and we thought size zero was bad....

Dunno how many of you read the Times or if this has been linked yet, but remember that whole thing about ultra-skinny models, and the magazines saying it's the designers and the designers saying it's the magazines?

It's the designers. Alexandra Shulman, UK editor of Vogue recently sent a letter to designers, telling them to stop sending such bloody small sample sizes, since they're having extreme difficulty trying to find models that're really underweight who'll fit those clothes made for apparent stick insects with no hips or breasts. They're having to photoshop the resulting pictures to make the models appear like they have *some* flesh on them. (it's worth reading all four links to get the varying bits - sadly, online doesn't have the comparison of original photo of catwalk vs. tweaked for magazine the print version did. You think the models in magazines look stupidly skinny. nothign compared to the famine victims on the catwalk.) Sure, the clothes that appear in the shops several months down the line from the debut come in (shock! horror!) size 12 and so on, but the stuff that goes down the catwalk and in the magazines is the sample collection.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article6489368.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/janice_turner/article6488926.ece
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article6489243.ece
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article6489027.ece

Sadly, one of these articles points out that we're not going to get any result until someone of real major influence like Anna Wintour takes up the banner - and she's notorious for loving skinny, to the point that she looks unhealthy in real life.

ordering fail

oh, that was special

my mouse is acting up. I need a new one. Due to some extremely stupid bad posture a couple of years ago, I screwed up tendons in my shoulder and hand to the point that I can't use a normal mouse (buttons operated with first two fingers) at work for more than five minutes without being in pain. I need a trackball that gets with big ball in middle, buttons operated by thumb and little finger, which everyone refers to as my Star Trek mouse. (usual trackball mice, you still have to operate with first two fingers)

So, request a new one. They ask me for the type and model number. I hunt it down, manager sends in request. Today, package. Open it, and... it's the bog standard trackball mouse. They clearly read 'trackball' and couldn't be arsed to read any further even though they'd specifically requested model number and type. Best bit, though? I did a google on the mouse they'd sent me. On amazon, it's £32.99. The price off the website for the mouse I want is £19.99. £14.99 on amazon. :headdesk: