The piece reportedly explores the theory that cleavage may be going out of style â a topic that inspired the author after she noticed the lack of âpertinently pushed-up breasts everywhere from the runway to the red carpet.â
âWhatever happened to the cleavage?â the magazine quotes Baird-Murray as asking, pointing to the prominence of high necklines and pussy bows. âThe tits will not be out for the lads. Or for anyone else, for that matter.â
But the question Vogue offers to its readers â âIs the cleavage over?â â seems to forget that cleavage refers to body parts and not a fashion trend that comes and goes. Not all women are able to make their cleavage magically disappear just because a magazine declares it out of style.
The question sparked some backlash, forcing readers to reckon with the anatomy of their own bosoms and why itâs being discussed as a trend.
While many critics blasted Vogue for critiquing womenâs bodies, the articleâs author took to Twitter to defend her piece. Baird-Murray argued that the article, which hadnât yet been published, focused on fashion designersâ choices and not breast size.
âJust to be clear: [British Vogue] cleavage story is not about breast size, large or small, being âinâ or âout,ââ Baird-Murray explained, urging critics to read the whole story.
Baird-Murray didnât immediately respond to HuffPostâs inquiry.
The article may well focus on fashion designers, but asking readers to vote on whether a body part is âoverâ forces people to look at large breasts and label them as hot or not.
The poll is especially problematic in an industry known to exclude plus-size women from its runways, advertisements and clothing collections.
âThere are 100 million plus-size women in America, and, for the past three years, they have increased their spending on clothes faster than their straight-size counterparts,â Tim Gunn wrote for The Washington Post in September. âBut many designers â dripping with disdain, lacking imagination or simply too cowardly to take a risk â still refuse to make clothes for them.â
But it seems that British Vogueâs followers saw right through the magazineâs cleavage poll. As of Wednesday evening, the âCleavage is overâ option only had 10 percent of votes, while âIf you have it, flaunt it,â was winning with 68 percent of 27,385 votes.
So if anyone in the fashion industry is still wondering if the cleavage is over, you have your answer: Nope. But it shouldnât matter anyway.