From personal experience, I am putting an end to the myth that size and curves are in any way related. I am curvier than most women I know of any size, and I am 110 pounds and a size 2. Not exactly "rubenesque."

Nevertheless, part of me does cringe a little when described that way, because I can no longer tell if it's being used as a euphemism for overweight, or when it is used to mean what it really is: a generous difference between bust-waist-hips (or just bust and waist, or just waist and hips). A person can have curvy legs too--as this woman seems to have. I agree with Aida, and others, that larger women do not own the term and shouldn't get so rile up when smaller women use it. And vice versa. If you're curvy, you're curvy. It doesn't matter what size you are. I was curvy when I was a size 0. In fact, I was even curvier on the bottom than I am now, because I had a more sizable difference between my hips and waist.

That said, I did not find what he wrote offensive. It doesn't seem like he was calling her fat at all.

Maya, I totally agree with you on your definition of curvy.

I do think the description of her legs as "sturdy BUT beautiful" was ill-phrased. Why not just "sturdy, beautiful legs"? Or just "beautiful legs"? Or even just "legs"? After all, his photos should speak for themselves to an extent.

On a related note, is the word "petite" similarly ambiguous? Does it refer merely to height or to all-over proportions? I think it has come to mean height and inseam rather than bones and flesh, but I could be wrong.

AG, interesting question about petite, because I wonder this as well. A lot of people will call me petite, and I always want to correct them by saying "no, I'm just short." I'm not small-boned and I don't have delicate limbs, my frame is not tiny. But I am quite short.

Good point Una! In the US, petite means short. In Europe, petite means dainty and small framed. It gets very confusing.

What Angie says is true.

When I was in France, I was always "très, très petite." I didn't get it at first. I am short but not THAT short. Then I understood that it was because I am so small boned in addition to being short.

My mom, though shorter than me, would not be described this way, because she is much larger than me.

In the US I am still petite, because of my height.

I am not bothered by "sturdy" as the descriptor. It's the "but" that implies "despite" and therefore implies that this would ordinarily be a negative thing.

I haven't read all of the comments here, but I can tell its a hot topic. I am not offended by the way he describes the woman. He is basically saying that in comparison to the other bloggers in the media that she is bigger and curvier - that's all. And I'm sure she is. I don't read anything more into it than that. And to be honest with you - when I look at those 2 pics, the first thing I notice is her shapely, curvy legs and how large the shoes are that she is wearing - and I think, "wow, she is a big girl!" And, I don't mean anything negative about that - it just seems like a fact to me.

Also, to Una's point about his phrase "sturdy,but beautiful" legs - I can't speak to what he was trying to say there, but I do know that her legs look sturdy to me - strong and powerful - as well as beautiful. But some people may interpret sturdy as meaning stout or husky - so . . . . Ok, I just lost my train of thought!

As to the word "petite" - that gets me going more than the word "curvy." I am often referred to as being petite - and I'm not - I almost 5'5" - but I'm thin, so people sometimes describe me as petite.

You know, its all relative to your own body image - I'm on the thin side, but think of myself as being "average." So, anyone who is bigger than me, I usually think of them as being "big." But, I don't think of that as a bad thing.

Ok - I think I should shut-up.

Petite being used for height and not frame needs to be more widespread if it's going to always be used as such for clothing proportions. This past weekend I told my mother-in-law to get a pair of petite jeans at LOFT and she insisted that she wasn't petite; she's 4'10" MAYBE but bigger, and even though she said she believed me that it had to do with height and not weight I've a feeling she's skeptical

Wow, this is a hot topic. So many carefully thought out and well-phrased comments. I agree with a lot of them. I'll add mine: the same word can have more than one meaning. Why does "curvy" have to mean one thing or the other? You just need context to understand it. When you call a girl curvy, and she looks like that one does, you understand it to be a synonym for "shapely," as in Bridget Bardot. You can also use it as a euphemism for fat. What IS too bad is that the word "fat" has become such a pejorative word that it needs euphemisms at all. I've got an absolutely beautiful friend who could certainly also be described as fat (only you never would because it's such an insult!). Fat girls can be beautiful too, and not necessarily IN SPITE of being fat; sometimes it's part of their appeal.

I'm not sure that I explained myself very well here. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if being fat was more acceptable, then the word "fat" would not be insult, and "curvy" would not need to have a double meaning. It's too bad people get so hung up on relative fatness and thinness.

I agree with Alaskagirl and Maya... the "but" ("sturdy but beautiful") is very indicative of his thinking, and evidence of his patronizing attitude. I've seen lots of photos of stick-thin legs on the Sart's blog but he never comments on them. But as others have said upthread that it's not the "normal" of his environment, so at least he's expanding his worldview a little.

I get called "curvy" a lot lately (usually by well-meaning people) and I find it annoying as all-heck. I'm not curvy right now -- I'm 60 pounds heavier than I used to be, definitely overweight -- and I think my body is more of a blob now than ever before. I am a pretty happy person but I'm not happy about the change in my body (health issues and medications), and I find calling me curvy now condescending. I considered myself curvy before when I had a waist and shape. I used to get called "petite" sometimes before -- but not US "petite" (I'm 5'6") since I have a small frame. That's when I learned the difference between North American and European definitions of the word. It's funny how positive words (in my opinion) such as "curvy", "petite" and "sturdy" can have such negative emotional connotations for some.

