Spain is the first nation that I know of which has banned too skinny models appearing on runways. As it turns out, Pasarela Cibeles, one of the most visited Spanish fashion shows (starting 18th Sep) will have to do without over 30 per cent of the models that were already scheduled to do this gig.

Yahoo News report:

"Madrid's regional government, which is co-financing the Pasarela Cibeles, has vetoed around a third of the models who took part in last year's show because they weigh too little.
The authorities collaborated with a Spanish health organisation to come up with a minimum body mass -- a height-weight ratio -- of 18 for the models."

Some time ago, on a Barcelona wedding dress exhibition, models had to be at least size 8 to be allowed to do their job. Seems Spanish are serious about preventing the 'heroin chic' to be chic.

This is good news for all of us who suddenly feel fat and oversized when watching catwalks or browsing through glossy magazines. Although I am against any kind of discrimination, it's high time to look the truth in the eye and clearly say that model looks are achievable for only 1% of the nation.

Models shouldn't be forced to starve themselves to get jobs, and we shouldn't be pushed to be ashamed for asking for a designer outfit in size 10, 12, 14 or whatever. Write to your congressperson and ask this precedent to be brought to the US too.