just to add to our fantastic discussion last week about photoshopped images. This was actually published in magazines this month:
“For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately.”
uh-huh.
UPDATE:
Apparently, the model for this ad has been fired by Ralph Lauren. For being too big.
UPDATE 2:
oh, Ralph Lauren is not having a good week. This ad was just found. Seems the fashion line has made this photoshopping thing a habit:
14 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 9, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Kylie Bellis
I saw this on yahoo.com or something and started reading it the other day! This picture is not even attractive to me. Her body is so distorted that it looks sickly and unreal. In this case, the photoshop editors took the editing a step to far. When it comes to Ralph Lauren, He designs his clothes for women with a non-curvy figure. It is clearly visible in the polo dresses. I own one myself (and in fact have curves) and sadly it is not the most appealing around the curves..but its still cute! anyways, at the factory outlet, an employee even told me that Ralph Lauren does in fact envision the perfect model/women to have little curves, and that is why he designs his clothes for their body types. What is that saying for the rest of us? We arn’t beautiful because we have hips? Seriously? I think that women with hips and a few curves are more “real” and more “womanly” than those who do not. Lets get back to this ad though…It is repulsive! I certainly do not find myself attracted to Ralph Lauren clothing by looking at this…It is creating the other affect–a huge turn off. I hope to see improved ad’s in the future and not ones with sickly looking women. Lets get to the 21st century please…people come in all shapes and sizes!
October 13, 2009 at 10:07 pm
audrey102
I find this photo extremely strange. I don’t understand how whomever edited this photo felt that the woman in this photo was more attractive, and sold the clothes better looking like a malnourished woman suffering from a disease that they then dressed up in expensive clothing. She looks so incredibly disproportionate and deformed. Her hips, which were most likely fairly narrow before the retouching began, now look like child’s hips. Her breasts also look as if they have been altered to look larger. This woman has been turned into the famously disproportionate barbie doll, which was so skinny and top heavy that she wouldn’t be able to stand up if she were a real woman.
The Ralph Lauren quote struck me as very strange. Clearly the inference that would be made concerning his plans are false. Those inferences being that he plans on ending this practice of photoshopping and retouching these photos. However, when looking over his exact words, Mr. Lauren never actually says that. He says that they will be working to “take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately.” Which is exactly what has been done to the photo above. His brand has been represented as the “skinny girl” company who uses models who arent even skinny enough to advertise without retouching.
October 15, 2009 at 4:26 pm
rhysclarkmusic
That ralph thing makes me sick.
October 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm
lindsey9954
This ad disgusts me. No person should ever be that skinny. This image makes people who are bigger than the model in the picture feel as though they are too fat or not good enough because they don’t fit the mold of what women “should” look like. This model in particular must feel awful that she was fired because she was “too fat.” I couldn’t imagine being told that I was fired because I couldn’t fit into the clothes anymore. Also seeing yourself look like she did in the picture must be awful. Knowing that they had to photo shop the photo to get the image that they are looking for must be an awful thing to have to live with. When she was talking about the picture she never used the word I to describe it. She talked about the picture as though it wasn’t even her who was modeling the clothes. She’s five foot ten inches and 120 pounds. There is no possible way that she could be considered fat. I myself am 7inches shorter than her and weigh more than she does. In order to reduce the amount of eating disorders among women models should start to look like a normal woman. A woman with a little more meat on her bones to show that you don’t have to be stick thin to be beautiful. That is why I love the dove commercials that show women that you see walking on the street – women who are still beautiful even though they aren’t a size 2 or 4. I think one of the most beautiful actresses on television is Sara Ramirez who plays Callie Torrez from Grey’s Anatomy. She is not a size 4 but she is – in my opinion – the most beautiful woman on the show. I love seeing women who aren’t stick thin in movies or television shows, it makes them seem more real. Sometimes when these women are shown on television their weight it the main focus of the show or movie. This irritates me because not all women who are not stick thin have body image issues. Another thing that I love about Sara Ramirez on Grey’s Anatomy is that she is a strong woman who doesn’t obsess over weight or any other drama. She is a strong independent woman. There should be more strong women portrayed on television, in ads, in magazines, and in movies, instead of the stick thin “perfect model” body – whose image is completely unrealistic.
