How Photoshop Failed Us Yet Again
You might have noticed a trend here – we're enraged by Photoshopped thigh gaps and mutated models. Unfortunately, as strong as our feelings can get on the matter, many major companies still haven't gotten the memo. Not only do these photos still exist, but they continue to be newsworthy. Perhaps websites are starting to wonder if the best way to get press is to create images so unnatural that people report on them. After all – any press is better than no press, right?
The latest offender is Wholesale-Dress.net, who put images of a beautiful model in what they call a "Noble Lace-up Back Floral Embroidered Under-bust Corset Blue". We're fully aware of the discomfort a corset brings, but this model wears it like a pro. The problem? Check out her surroundings, and the warped photo behind her. The terrible Photoshop work transforms her into a shape that Barbie herself might cringe at.
The pro? Well, now I've heard of Wholesale-Dress.net. However, it doesn't expand any type of urge to actually buy from them. Models should come in all shapes and sizes, but they shouldn't be chopped to pieces in order to achieve unrealistic proportions. By posting pictures like this, it gives the unrealistic expectation that this is what you'll look like when you buy the corset. This model is gorgeous, and even without seeing the original photos, I can guarantee you that nothing needed to be changed.
Honestly, the corset-buying women of today probably wants to see what it really looks like when it's on. We're smart enough to know how we feel when we wear clothes. We've morphed to a level where we're self aware, and we're coming to terms with the facts that a piece of clothing can help boost our moods, but only a strong sense of self confidence will make us sexy.
While thigh gaps dominated the headlines recently, we have to remember that these photos are morphed all over the place. The person in charge of editing these images is awkwardly slimming from the waist, the upper arms, the legs, and the shoulders as well. Also, this issue isn't just towards women – men are also prime targets. For example, check out this Belstaff model, whose showing off the Ronnie Jacket in Vintage Leather. At $1,495, it's a total steal! (Note: My clothes proudly comes from the Old Navy clearance rack, so that was just a joke.)
Anyone else notice he's missing a hand? Judging by the other photos, he definitely has two – and isn't wearing some type of invisible glove. In fact, instead of a hand, it looks like he has an awkward extra pocket of detached shirt. Isn't this mistake blatantly obvious? Was it created to thin out his arms, or maybe his hips? Would someone actually withhold spending over a grand for a jacket if the model wasn't thinned out to totally imperfect "perfection"?
Here's some good news – in 2013, Verily magazine decided to stop Photoshopping their models all together. As Verily's Ashley Crouch told the Huffington Post in an interview, the magazine's co-founders Kara Eschbach and Janet Sahm believe that "the unique features of women, whether crows feet, freckles, or a less-than-rock-hard body, are aspects that contribute to women's beauty and should be celebrated — not shamed, changed or removed." Kara, Janet and Ashley? You girls rock. If more ads followed similar guidelines, we won't have to worry about children getting the wrong idea about beauty. Short, tall, thin, heavyset, filled with freckles and cellulite or not – at least we'll know that they're looking at real people.
