Ralph Lauren’s Photoshop Disaster

There is nothing that gets me going more than a little fashion controversy, especially when it’s sparked by someone who should know better!   Please tell me you have seen the latest Ralph Lauren brew-ha, if not let me enlighten… Some genius at Ralph Lauren thought it would be fantastic idea to photoshop  an ad of the already thing 5’11’ 120 lb Fillipa Hamilton into an overly anorexic Pez dispenser.

The photo is nothing short of irresponsible, grossly ill, and  nauseating.  Why nauseating?  It’s yet another example of an iconic brand putting out unrealistic images to young girls making them feel that they do not measure up.  The real Fillipa is absolutely stunningly beautiful, and has been appearing in RL ads since 2002 that is until she was fired because she was not meeting contractual requirements (her agent was told that she didn’t fit the clothes) however Hamilton claims that her weight has not changed in the last seven years.  By medical standards she would be considered underweight, but in the fashion world she is nothing short of a  Weight Watchers candidate!

In the words of Charlotte York  (SATC movie) to Big – I curse the day you were born (photoshop)    Though “airbrushing” and retouching have been around in one form or another for eons, photoshop has been eclipsing reality over the last decade to completely alter images both for good and bad (remember those cellulite photos of Misha?)  Hello world – today practically every image you see is photoshopped, in fact a few years ago Arizona Foothills ran a page of unretouched photos  along with our fashion spread to show the difference.  In our case the alterations are almost always for stray hairs, blemishes, the unslightly glimpse of a garmet clamp or price tag, but in the case of most major magazines… the alterations go  frighteningly far beyond.

I remember one of the first times that  Vogue Magazine took photoshop to the next level.  It was a cover of Madonna from 1989.  The then Material Girl was sitting in a pool her (brown) locks slicked back, smiling at the camera but something was awry… take a look at the photo yourself and let me know what you think??

Yes, aside from the neck smoothing and nose trimming, her breasts were photoshopped right out the photo…. now I ask you, was there anyone on the planet by 1989 who hadn’t seen them already?  But photographically speaking, Ms Wintour just didn’t like the image.

These days, heaven help us if we show anyone being who they really are on the cover of a magazine… who wants reality? Even our reality shows stopped  being reality… after the first “Real World” on MTV.

Bravo to French Elle who realized that women prefer photos that aren’t overly photoshopped and recently they put a slew of actresses on their cover with minimal makeup and little photo shop…albeit they chose their faces wisely, but I applaud them for taking a stand , if only more magazines on this side of the pond would join in!

How about the recent covers of Kelly Clarkson and Jessica Simpson…I can understand Elle, but really Self Magazine?