ALEXANDRA SHULMAN’S NOTEBOOK: Proof at last… Thin models don’t cause anorexia

During my many years as a Vogue editor, the magazine was continually cited as a malign influence on women’s body image. And in particular for stimulating eating disorders.

So I was interested in reading an excellent new book, Good Girls: A Story And Study Of Anorexia, by Hadley Freeman, who suffered from extreme anorexia for decades.

In examining her own experiences and peers, she points out that people don’t “catch” eating disorders from fashion magazines, as it were.

She explains that anorexia, especially eating disorders, is not caused by someone looking at images of bony fashion models. But once gripped by the terrifying, destructive and psychologically demonic state the disease causes, looking at skinny models and celebrities doesn’t help.

In defending fashion images, I’ve always tried to reason that the cause of anorexia isn’t as simple as envying the way a model looks, but that people, in a desperation to emulate them, are willing to starve themselves. The fact is that women’s feelings about their bodies are extremely complex and embedded in each individual’s aspirations and identity.

For example, attitudes toward food, our body’s fuel, are deeply involved in how we feel about ourselves and the world. To see this in play, see how different women react to food.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that women who have a more complicated relationship with food talk about it the most. They seem perfectly rational until you’ve listened to them for a few minutes explaining exactly what they did or didn’t eat, whether they feel full or starving, or how they couldn’t resist having a chocolate ice cream cone. to buy. During a meal, they’ll urge you to take a second or third serving and don’t miss the pudding. In restaurants they order chips flawlessly, but never eat them.

These are generally the thinnest women out there, except they never admit it. In my experience, it’s more the over 35s than young women of model age who behave like this.

Others who may be a more common size 12/14 and are probably a bit on the chubby side (and yes, that includes me) tend not to talk about what we eat. Nor are we interested in what others eat. Admittedly, we are aware of our weight, but the topic ranks relatively low in the pecking order of conversation topics.

The fascinating issue is why, for some women, the subject of food is so dangerous – the drift from the rather dull preoccupation of many of us to a deadly obsession.

Freeman’s book does not answer this question, and asks even more. But as an ex-editor tired of being blamed for causing the problem, I welcome her insights into the minds of those caught up in such a pervasive and vicious disease.

I want a diet app that says wine is good!

Still talking about food, a friend showed me an app he uses to control his blood sugar.

I was interested to know how he felt about it because I thought it might help me avoid afternoon energy slumps.

He explained that it highlighted what he ate as either beneficial or harmful to him, and that they were exactly what you’d expect without having to pay for expensive blood tests and personalized lists.

Bananas, white wheat, sugar, gin – bad. Legumes, green vegetables, coffee and fish – delicious.

How I long for an app that tells me that baguettes, pasta, wine and salted caramel should be my mainstays. Now that would be worth paying for.

Akshata is at the forefront of fashion

In the best dressed bet, Akshata Murty is like the horse you bet on at the Grand National just because you like the name, which then turns out to be a winner. In recent weeks, Rishi Sunak’s wife has come from behind and completely nailed the “Prime Minister’s Women’s Wardrobe,” which is never an easy feat.

She often wears lesser-known mid-range British brands. For the pre-coronation reception at Buckingham Palace, she looked stunning in navy blue broderie anglaise by Self-Portrait, while for the ceremony itself she was one of the best dressed, in the delicate pale blue satin of West Country designer Claire Mischevani.

In the best dressed bet, Akshata Murty is like the horse you bet on at the Grand National just because you like the name, which then turns out to be a winner

Akshata has also been seen in a vibrantly striped wool dress from the collaboration between the popular Jigsaw and Collagerie, and on Sunday for Downing Street’s Big Lunch, she wore high-waisted trousers and a familiar heart-print Boden shirt.

Considering her wealth, she probably likes luxury fashion brands, but wisely they have been left out of her public life and left in her wardrobe for now.

Unfortunately, as a nation, we’re a bit snippy when it comes to looking too flashy. She got that message – there’s less mutton and leather on display these days.

When it comes to her wardrobe choices, she’s definitely in control.

I take gray skies over every lockdown

Many of us lament the lack of pleasant spring weather this year and think back to that extraordinary spring of 2020 when the country went into dramatic lockdown and the sky was endlessly clear blue.

It’s amazing how people regard that time with fond nostalgia. The sun may have been shining, but it only played up the weird and unreal world we were suddenly plunged into, trapped in our homes with a terrifying virus that swept the globe.

I’d rather have some gray skies and my freedom.

Matchmaking with all the drama I need

TV TIP: Netflix’s new Jewish Matchmaking series is extremely addictive. Aided by dating advisor and host Aleeza Ben Shalom, candidates hope to pair up with a dream partner who has perfect eyebrows and blue eyes, combined with a shared level of orthodoxy and a strong sense of family. Ideal viewing experience for anyone who wants to get away from endless police dramas.