Is Candice Swanepoel Too Thin To Model Swimsuits? Let’s Discuss.

When Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel showed up for a photo opp in Los Angeles in a bikini last week, she appeared to have dropped some weight since her last public appearance, causing critics to call her “scary skinny” and say she’s too thin for the job of swimsuit model.

Here’s Candice, center, alongside fellow Victoria’s Secret angels Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima. A couple of months ago, she appeared on the cover of the VS swim issue and didn’t cause much of a stir (hotness factor aside), but the above photo prompted the New York Daily News to write, “There’s sexy skinny and then there’s scary skinny. Model Candice Swanepoel looked more like the latter Wednesday when she made an appearance to promote the new Victoria’s Secret line of swimwear at the collection’s launch event in West Hollywood. Swanepoel’s itty-bitty bikini only highlighted her stick-figure legs and bony arms. The 22-year-old South African’s waist was also shockingly thin.” HollywoodLife.com ran the headline, “Victoria’s Secret Model Candice Swanepoel Emaciated: Is Her Shocking Weight Loss Too Drastic?” and CBS News called her “startlingly thin.”

Some even speculated that the weight loss could cause her to lose her contract, because she no longer represented the curvy, healthy ideal that Victoria’s Secret promotes: “Like all Angels, Swanepoel, 22, is expected to be ‘healthy and muscular,’ according to her Victoria’s Secret contract, says our source,” MSNBC reported. “‘There is a really clear criteria for both Angels and the catalogue. Their career path is Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue then to Angel, it’s the highest paying contract there is, period. The image is about being voluptuous, it’s not fat, but it’s curvy,’ says the insider.” According to a response by the company, Candice’s contract is not in jeopardy–VS President & CMO Ed Razek said, “This is absolutely not true. Candice is one of our most important models”–and the model responded to the buzz on Friday afternoon.

“I am healthy and happy,” she told People magazine. “I’m heartened to know how much everyone cares about me, but in this case, everything is normal and good.” In the past she’s mentioned that a busy work schedule and too much travel have been responsible for her weight loss.

So…let’s get talking, ladies. Is this much too much buzz over one woman’s size, or is all of the talk warranted? Do you think Candice is, in fact, looking too skinny to model for VS? Should swimwear models have a different set of standards to live up to than runway models? What do you think of her response? Discuss!

PLUS…

• Hervé Léger says models today are “too skinny, too sad”

• Are you more likely to buy something if the model looks like you? One study says yes!

• Crystal Renn on the burden of a plus size label: “I couldn’t possibly live up to that”

Take Our Survey and You Could Win an iTunes Gift Card!

Hey Glamour fans, we need your advice. We want to know what’s important to you when it comes to Glamour and all things digital—what do you like most? What do you want to see more of? How and where do you want to read all that fun stuff? Please TAKE OUR SURVEY. As a special thank-you for sharing, you will be entered to win one of 45 iTunes gift cards for taking the survey! See RULES for details.

Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Want even more STF? Follow us on Twitter!

Latest Tweets!

Follow us on Twitter!