Actress uses 10 layers of cling film to fit into dress

Ex-TV star’s desperate bid to look slimmer for fashion show reignites debate on appearances

An actress has whipped up a storm of controversy after tightly wrapping her waist in multiple layers of cling film so she could squeeze into a dress.

Huang Yi’s desperate attempt to appear slimmer for a fashion show in Zhejiang reignited the debate about societal pressure on women to be thin.

The day before the event, the 46-year-old went on Weibo seeking advice about how to lose weight quickly because she was scheduled to walk the red carpet at a fashion event the next day.

“I tried on seven dresses, but I could not get into any of them. How can I slim down within a day? I am waiting for your solution,” a clearly anxious Huang asked.

“Breathe in and use cling film to enswathe your waist tightly. However, this is a method you adopt when you do not have alternatives. It will make you suffer a lot,” an online observer suggested.

“Your idea is not bad,” an intrigued Huang replied.

On December 25, the star released photos of herself at the fashion show wearing an elegant ball gown with a tiny cinched waist, saying she had “magically” become slim enough to fit into it.

“To pose as the Snow Queen, I applied 10 layers of cling film to my waist and I finally got into the dress,” Huang said. “What do you think ?”

Her posts soon trended on social media after being viewed 170 million times on Weibo.

“Clothes are made to serve people. But you are changing yourself to fit the clothes. It does not make sense,” one person said.

“She is promoting appearance anxiety. That is bad,” another said.

“It’s not easy for actresses. As an ordinary person, I can eat whatever I like,” one sympathetic person wrote.

Huang was a popular television actress about two decades ago when she starred in drama series such as Sit in a Wrong Bridal Sedan-chair, Get the Right Man to Marry and Princess Pearl III.

Li Peng, a doctor at Zhengzhou University First Affiliated Hospital in Henan, said squeezing the waist in this way could affect blood circulation and lead to headaches, digestive problems and difficulty breathing.

Huang is not the first mainland celebrity to make headlines for restricting her waist. Two years ago, actress Zhang Meng went to a doctor because she felt pain in her ribs after wearing a tight dress for hours at a ceremony.

“I gave my life for beauty,” she later joked bitterly on Weibo.