If you've ever paged through a lingerie catalogue or almost walked into one of those life-size cardboard Wonderbra model cut out thingees in a department store, then you've probably found yourself declaring that your diet starts tomorrow or something similarly reactive.
You see, lingerie models are a special breed... Immune to wobbly bits below the belly button, completely unaware of the existence of the ever-present armpit fat roll and they seem to be produced with cookie cutter accuracy in perfect sizes. Oh, and when they sit, their taut tummies don't wrinkle like the rest of us mere mortals' do. Or at least these are the things I believed a week ago...
However, all my preconceived ideas were shattered into a gazillion pieces yesterday when I saw a lingerie catalogue, pre-photoshop, pre retouching, pre-perfecting trickery. I got to see the results of the most recent photoshoot in the lingerie brochure's layout phase... Before the art directors goto hold of it. One word... REVELATION!
Along with the visual evidence... Muffin tops, cellulite, razor rash, armpit fat and ill-fitting balconette bras, came tales from the shoot. Tales of one of the models being a couple of months pregnant ("we'll just have to photoshop it out, use the liquifying tool on her stomach"), tales of stitching and sewing and totally re-shaping underwear to look more flattering, tales of removing most of the curves from the 'confidently curvy' shots ("she's got such a beautiful face, we'll just have to flatten that bit a little and take that shadow out"), and tales of adding instant tans, altering skin tones and "sculpting her abs a bit more"
Don't get me wrong, the models are beautiful, but they're not 'perfect'. You don't see armpit fat in the posters in the shop windows because an art director airbrushed it out. Lingerie models fit perfectly into the even numbers on the labels because some photographer's assistant nipped and tucked and stitched them into those frilly French knickers. You don't see tan lines or stretchmarks or scars or birthmarks because every image was treated with the magic wand wielded by designers with photoshop.
Proofreading a lingerie catalogue in the pre-production phase was an eye-opener. You hear about retouching and airbrushing, but most of us only ever see the 'afters', we don't have the benefit of seeing the 'befores'.
In an ideal world, the images we see wouldn't be so 'ideal'... They'd be real images of real women with a really good hair and make up team, and an awesome stylist. They'd be images of our prettiest friend, beautiful women wearing beautiful things and the photographic evidence would be just that - evidence. Evidence that even women who look beautiful for a living aren't immune to things like that little dent in your silhouette that a thong causes over the hips.
So, the next time you're grabbing a wobbly bit between your fingers and swearing to start spinning five times a week, or find yourself traumatised by a changing room with 360 degree mirrors, remember this:
It's pointless to compare yourself to that girl on the cover of that magazine, because, in reality, she doesn't even look like that.
You see, lingerie models are a special breed... Immune to wobbly bits below the belly button, completely unaware of the existence of the ever-present armpit fat roll and they seem to be produced with cookie cutter accuracy in perfect sizes. Oh, and when they sit, their taut tummies don't wrinkle like the rest of us mere mortals' do. Or at least these are the things I believed a week ago...
However, all my preconceived ideas were shattered into a gazillion pieces yesterday when I saw a lingerie catalogue, pre-photoshop, pre retouching, pre-perfecting trickery. I got to see the results of the most recent photoshoot in the lingerie brochure's layout phase... Before the art directors goto hold of it. One word... REVELATION!
Along with the visual evidence... Muffin tops, cellulite, razor rash, armpit fat and ill-fitting balconette bras, came tales from the shoot. Tales of one of the models being a couple of months pregnant ("we'll just have to photoshop it out, use the liquifying tool on her stomach"), tales of stitching and sewing and totally re-shaping underwear to look more flattering, tales of removing most of the curves from the 'confidently curvy' shots ("she's got such a beautiful face, we'll just have to flatten that bit a little and take that shadow out"), and tales of adding instant tans, altering skin tones and "sculpting her abs a bit more"
Don't get me wrong, the models are beautiful, but they're not 'perfect'. You don't see armpit fat in the posters in the shop windows because an art director airbrushed it out. Lingerie models fit perfectly into the even numbers on the labels because some photographer's assistant nipped and tucked and stitched them into those frilly French knickers. You don't see tan lines or stretchmarks or scars or birthmarks because every image was treated with the magic wand wielded by designers with photoshop.
Proofreading a lingerie catalogue in the pre-production phase was an eye-opener. You hear about retouching and airbrushing, but most of us only ever see the 'afters', we don't have the benefit of seeing the 'befores'.
In an ideal world, the images we see wouldn't be so 'ideal'... They'd be real images of real women with a really good hair and make up team, and an awesome stylist. They'd be images of our prettiest friend, beautiful women wearing beautiful things and the photographic evidence would be just that - evidence. Evidence that even women who look beautiful for a living aren't immune to things like that little dent in your silhouette that a thong causes over the hips.
So, the next time you're grabbing a wobbly bit between your fingers and swearing to start spinning five times a week, or find yourself traumatised by a changing room with 360 degree mirrors, remember this:
It's pointless to compare yourself to that girl on the cover of that magazine, because, in reality, she doesn't even look like that.
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