As others have said, it's the definition of the word "curvy" that is at issue. In general society and media (not here) the word has become a euphemism for fat. A phrase that marketers use that bothers me is "real women" when they are talking about plus
sized women. It implies that a size 6 isn't a real woman.

Una's ( and Angie's ) observations are right on. I used to be 5'6" ( I've shrunk a little ) and was a size 2 for most of my life. Yet when I visited family in the Azores, they thought I was Amazon woman because most people in the village were very short. Then I would come back to Boston and feel fine.

I find that the way the woman has her trench cinched makes her look curvy. Just...curvy. I didn't notice her weight or her height or her breasts...

After Angie blogged about femininity I did a little "research" on it and it is amazing how different cultures define it so radically different. Again, back to my little village in the Azores : because I was so skinny, I was not considered feminine at all. People were always trying to feed me. Interestingly, there was a time in China, when it was considered "feminine" to have small, deformed feet. Wow !

Ok-- I'll chime in. I a 5'8"--- taller than the average American woman by 4-5 inches, but not tall enough to be truly "tall" in my mind because in today's world there are so many women that are between 5'10" and 6'1". Yet, I have to wear tall sizes in jeans and often in tops as well. In the community I grew up in I was one of the tallest women and the height of many of the young men. Similarly, I work in what might be defined as ethnic enclave and I'm taller than most of the women by 4-8 inches and am within a few inches in height from most the men. I have received "size-related" hostility from women that are 5'10" because I classified myself as tall.

I am also curvy-- I have a 14" difference between my hips and waist and wear a large bra size. I have a completely normal bmi and am not chubby. I have broad shoulders and I am STURDY. In fact-- I look a lot like the lady in the Sart's photos (of course, I am not a giant-- but if we shrunk her we would look alike). I think that it is great that he chose to celebrate a perfectly healthy woman that is a different body type and size that we normally see in the industry-- which now, in my opinion also includes bloggers that are more than casual hobbyists. It is really common to see women who are 5'10-6'0" but very petite in their features or very very thin. This woman is proportional for her height! That is all there is to it.

Why is this chick such an anomoly?? I've seen tall women with curvier legs without the extreme and calf sculpting heels.

I truly don't see anything offensive in his post.

To me, he was pointing out, very specifically, that she was "bigger, curvier" than most of the other fashion bloggers. That's all. Just a simple true statement.

How great that he featured someone other than the usual model-thin fashionista. How unfortunate he's being called out for it.

I think I need another cup of caffeine before I tackle this post. I used to have 'skinny curves' and now I'm a slightly larger rectangle. It would take quite a lot for a comment about my size to annoy me because I accept who and what I am including the flaws.

I personally did not feel offended by Sarts use of words but I understand there is so much underlying emotion with regards to women and their body shapes it is best to stay clear of ambiguous words. The lady in Milan is both stylish and beautiful. I would love to read what she thinks of the storm surrounding the blog post.

She did respond saying that his comments didn't bother her at all. She did also state that her English is not very good so may not understand some of the nuances.

For me what bothered me most was, as others pointed out, the "but". No comment needed to have been made about her size - she's gorgeous. Does she have curves? You bet! For me it was the tone that irked. And the use of the word "sturdy", which while not insulting in and of itself I found silly relative to how most women look.

I also commented that other folks were calling her "normal" which I feel is unfair to naturally very thin women, as if they were abnormal. They're normal, just not average.

I had to jump back in with a few more points :). First off, Mr. Schuman is a *street* photographer, not strictly a fashion photographer. So it's not accurate to say that all he's used to seeing are super-skinny women. Aren't there lots of different body types walking around in NYC and the other cities he finds himself in? Second, I am appalled at his double standard. He never comments on the body types of the men he photographs, that I can recall. He seems to accept men in all of their rich diversity, even celebrates that diversity. With women, however, it's a very different story. Somehow women's bodies are for him to weigh in on, and some are "better" or more aesthetically pleasing than others. His comments are essentially about him offering a tutorial on how "unfortunately sturdy" women can best dress to minimize their lack of aesthetic perfection. Third, it's not accurate to say that all fashion bloggers are skinny, so the woman in question naturally stands out. Admittedly I am not familiar with every single fashion blogger, but I have certainly seen some diversity in terms of body size.

He's just a sexist, patronizing man, bottom line, IMO.

Even at 118 lbs and a size 7 I was a busty and hippy girl. CURVY. HOURGLASSY. Always thought I was fat, so I became anorexic for 6 years. Guess what? I was still CURVY. I hated it and couldn't escape my shape, it wasn't the shape I saw in all the magazines! Guys liked me, girls called me fat. Go figure. Face it, women have problems with other women (beginning in Jr. high) and it's sad. I'm no longer that 118 lb girl, but I'm still CURVY, even with extra LB's. Just my 2 cents.