FASHION Magazine

Photoshop. We all have opinions on the photo-editing tool, or any of the other user-friendly apps out there like Facetune and Pixtr, whether we’re for or against it. And although the message it puts forth may be taken in a negative manner—that tweaks must be made to our pics in order for them to be […]

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A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Nov 12, 2015 at 1:29pm PST We can probably all agree on one thing: Photoshopping is the worst. It reiterates the false perception that all women must look a certain way, it creates unrealistic standards of beauty for kids and teens and adults, and it arguably […]

The post Why airbrushing isn’t (always) so bad appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

If it were real, we’d be quite offended that Kate Middleton chose a magazine other than ours for her cover debut. But thankfully, the August issue of Marie Claire South Africa is a clever (though not particularly flattering) illustation. To its credit, the magazine is quite tongue-in-cheek about the whole thing, calling it a “Fan Art Tribute” with an added disclaimer that Kate’s not actually wearing a South African designer—but they wish she would consider doing so. (If you’re curious, the printed dress is by Clive Rundle, and given how different it is from Kate’s usual style we’re unsure if she’ll be calling him up to place an order.)

Considering the fact that toe surgery has apparently become a “thing” (cosmetic surgery to slim down obese toes, for those of you not in the know), we’re apt to believe the girls behind SPARK Movement when they say that the pressure has never been stronger when it comes to conforming to beauty ideals.

These teenage activists are pointing a finger at teen-girl targeted magazines like Seventeen and Teen Vogue, saying their continued airbrushing and underrepresentation of “real” models is contributing to unattainable, unrealistic beauty ideals. They called on the magazines to completely cut out Photoshop (even down to airbrushing out pimples or brightening up a smile) and to focus on putting real girls in their publications.

“[These magazines] bombard young women with images that have been distorted and digitally altered . . . these photoshopped images are extremely dangerous to girls like us who read them, because they keep telling us: you are not skinny enough, pretty enough or perfect enough. Well, neither are the girls in the pictures!” the SPARK girls write on their home site.

Last week, SPARK member Julia Bluhm managed to pull together over 85,000 signatures for a petition to Seventeen, and the magazine actually responded. They published a “Body Peace Treaty” in their print edition, stating that they “never have, never will” alter the shape of models’ faces or bodies (which isn’t promising any change, really), and that they will make efforts to be more transparent with what goes into their editing process.

Following their co-SPARK member’s success, Carina Cruz and Emma Stydahar tried their hand at Teen Vogue yesterday, staging a guerilla red carpet runway show in front of the Conde Nast buildings and scoring an interview with Editor-in-Chief Amy Astley. Despite having racked up about 35,000 signatures for their Teen Vogue–specific petition, the girls told New York Daily News they were disappointed with their rushed conversation with Astley.

Though Cruz and Stydahar evidently did not get the response they were looking for, Teen Vogue’s publicist Erin Kaplan issued a statement saying the magazine is already careful to not retouch models’ body shapes in their pages.

While we doubt magazines can honestly promise a full rehaul of their image editing processes, considering how entrenched they are in years-long practices, we do commend the girls for trying to encourage their peers to seek real beauty. What do you think: should glossies continue to offer aspirational if unrealistic images of beauty, or should they start featuring girls that teens can more easily relate to?

Coco Rocha is certainly known as a passionate supporter of healthy regulations and expectations within the modeling industry. She’s spoken at length about industry pressures to look a certain way, and how excessive retouching and photoshopping can send the wrong message to impressionable fans and viewers. However, it seems that some publications have yet to understand just how serious—and rightfully so!—she is. Yesterday, the model took to her blog to talk about a photo that appeared on the May 2012 cover of Elle Brazil:

Yesterday, a photo from December 2011 Vogue Italia cover shoot featuring Karlie Kloss’s toned buttocks was all over the internet, as well as 15 more, detailing all the assets of her incredible bod. It seemed that perfection was not all that there was to be seen, as vogue.it mysteriously removed this image from the slideshow on their website early today. There was no reason given for removing the one photo—but comments pouring in on Facebook and other sites have been negative reactions to the super-skinny body on display. The position of Kloss’ hips and the shot’s lighting— most obviously, her unhealthily protruding hipbone—look a bit unreal, and the potentially generous use of Photoshop on her hips and legs create the look of a seemingly misshapen body. Perhaps that was reason enough for Vogue to take it down.

Halloween is only a month away and boy do we have the perfect costume for you–assuming you’re a huge fan of onesies and Where the Wild Things Are. [Opening Ceremony]

A proposed French law has members of the fashion industry up in arms. The law, which would label manipulated images to help combat eating disorders, is currently backed by 50 politicians. Tony Chambers, editor-in-chief of Wallpaper argues, “These things should always be taken with a pinch of salt. Fantasy and artistic interpretation are core ingredients in fashion, advertising and art photography.” [WWD, via The Cut] What do you think? Should Photoshopped pics be labelled as such? Tell us in the comments?

Pioneering African American supermodel Naomi Sims died Saturday at 61. [NYTimes]

Alexander Wang is launching an online shop that not surprisingly, doesn’t deliver to Canada. But if you want to browse: alexanderwang.com (enter the code AWSTYLE.COM) [Fashionista]

Celebrity portratist Brigitte Lacombe talks about shooting everyone from Meryl Streep to Leonardo DiCaprio to Miuccia Prada. [W]