I was told I ‘wasn’t skinny enough to book’ modeling gig
A New York City-based model shocked TikTok when she said she was told she wasn’t thin enough to book a gig, despite having a petite hourglass frame.
Rebeca Fomich — a 19-year-old who stands at 5’9″ and has a 22-inch waist, according to her modeling agency — made the claim on TikTok, which was met with dismay.
“When a photographer told me I wasn’t skinny enough to book YSL [Yves St. Laurent],” the Brooklyn-based model wrote in a clip viewed nearly 132,000 times. “So many photographers are lovely and respectful but others are RUTHLESS like sir just stfu and take the photo.”
“Ur skinny enough,” commented one person, accompanied by crying emojis. “Sometimes they just want certain body types legit so stupid and they have no diversity whatsoever.”
“WHAT — how u literally have my dream body girl,” complimented one of her 84,000 TikTok followers.
“NOT SKINNY ENOUGH???????? Wtf,” wrote another shocked viewer.
The Post has reached out to Fomich for comment.
However, Fomich said she finds it hard to call herself “skinny” and has to defend herself against claims she manipulates her images to look extra thin.
“Y’all say I edit my body, and I don’t know how to show you I don’t,” wrote Fomich in exasperation, after one snarky user posted, “Babe, I can see the editing,” in response to one of her clips.
The influencer says she regularly confronts users who accuse her body of being fake or saying there’s a “glitch” in videos showing her slim figure.
Editing isn’t the only controversy for Fomich. Her original video — in which she is seen eating what looks like oatmeal — prompted criticism and memes alike, while other users made their own clips mocking her.
She was also hit with accusations of “body checking” after posting an odd clip of herself standing in her living room and eating in a crop top — with her flat stomach on full display. Body checking is the harmful habit of obsessively checking one’s weight, body shape and appearance, which can lead to eating disorders, according to Healthline. Fomich has vehemently denied the claims.
“Can we stop referring to ‘skinny’ people doing normal things as ‘body checking,’” she wrote on the video with 3.4 million views. “Also can we stop referring to those perceived as skinnier, as ‘ed inspo’?” she wrote below in the caption, using a slang term for “eating disorder inspiration.”
Fomich also caught heat for saying she’s only “perceived” as skinny.
“People perceive you as skinny because you’re skinny,” a TikToker named @fatfabfeminist said in response to Fomich’s video. “This is not disputable. You are skinny.”
Fomich attempted to defend her statements, saying it’s “really difficult” for her to call herself “skinny.”
“Your own personal issues with your body do not change the way that people perceive you,” the model said. “Even if you don’t ‘feel skinny,’ the way that you move throughout the world is in a thin body.”
Despite the critics, Fomich is growing a fanbase on TikTok, with some fans asking for her workout routine, declaring her body is “goals.”
“I would DIE to look like this,” gushed one user.
Touting ultra-thin frames in the modeling world has been a tradition widely criticized over the years.
In 2017, France passed a law requiring medical certificates proving models’ health before working. At the time, two giants of the fashion world, LVMH and Kering, agreed to incorporate the guidelines in their own brands.
But even today, that stereotype — that models follow extreme diets and strenuous workout plans to stay scarily thin — is slowly unraveling.
“Now the industry is about body positivity and acceptance,” said Craig Lawrence, director at Ford Models, earlier this year, in reference to Sports Illustrated covers. “Look at the four people they put on the SI cover: [influencer] Kim Kardashian, a 70-something Maye Musk, Ciara, a singer, and Yumi Nu, who is an Asian curve model. SI pushed the envelope and has gone places before it was [popular]. Now, of course, people are on the bandwagon.”
Even supermodel Gisele Bündchen admitted how damaging her early modeling days were in an exclusive with British Vogue.
“From the outside, it looked like I had everything and I was just 22 years old,” Bündchen said. “On the inside, I felt as if I’d hit rock bottom. I was starting my day with a mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream and three cigarettes, then drinking a bottle of wine every night. Imagine what that was doing to my mind.”
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