion, but Alli was never an option, just for the so called "treatment effects" alone. And who needs a calender to remind them how much they don't look like the models in Vogue.

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 4:02PM

haha right on about the high school stackers obsession, they were my candy. Thank god i'm not that stupid anymore

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 4:38PM

It is not only strange that the only curvy girls in vogue are in these bullshit adds, it's awful and disappointing and speaks volumes about the society we live in. I would love love love to see women of all shapes and sizes wearing high fashion on the glossy pages of Vogue (and not just in the "Shape Issue"). I used to read Vogue religiously, but after a summer without, I realized I felt better about myself. I was tired of looking at only airbrushed broomsticks and feeling like I didn't and would never measure up.

I can't kick fashion from my life, that's for sure. I'm just pretty unhappy about the images women, and young girls especially, are constantly bombarded with. Don't forget it is a mostly-male-run industry...

Anyone read Inga Muscio's "Cunt"? This book changed my life.

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 4:57PM

because thats where THOSE type of wannabe models belong: diet pill ads. you plus size girls (size 8+) should really be thankful vogue even commits to a size issue each year! so count your blessings (and your calories)

also, why read vogue if you cant fit anything? i'm sure there are some nice cookbooks in that 'womens interest' section in the periodicals.

happy new year!

posted by astralgirl02

Jan 07, 2008 5:10PM

Oh 4:57pm guest, how precious you are!

If you're going to make a go at being vindictive and snarky, it's OH SO BRAVE to do it anonymously.

LOSER.

Moving on to something more important....

I'm actually surprised Anna let that ad into her book... I mean, size 8 is probably gigantic for most Conde Nasties, but actually featuring a woman with a "plus sized" body in the pages of Vogue (and it's not an "artsy" editorial from someone like Gaultier or Marc) is somewhat revolutionary.

But it kind of rubs me the wrong way that a pill that could be used to facilitate an eating disorder or body dysmorphism disease is being featured in a fashion magazine. Smacks of poor judgement or insane advertising dollars... I vote for the latter.

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 5:16PM

ew. that (guest 4:57) has to be one of the most imbecelic comments i've ever read on here. good luck going anywhere in the fashion industry, where personality and social skills matter just as much as being sample size, honey!

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 6:07PM

Size 8 is not a plus size.

Personally, I dislike the word curvy because it's misleading. You can be a size 22 and have little definition to your body. I'm a size 4, but petite stores seem to not think someone my size has any curve, aka hips and breasts.

This pill makes me sad. It sounds like a doctor-supported unhealthy habit.

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 6:41PM

All I have to say is "Crystal Renn" to those who swear Vogue is their fashion bible.

Or even Jennifer Hudson.

And also, to those who criticize Vogue for conforming to fashion's 'standards', you are the ones who are truly envious and influenced by the glossy models on the pages. You're probably the person who struggles to be that thin, and thus associates it with 'bad' but then again points out ones fatter ('curvier' i guess is now more politically correct nowadays) than them.

And also! Vogue is a fashion magazine, isn't the point of it to spread the latest in high fashion so those not on the 'inside' can mold their wardrobes and lifestyles towards that seasonally new ideal?

Post script- the answer is yes.

posted by williamwallace

Jan 07, 2008 6:43PM

these are easily the most interesting comments I've ever seen on a post. Anyway, I take Alli currently and I have seen a lot of progress.

posted by Rose Tyler

Jan 07, 2008 6:52PM

Question. Where in the above post does it state that only skinny girls read Vogue? I see where it says that only skinny girls are in the magazine. Maybe I missed something or maybe everyone likes to get huffy.

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 6:56PM

size 8 is not plus size. many high end brands make clothes in size 8. so why shouldn't we read vogue? also, size does not affect taste!

posted by Rose

Jan 07, 2008 7:37PM

bigtime LOL to the first comment and of course the classic guest 4:57...those should be immortalized in some sort of hall of ridiculousness

posted by guest

Jan 07, 2008 8:09PM

I have been reading vogue forever, and I have been more than a size 8 forever. I think because I read vogue, and fashionista and loads of other fashion publications and pay close attention to clothes, most people would guess that I wear a size 8, because I know how to dress my body. I can't believe that someone was so small minded to think that fashion is only for skinny people.

posted by orlibeth

Jan 07, 2008 11:16PM

um, weren't you at the NY shows last february where they gave diet pills in the swag bag?

posted by guest

Jan 08, 2008 12:16AM

What I find hilarious is that Vogue often includes articles about very unhealthy, albeit delicious food (like any number of Jeffrey Steingartens' pieces). Talk about your mixed messages. Or maybe it's so their skinny readers can live vicariously through others' eating...

posted by guest

Jan 08, 2008 10:08AM

I would just like to point out that this discussion all depends on what you mean by a size 8. If you are 5'8'' or over, and you are talking about say Calvin Klein Collection or some other high-end brand with true American sizing, it is not very big. I am tall and up to a 6 in very high end brands (especially if you convert Italian sizing!!) and wear a 2 or an xs at Banana Republic or such places (which is in itself ridiculous because what the hell do you wear if you are 5'2''???). A size 8 Gap is curvy. A size 8 Zac Posen is not.

posted by guest

Jan 08, 2008 10:33AM

People who partake in compulsive dieting are stressing their thyroid, endocrine and reproductive systems, ruining their hair and skin, and putting themselves in danger of osteoperosis. Get yourself together and get realistic about your health, skeletons are dead.

As for snobby comments I think 4:57 was trying to be sarcastic and failing due to lack of wit? ( maybe she needs a snack, poor thing)

Personally, I am built like Scarlett Johanssen, who is definitely at least an 8, ( and who was on the cover of Vogue recently in the " size " issue ahem) . I look at Vogue for inspiration because I wouldn't spend the money on those clothes, but I never blame myself for not being a reed, Im just not built that way. I love having an hourglass figure and wouldn't trade it for the world. Even through my big chest, broad shoulders and narrow hips don't fit many current clothing cuts, I know my body is strong and beautiful and I love it, how many of you starvers can say the same?

posted by Becca

Jan 13, 2008 10:44PM

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the Alli calendar was a bit off the mark. I'd have expected it in Cosmo or Allure, not Vogue.

posted by guest

Jan 15, 2008 12:58PM

I didn't have a calendar in my Vogue--maybe subscribers didn't get this but newstands did?

Also, size 8 is slim, especially if you are tall and whether it is slim or not, size has nothing to do with style or the pleasure one gets from reading Vogue.

I found the inclusion of the Alli ad more offensive because I believe these kinds of pills are dangerous and because they really capitalize on people's insecurities.