magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

[B. de Corbin]

OK - everybody knows those models in health and fashion magazines are unrealistically thin, but now the magazines they pose for are admitting that they do massive retouching just to make them look like they aren't anorexic.

One of the pictures may not be safe for work...

You'd Be Shocked at What These Fashion Editors Are Editing Out of Their Photos

[Rowanwood]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

Not even surprised.

[Malflick]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

Looks like a human to not actually looking like one in a few photoshop tools :/

[DanieMarie]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

I'm also not surprised. Looking human is no longer the industry standard.

[MoonRaven]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

I remember this... person from the fashion industry, though not his name, saying that models weren't people, they were walking dress rails. And it would be impossible for them to have curves or human shapes at all because that would ruin the lines of the clothes.
I'm not in the mood to Google so he must remain unnamed for now.

[DanieMarie]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

I remember that and it was seriously the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Because clothes look so bad on women with curves? Some clothes look good on very slim women and some look better on fuller figures. That's why there are different styles. I've been sewing and designing my whole life and that's the whole effing point.

Also, that dude knows dick all about fashion history. People like that need to get out of the industry, for their lack of imagination and creativity.

[Rowanwood]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

I like boobies and a nice set of hips and I'm not even into women sexually.

But seriously, if a company started making clothes shaped for real women and had hot "plus sized" (you know, size 10-12) models, I'd become a brand shopper.

But I'm not their market. I don't spend enough money on clothes for my opinion to matter. None of us do. It's the uber wealthy, who's thinness is part of their persona and part of their status who spend enough money to influence the market.

Don't blame designers. Blame Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie.

[Satu]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

Yep, not surprised. Sometimes the world at large will fool ya about what's a normal size, weight, etc. All hail the mighty Phododoshop.

Shit, why'd I look at the pictures? D:

[Rowanwood]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

Yep, not surprised. Sometimes the world at large will fool ya about what's a normal size, weight, etc. All hail the mighty Phododoshop.

Shit, why'd I look at the pictures? D:

/thread derail

Don't blame Photoshop. It's just a tool. I use Photoshop every day to paint.

/end derail

[DanieMarie]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

I like boobies and a nice set of hips and I'm not even into women sexually.

But seriously, if a company started making clothes shaped for real women and had hot "plus sized" (you know, size 10-12) models, I'd become a brand shopper.

But I'm not their market. I don't spend enough money on clothes for my opinion to matter. None of us do. It's the uber wealthy, who's thinness is part of their persona and part of their status who spend enough money to influence the market.

Don't blame designers. Blame Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie.

You'd actually be surprised. Although that's true for runway collections, the fashion industry is actually a lot more diverse than that. Most major labels have cheaper lines that make a lot higher sales. Outside of that, the highest sales actually come from licensed products like sunglasses and perfume. Runway shows and fashion spreads serve as advertisements for a lot of those things as well as for the clothes themselves because they contribute to the brands' images.

And that's excluding the fact that a lot of the clothes in magazines like Cosmopolitan (not Vogue or Elle) actually are not designer. Most are mid-priced and sometimes even budget lines found in department and chain stores. They still use the same models. Cosmo's target group is not rich by any definition.

[Rowanwood]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

You'd actually be surprised. Although that's true for runway collections, the fashion industry is actually a lot more diverse than that. Most major labels have cheaper lines that make a lot higher sales. Outside of that, the highest sales actually come from licensed products like sunglasses and perfume. Runway shows and fashion spreads serve as advertisements for a lot of those things as well as for the clothes themselves because they contribute to the brands' images.

And that's excluding the fact that a lot of the clothes in magazines like Cosmopolitan (not Vogue or Elle) actually are not designer. Most are mid-priced and sometimes even budget lines found in department and chain stores. They still use the same models. Cosmo's target group is not rich by any definition.

But they are selling the IMAGE of wealth, whether the clothes are designer or not. So what the celebrities and psuedo-celeb rich wear is the basis for their designs, hence the same models.

[DanieMarie]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

But they are selling the IMAGE of wealth, whether the clothes are designer or not. So what the celebrities and psuedo-celeb rich wear is the basis for their designs, hence the same models.

True, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't have a lot to gain by changing the -image- of glamour to include different body types.

Most companies are terrible at marketing, and most fashion companies have made major losses in the past few decades. There's a reason they keep getting sold and bought up by the few successes like Gucci Group and LVMH. I don't think most really know who their market is or how to reach them properly. And I don't think they do a very good job of balancing glamorous images and attainability. Marketing has to project something aspirational, but it also has to feel within reach to the target group (and not just where price is concerned, because obviously that's not the point here), otherwise there's really no point.

Even a lot of the super wealthy that DO buy their runway collections don't fit their image. For example, a huge amount of luxury business is going to China and the Middle East. The former are slim, but also in a very different way. The latter have much different needs than European or American customers.

[Satu]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

/thread derail

Don't blame Photoshop. It's just a tool. I use Photoshop every day to paint.

/end derail

It was sarcasm.

I use Phododoshop, too. Got it on student price.

Sometimes I use GIMP but Phododo is pretty spiffy.

[Willow]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

Yeah... I weigh 98 lbs soaking wet and even I'm not that skinny... Yikes.

[Aeran]

Re: magazines make anorexic skinny look healthy

I find myself thinking they should be required to label this stuff. If they want to photoshop their models into the uncanny valley that's fine, but they should at least have some indicator that the image is complete fantasy and in no way indicative of the real world.