Reflections of Worth: Seeing Beyond the Surface of Fashion

 

In today’s hyper-connected world, women are constantly surrounded by media messages telling them how they should look. From glossy magazine covers to perfectly filtered Instagram posts, the female body is often portrayed through a narrow, idealized lens. But what happens when women begin to see themselves only through that external gaze?

A recent qualitative study by Paloma Diaz and Patricia Nuñez -professors at the Complutense University of Madrid- explored exactly that. Through in-depth interviews and group discussions with young women, the research revealed a startling truth: most women speak about their bodies as if they were talking about someone else—something external, to be managed, judged, or controlled.

For many, the body has stopped being a home and become a project. A subject of discipline. A mirror of worth. Women no longer say, “This is who I am,” but rather, “This is how I look.” And in that shift, we lose something essential.

At the fashion world, we must ask: What message are we truly sending?

When style becomes synonymous with size, we reduce fashion to a rigid mold—one that only a select few can fit into. Instead of celebrating the unique beauty of real women, we promote a template that is both narrow and exclusionary.

When beauty is equated with youth, we erase the richness of aging, the wisdom carried in wrinkles, and the power in a body that has lived, borne children, overcome illness, or simply existed through time. We subtly tell women that their worth has an expiration date—an idea both harmful and false.

And when value is attached only to aesthetics, we send a dangerous message: that a woman’s body is her most important asset, and that her success, her happiness, even her self-worth, hinges on her ability to appear desirable. This narrative doesn't just shape fashion spreads—it shapes psyches. It teaches girls to see their bodies as objects, not as homes. It fuels a culture where women speak about their bodies not as part of who they are, but as projects to manage, problems to fix, or battlegrounds to win approval.

But we can choose differently. Fashion can—and should—be a means of expressing who we are, not what we’re lacking. Clothes can celebrate uniqueness, style can empower confidence, and trends can evolve to include every stage of womanhood, every body type, every story.

It’s time for fashion to ask not just what looks good—but what feels right. Not only what sells—but what heals. Because when women are seen in their fullness—not just in their reflection—they flourish. And that is a beauty worth designing for.