
It may be some innocent enjoyable however TikTok’s newest development says greater than it means to. It began when Love Island USA star Olandria shared a video balancing a pair of sun shades throughout her waist, and so they match completely. She tried one other pair by the again of her waist, identical end result. Folks joked, “How many individuals can do that?” and immediately, it grew to become a problem.
@thenewsrib OLANDRIA THIS WAISTTTT 😍 #explore #celebrity #olandria #loveislandusa #loveisland ♬ original sound – 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒𝐑𝐈𝐁
It’s innocent, but it surely’s arduous to overlook what’s actually being celebrated. The issue is, the problem didn’t begin right here. It’s been right here some time and originated from outdated consuming dysfunction circles, the place it was as soon as a “check” of thinness.
That’s what makes it uncomfortable: how shortly the web can flip a dangerous measure of physique measurement into viral content material. Watching it unfold now, it seems like the identical outdated magnificence beliefs are simply discovering new filters and hashtags.
no person’s saying she’s bodychecking, the sun shades factor was once a bodychecking development years in the past & folks additionally did it with headphones i imagine. that’s why folks r confused/upset
— ami (@glindamiu) October 28, 2025
Style’s quiet return to exclusivity
You’ll be able to inform so much concerning the occasions from vogue week runways. Over the previous few years, designers have made an enormous deal about range, together with measurement, race, and gender. However these days, it’s been trying so much much less various.
At Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer season 2026, solely a handful of manufacturers, like Nina Ricci and BOSS, featured plus-size fashions like Ashley Graham. All over the place else, the message was clear: skinny is in once more. Milan Style Week was even worse. Reports said little to no single plus-size fashions appeared on the runway.
It’s such an odd reversal. We went from celebrating inclusion as progress to quietly watching it disappear. After I take into consideration how a lot effort went into pushing for that change, it seems like a betrayal, not simply from vogue however from the tradition that after claimed to care about illustration.
It seems like we’re again to chasing ‘skinny. Scroll by your feed, and it’s arduous to not discover. Influencers are shrinking in a single day, jawlines are sharper, there are buccal fats removing procedures, and the ‘slim stylish’ aesthetic is creeping again. It’s a low-key shift that’s been constructing for some time, and now, it’s inconceivable to disregard. I don’t suppose it’s pushed by nostalgia.
The physique positivity motion that after made everybody really feel seen immediately seems like a distant reminiscence. There was a time you couldn’t scroll for 2 minutes with out seeing a submit that mentioned, ‘All our bodies are good our bodies.’ Now, what we’re seeing seems so much just like the early 2000s over again, and actually, it’s worrying.
The Yr Prescriptions Grew to become Irrelevant
On the centre of this shift is Ozempic. A drug that wasn’t even made for weight reduction. It’s meant for folks with kind 2 diabetes to assist regulate blood sugar and forestall severe issues. However as soon as social media came upon that it additionally curbs urge for food and results in quick weight reduction, it grew to become the brand new magnificence hack for the wealthy and well-known.
I first noticed it trending a couple of years again below hashtags like #Ozempic and #OzempicChallenge. Folks have been exhibiting before-and-after movies with captions like ‘Nothing else labored till now.’ Over 250 million views later, pharmacies have been struggling to maintain it in inventory, and the FDA needed to record it as ‘at the moment in scarcity.’
Influencers are slimmer. Celebrities are dropping sizes. The aspirational look has shifted again to being skinny, managed, and small.
Which does make me marvel, was physique positivity ever actual, or was it simply one other aesthetic part we cycled by like each different vogue period?
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Possibly the issue is that plenty of what we referred to as physique positivity was by no means actual activism. It was branding. One other period of “love your self” campaigns and size-inclusive collections that ended as quickly because the hype did. As soon as inclusivity stopped being worthwhile, the message quietly pale. It’s the identical factor we’ve seen with virtually each motion that after felt revolutionary and ended up as advertising traces.
That’s the half that stings. As a result of for some time, folks lastly noticed themselves on-line with out filters or disgrace. There have been stretch marks and normalcy, till the web determined it needed management once more.
We are able to nonetheless observe creators who present up as they’re, name out manufacturers that glamorise just one physique kind, and do not forget that confidence isn’t a development. The requirements will maintain altering, however how we see ourselves doesn’t must.