The fashion industry has been criticized for promoting impossible body images by pressuring models, directly or indirectly, to remain as skinny as possible. Nevertheless, so-called plus-size models have become well-represented in the industry over the past 30 years. In the beginning, it was a necessary business move. The average consumer of women's apparel isn't as thin as the average supermodel, and so designers had to hire women with fuller figures to show off their wares. Eventually, even haute couture houses started hiring larger women, if only to seem different or to prove they weren't prejudiced against anyone who wore a dress size bigger than a 4. Though these women were notably heavier, by any standard most wouldn't be considered overweight. In a different age and profession they would have been deemed "healthy," but as with any endeavor that relies on image, plus-size modeling eventually came under fire when it was learned that some women were using padding to fill out their figures, or indulging on salty food to retain water and thus a zaftig outline, or even undergoing plastic surgery. Apparently, it takes as much effort to remain big as it does to stay small.