That’s right, folks. Don’t pretend to be shocked: some of you may have already been aware that the “standard of beauty” gracing 99% of high-fashion runways are a little bit, well, perplexing. If high fashion defined by the way we all thought of beauty, some weird things would happen. Beauty would look like this:

1) Being 19 years old.

19 year olds are not the only really adults, are they? The average age of a woman at her first marriage is 26. In 1890, this age was 22– so perhaps the fashion industry is just reminiscing about a time before television, equal voting rights, and the end of the frontier era.

2) Having a BMI below 18.

This is the most confusing concept of all. In order to reproduce, a woman can’t be too far under her ideal bodyweight. So why is it attractive– to men or to women– to be ultra-thin?

Well, all of these and more questions have finally been answered: The Guardian has an amazing summary of a few models who are breaking stereotypes: Charlotte Free, Andrej Pejic, Jourdan Dunn, Tara Lynn, and our favorite, Daphne Selfe, 83.

[via the Guardian]