Kate Upton's 'chubbiness' sparks debate among top fashionistas

Kate Upton, the model who has become an overnight sensation after being splashed across the cover of 2012's Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, is at the centre of a hot debate as a few people in the fashion industry feel she is too "chubby to be chic".

According to some among the sleek set in the fashion industry, the 19-year-old self-promoting model fits into their definition of hefty encompassing 99 percent of the nation's females.

The fashion mavens denigrate Upton's whole look - her too-blond hair, her generic, pouty cheerleader face and her long legs that one critic described as looking as if they belong to a player for the WNBA.

The casting director for Victoria's Secret fashion shows said she'd never allow such a skank to darken her runway, LA Times reported.

Others look down on the young woman's tabloid lifestyle, her romantic links to Kanye West and New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and even the teeny-tiny size of her bikini bottom in the cover shot of Sports Illustrated.

However, Upton's defenders say she has a right to party. To suggest she is fat, they say, is tantamount to promoting anorexia. Her fans insist that her look is a healthier example for American girls, even if her beach attire indicates she can't distinguish between panties and a Post-it stuck to a strand of dental floss.

The entire fuss being created about the teenaged model simply lends a little perspective to the current political campaign.

Journalists have been covering every twitch and twist of the Republican nomination fight for months now, millions of dollars have been spent on attack ads and robo calls and the candidates have roamed the countryside shaking hands and calling each other names, yet the number of people who have taken part in primaries and caucuses compared with the number of Americans who have stayed away is about the same as the ratio of fabric to bare skin in Upton's beach shot.

For all the intensity of the presidential race thus far, there are still millions of folks who never bothered to tune in to any of the candidates' debates. But the YouTube video of Upton dancing the Dougie in the bleachers at a ballgame has attracted more than 3.5 million views. (ANI)