Romanian model's 20-inch waist
We’ve heard that belly fat can be dangerous. But while some of us are busy whittling our middles with crunches at the gym, one woman is making headlines for her naturally freakishly thin waistline.
Romanian model Ioana Spangenberg has been dubbed “The Human Hourglass.” At 5-foot-7, the 30-year-old woman has a waist that measures just 20 inches. She’s found fame modelling corsets, distorting her silhouette to an even more extreme shape.
(For reference, Ioana’s waist is three inches smaller than Victoria Beckham’s — and Victoria’s three inches shorter than Ioana.)
The NY Daily News points out that her odd-to-the-eye proportions of 32-20-32 are familiar ones “for girls who play with Barbie dolls.”
Think 20 inches is tiny? Ioana claims that she was once much tinier:
"When I was 13 my waist was around 15 inches,” she told The Sun. “Someone could put their hands around it, their fingers would touch and they would still have extra room."
[See also: Woman with world's smallest waist inspires 'Vogue']
The 84-pound model claims she’s eager to gain weight — “so I don’t look so shocking” — and that she has a small stomach, but still eats everything, including pizza and kebabs.
“In Romania it is better to be overweight, because that means you are from a wealthy family. So while my friends were going out and dating, I was sitting at home with Mars bars wishing I could fatten up,” she said of her childhood.
She credits her husband, Jan, with encouraging her to model.
“Jan was the first person who saw me as beautiful and encouraged me to celebrate my body,” Ioana told The Sun.
The grass is always greener — and the figures of others are always enviable.
Have you made peace with your natural silhouette?
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