Scrutiny | Claudia Schiffer 'Gaunt' to Brits, Perfect to French

Two views of Claudia Schiffer

England

The Daily Mail found Claudia Schiffer to look ‘gaunt’ in a sheer lace Dolce & Gabbana dress at the premiere of ‘This Must Be the Place’ in Cannes. Perpetual body watchers — down to the veins in Madonna’s hands — the DM writes that the dress showed off Claudia’s ‘razorsharp collarbone and shoulderblades’.

Schiifer says the weight just falls off her when she is breastfeeding.

The (real) supermodel did look curvier at a fashion even in London in September 2010. In the white dress (right) we see Claudia in her more lush shape as a top model in the Nineties.

These images underscore the visible differences in ‘ideal beauty’ in our post supermodel world, where ideal women are often described as coat racks.

France

The French see Claudia differently, however. There is no right or wrong view, just a clear difference in perceived view of beauty.

La Parisienne writes: Claudia Schiffer est apparue très élégante dans les rues de Londres la semaine dernière. A 40 ans, l’ancien top-modèle qui a marqué les années 90, au côté de Naomi Campbell ou encre Cindy Crawford dévoile ses formes dans un jean slim … 

Cette mère de trois enfants nous avait fait un peu peur cet hiver en s’affichant dans des tenues amples qui frôlaient la ringardise. Après avoir donné naissance à sa petite dernière Cosima Violet en mai dernier, la belle Allemande a retrouvé sa ligne et ne se cache plus derrière ses larges tuniques.

A la sortie de l’école, en cette belle journée de printemps, Claudia est au top de sa forme. Son pull à torsades et son jean slim lui donne une allure de jeune fille en fleur.

Claudia looks amazing for this French writer, in top form in her super slim jeans. No hiding behind oversized tunics for this mother of three.

There you have it — national cultural differences on beauty and body image — same woman, images taken within days of each other.  Very different reactions to her body weight.

Claudia Schiffer was interviewed five years ago for Germany’s Bunte magazine, saying that when she began modeling ‘I was one of the fattest’.

‘Fashion looks good on thin models, but when you look at today’s models you cannot help but think there’s something wrong… . They are way too thin. It is only bones that stick out. Models have always been thin, but today, there are a lot thinner, which is unbelievable.’ Anne