Super Long Legs - Anastasia Strashevskaya

On the right is a photo of a Russian fashion model named Anastasia Strashevskaya.

Anastasia Strashevskaya reportedly has some of the longest legs on a female model in the world. 42 inches.

Proportionally speaking. She is 5'10" tall (70 inches) but her legs are 42 inches of her 70 inches height. That means 60% of height is in her legs.

There are other fashion models around the world with really long legs - including one from Houston Texas who stands 6'5" tall (77 inches) and was once told she was "too tall to be a model". Her legs measure 51 inches.

So the model from Texas is taller and has longer legs, and has proportionally longer legs too. 66.2%.

But whatever. This isn't a contest to see who the biggest freak of nature is. (Or is it?)

Anastasia Strashevskaya does have some pretty long legs and they do seem to be helping her modelling career.

The model from Texas, not so much.

There are similar models from Britain, France, Brazil and other countries with legs ranging from 42 to 49 inches long, all with varying heights and different proportions. Clearly some of these models were drinking lots of milk as they were growing.

More calcium = longer, thicker bones. Huzzah. Milk is also a great source of protein. Learn more about Why Calcium Rocks!

Isabelle Caro dies of anorexia

Back in 2010, Isabelle Caro, a French model whose anorexic body appeared in an Italian shock ad campaign, died at the age of 28. She had been suffering from anorexia since the age of 13.

Caro is most famous for being featured in a shock ad campaign by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani in 2007 for an Italian fashion house. Under the headline "No Anorexia" the ad in newspapers and billboards showed Caro naked, vertebrae and facial bones protruding.

We have decided not to show any images of that campaign here for the sake of decency.

Her acting instructor and longtime friend, Daniele Dubreuil-Prévot, says that Caro actually died on Nov. 17 after returning to France from a job in Tokyo, but the news wasn't released until after Boxing Day in December.

Dubreuil-Prévot said that Caro "had been sick for a long time," referring to her anorexia.

Model medical exams won't prevent anorexia deaths

For awhile now governments and the fashion industry have been debating having routine medical exams (costing $500 each) to screen the fashion industry for underweight fashion models are have health problems due to obsessive dieting and anorexia.

The British Fashion Council has rejected the call for mandatory medical exams, stating that the average model is only paid $500 per appearance, so who is going to pay the bill? The models or the fashion show organizers?

There is also questions about whether medical exams would be effective, as models could easily put on weight to pass the medical exam and then lose weight soon after.

Pressure on the industry has intensified in recent years, particularly after models in Brazil and Uruguay collapsed and died from medical complications arising from their ultra-thin stature. 22 year old Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos collapsed soon after stepping off the runway in August 2006. Months later her 18-year-old sister Eliana (above right) also was found dead. Both died of anorexia-linked heart attacks.

Models who have suffered from anorexia in the past, such as Carre Otis, are also pushing for more controls on how younger models are selected. Obviously the industry is pushing for the thinnest models they can find, the so-called "clothes-hanger look" that effectively causes the clothes to fall loosely on the body.

But is having clothes fall loosely on the body really an effective mean of advertising? Does it not make more sense to have models with more curves and good looks than the "skeletons" currently walking down the catwalks?

Wouldn't the fashion industry be better off if they ditched the self-imposed anorexia and controversy? Or is the industry deliberately using controversy to sell their clothes on a hapless consumer culture?

12 More Photos of Valeria Lukyanova

Valeria Lukyanova certainly knows how to turn heads using makeup.

The post we already did on her is increasing popular and we have decided to post 12 more photos of the Barbie impersonator who uses makeup (not plastic surgery or photoshop) to make herself look like a real life Barbie doll.

Proof that exercise and makeup can do amazing things without the need for surgery.

First female to sign male modelling contract

She’s taking the male modelling world by storm.

From the swimming pool to the catwalk, former Olympic swimmer-turned New York model Casey Legler has found her calling as a male model.

Sure, retired athletes make the transition into real world professions all the time. But when the French-born Legler signed a male model contract with the prestigious Ford Modelling Agency last summer, it thrust her into the fashion world’s spotlight.

And with good reason: it’s not everyday cross-gender modelling occurs although it’s not new and is quickly carving its niche in the modelling world.

With a masculine physique complimented by chiseled facial features and cheekbones, Legler, 35, who competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for France in the women’s 50-metre freestyle and freestyle relay, said recently that she lucked into the modelling contract.

A friend who needed a model for a shoot asked her if she’d be interested.

“I wasn’t doing anything on that particular Friday so I said yes,” she said.

Her friend showed the photos from the shoot to an agent at Ford, and the rest is history.

Legler said she feels ushered into the modelling world by Bosnian-born model Pejic, a male model having international success modelling women’s clothing.

An artist who works across a variety of platforms with themes like time, mythology and ritual, Legler believes her entry into the male modelling world is a perfect fit for her, a natural extension of self.

“Seeing me on the men’s board . . . speaks to the notion of freedom,” she says. “There’s something really bold about that, and that it really is saying ‘look, there is also this other way, and it’s really rad.’ ”

Legler will also star in a photo series commissioned by British clothing brand AllSaints, titled “Portraits of a Collection” series.

Valeria Lukyanova

The photos below are of Ukrainian fashion model Valeria Lukyanova, who uses makeup to make herself look like a real life Barbie Doll.

Oddly enough she doesn't accomplish this feat using cosmetic surgery. Everything is done with exercise and makeup (and a healthy dose of lucky genetics). See Valeria Lukyanova Exercising + Makeup at http://malebrainatwork.blogspot.ca/2012/12/valeria-lukyanova-exercising-makeup.html to learn more about how she manages to do it.

So I guess that is proof that hard work, exercise, healthy food and dab hand at makeup can do some pretty impressive things.

Now you might think, oh that is just photoshop! Except it isn't. Don't believe me? Click the link above and watch the videos of her exercising and you will see she really does look like that in real life.

Canadian Supermodel Devon Owens

Do a Google Image search sometime for "Devon Owens" and you will see the new face of North American fashion. At least in our humble opinion.

Don't bother with America's Next Top Model or Canada's Next Top Model, Devon Owens IS the next top model and she's already in the industry whereas those TV wannabes would kill to be in her position.

Our synopsis of her modeling style? "The Hippie Bad Girl". Why? Because she looks so innocent and yet has a streak of naughtiness in her.

So yeah, expect to see her in a lot more advertising and magazines.

NAME: DEVON OWENS

AGENCY: Ford Models, Elite NY (ELITEMODEL.COM)

AGENT: Chantale Nadeau in Toronto.

HEIGHT: 5'10"

BUST: 32

WAIST: 24

HIPS: 34

SHOES: 9

HAIR: BLONDE

EYES: BLUE

RAISED IN: TORONTO, ONTARIO + LISTOWEL, ONTARIO