Non-photoshopped bra shopping for the masses

So I was emailed this today from the website/store I will occasionally get my unmentionables from:



In addition, if you go to their website, once you select a bra size, you're shown a model wearing the bra in that actual size - meaning their company now employs models of a very wide range of sizes. I was playing around on the website to see the different bras in different sizes, and it was refreshing to not see the typical super thin model retouched to oblivion modeling something that I have no idea how it would look on me. All the girls are still relatively thin by most standards, but I think it's a great step in the right direction.

For example, we have ranges from a 32AA:


to a 40 DD:



Overall, I think this is a great campaign, as long as they stick to it. As someone who hates phrases like "real women have curves", I think it's a step in the right direction for body positivism. No woman is more "woman" than other women due to body type - no matter what end of the spectrum you land on.

Keeping bra shopping un-photoshopped has its advantages, too. I don't want to see someone erasered and clone-tooled into looking great in the bra. If I can get a more realistic image of how I'll look in it, I want it. I know this store is popular for young girls too, so keeping pictures as realistic as possible will hopefully help promote a more normal body image.

What do you think? Should we keep moving toward a trend of different size/shape models with minimal to no retouching, or does extreme retouching and consistent body size have a place in commercial modeling?

 

Feel good marketing. It's kinda like green marketing. Everyone is a better person for shopping there.....

 

I love this idea. I'd love to shop there but, they don't have my size in bras. They need to have bigger cup sizes.

 

As a guy I was expecting less from the 32 AA and more from the 40DD.
Nice reality check.

 

Though I appreciate the concept, I highly doubt the 40DD is actually that models size. My 36DD looks larger than her.

 

Great idea. But I agree that last model is almost certainly not 40DD. I've dated a couple of girls whose measurements were in that neighborhood, and that is not what that looks like. I also wouldn't mind seeing the larger-end bras being modeled by a little curvier girls.

 

Yeah, I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's better than nothing.

 

I'm still not sure why this is such a big deal. Instead of taking hot women and giving them professional makeup and photo retouching, they took hot women and gave them home make up and no photo retouching.

I think the body image "issue" is overblown for women. Its obesity thats skyrocketing not anorexia.

 

All eating disorders are on the raise-

Get The Facts On Eating Disorders | National Eating Disorders Association

 

Not really contributing to the discourse here, but this is somewhat apropos.

 

First image hit for mens underwear....



and the second...

 

Is obesity a problem in America? Sure. But that has no bearing on thinking that seeing a size 8 in advertisements is refreshing. Almost all women have body issues, thin or not.

 

Casting aside my attempt at humor, I have a 19 year old daughter, so this is something that has concerned me for years.
Objectification has become more pernicious than ever, thanks to the numerous avenues afforded by technology. And it seeps into girls' consciousness at an early age. Once they reach their teens, it becomes very difficult for parents to counter.

 

Well said, @GeneticShift. Especially considering that it is remarkable to see a size 8 in advertisements, despite the fact that the average size in women's wear is-- depending on which set of statistics you're looking at-- either 12 or 14. There is something absolutely horrifying about the fact that the average model-- who is, in theory, supposed to represent what these clothes will look like on a pretty but normal person-- wears a size zero.

The fact that there is an obesity problem in America is neither more relevant than or exclusive of the fact that there is a mammoth torrent of eating disorders and body image disorders flooding through American women (and men, to a lesser degree), driven in large part by the fashion industry and media in collaboration.

 

12 to 14 is fat. The average is fat right now because we are fat. Average is no longer healthy, and is "normal" only by the basic definition of normal. And lets not forget thats a 12-14 AFTER vanity sizing...



Sorry but while its PC to worry about people being too thin, there is no reason a fat girl shouldn't go on a diet, or for that matter be happy with a life long health issue. Vague questions like being "unhappy with your body" mean nothing and are used to simply fuel an agenda by groups. When I met my wife she was a grand total of 118 lbs at 5'7" and "unhappy with her body" because she didn't think she was attractive (and nothing to do with being fat). This is called being human, we are generally insecure about most things.

 

Wow, @Herculite... talk about a bombproof source for your research.

VintageVixen sure sounds like the most reputable voice of reason on this topic anywhere, doesn't it? It would also appear, for all intents and purposes, that April & Co. are playing along with the resizing of American fashion along with everyone else, wouldn't it?

/sarcasm

 

Herculite, meet Rene Campbell.



She is a size 14-16 in the UK, according to the article below, which converts to a US size 12-14. I double-dog-dare you to call her fat to her face.

Female Body Builder Rene Campbell Admits: 'The Way I Look Makes It Harder To Meet Men'