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Women's Article

We are Fashioned by God:
Designer Originals
by Tonya Ruiz

Whenever I see a movie with Meg Ryan in it, I always want to look like HER.

I told my husband, “I want to bleach my hair bright blond so I’ll look like Meg.” He looked at me, shook his head and said, “Honey, it doesn’t look like she even BRUSHES her hair.”

Do I like my cellulite? NO! Do I hate the three-way mirrors and fluorescent lights in dressing rooms? Do I cringe when I have to buy the next larger size in clothes because mine are too tight? YES!

I struggle with desiring to look better. Like you, I put on my Control Top pantyhose one leg at a time. I know the truth of the fashion industry, and I still compare myself to the celebrities and models on the magazine covers.

When we compare ourselves to a magazine cover, we will always feel INADEQUATE—an ordinary person cannot compete.

The fashion industry is lying to us and setting a standard that we CANNOT meet. The average woman does NOT look like a model and does NOT have the same advantages.

Look at a magazine cover. Do you realize it took three to four months to complete?

First, the photographer and his assistants spent hours setting up the studio and working on perfect lighting. The model looked good to start with. Perhaps she had plastic surgery. Maybe she spends four hours a day at the gym.

Next, she has an artist with a make-up kit spend hours painting her face and accentuating every feature.

The hairdresser brushes, teases, and curls the model’s hair into the latest style—making sure every strand of hair is in place.

The fashion stylist takes over and does everything she can to make the model look perfect in the outfit. She uses tape to lift the breasts and provides undergarments to mold and enhance the model’s figure. Then the clothes are clamped up, pinned in, tied back, and sometimes even duct taped from behind so that they fit perfectly.

The picture-perfect model finally stands before the camera, and the photographer shoots several rolls of film to ensure that he has the right shot.

The photographs are checked for flaws, fed into a computer and electronically retouched from top to bottom. Airbrushing is used to soften lines, shadows, skin tones, and erase wrinkles. Inches can be removed from thighs, arms, and waist. They do not stop until the picture is perfect. Voilà! The illusion is complete.

The Body Shop—an international store—created a campaign aimed “to motivate our customers to buy our products by making them feel good about themselves, rather than by promoting some unattainable ideal!” Ruby, their “Ruben-esque” poster girl, was a plastic doll that resembled Barbie—after a six week Häagen Dazs binge. The message read, “There are three billion women who don’t look like supermodels, and only eight who do.”

In the July 2001 edition of Reader’s Digest: Supermodel Cindy Crawford says that in real life, without makeup and lights, “…even I don’t look like Cindy Crawford.”

God made one Meg Ryan, one me, and one you. God is the master designer. God made us the way we are and God does not make mistakes. The book of Genesis says that God created mankind in His image. We—you and I—are made in the image and likeness of God. We are His handiwork, and He thinks we are beautiful! We are fashioned by God—designer originals.

Tonya Ruiz Tonya and her husband reside in Southern California with their four children. She is an author, actress, and speaker.

Visit Tonya on the web at www.tonyasquest.com