October 15, 2009 at 7:03 pm
laxchick430
I was so shocked and absolutely horrified when I saw this advertisement. I it just so disgusting that Ralph Lauren thought that this was okay to put out, this isn’t really and it is making girls today think that they have to be so skinny in order to be beautiful like these models. This model is beautiful just the way she is she is a size four which is still a very small size, and Ralph Lauren has the nerve to say she went against her contract because she couldn’t “fit” into their cloths, basically calling her too fat. I can’t believe that these places do things like this to their models, and they wonder why girls today have such bad eating disorders because they are trying to fit into this distorted image of what society want females to be like. I know that me being an athletic girl with a larger build than some I was always insecure about sizes. I had to get a size four instead of zero, which at those times was a huge deal and I guess it still is. I have witnessed multiple people in my high school making themselves throw up and being so anorexic that they need to be hospitalized. I blame ads like this and this new belief that you have to be skinny in order to be beautiful.
October 15, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Ali Schreiber
I think this scenario is terrible. I am so disappointed in Ralph Lauren, I am a fan of his clothing line, but now that I have seen these videos and images I am questioning rather I will purchase anymore of his clothing, I’m sure his line will take a major down fall from his women consumers if word really gets out. I agree with both kylie and audrey. I find this ad disturbing and makes me want to close my eyes and not look at it. It is SICK! Woman do not look like this unless they are very ill or are aneroxic! For him to portray this to the world could cause some serious body issues in the future that are not healthy. He clearly needs to know his audience better because I being a girl who would like to purchase clothing, now feels like this clothing line is for skinny skinny girls and would be too intimidated to try to wear this and not only that I do not even begin to look or think about the clothing in this ad. I think about how distorted and gross this woman looks. This is not fair to the model, she is gorgeous and this could effect her reputation as a model. It is really brave of her to come out publically and address what Ralph Lauren did to her. i just cannot overcome the fact that she modeled for the line for 8 years but then he had the heart to betray her by changing her model image and then dump her! This just shows us how messed up the modeling industry is. I loved that issue of glamour! I saw it and I felt so empowered and non-insecure about my body.
October 16, 2009 at 12:14 am
Allison Scholl
These photos are embarrassing for Ralph Lauren’s company. Before I viewed these advertisements, I thought that Ralph Lauren was a respected American company, who understood the true meaning of classic fashion. What I think they don’t realize, is by showing these ads, it makes people not want to wear their clothes. Before I came to college and learned all about gender issues, and body image with the media, I would have seen that ad and thought nothing of it. I would have focused on the cute sweater she was wearing, or the fashionable fall shirt she was modeling. Now, when I look at that picture, I think Ralph Lauren and all who is associated with it should be ashamed of themselves. I feel it is so sad that when a 5 foot 10 model that weighs 120 pounds gets fired for being too fat, there are some serious issues. Even more serious issues than I thought. That video really spoke out, and went inside the models life to show the extreme pain she is going through. She has been working for Ralph Lauren for 8 years, and the fact that she got fired is preposterous. This just goes to show the extreme body image issues that are happening. What are young girls going to think when a model who is way below what her weight should be, got fired for being fat? I simply don’t agree with the message this is sending, it’s asking for a lot of trouble.
October 18, 2009 at 8:24 pm
pcdiesel
I think that this is absolutely ridiculous. Ralph Lauren fires someone for being to fat? I see Ralph Lauren or aka Polo as a company with fine clothing and it appealed to millions of people. Now that they have this ridiculous situation where they fire a model for being overweight. I know gender issues and body image is a huge role within women and men, but this is over the top. If anything I feel that the Ralph Lauren model was too skinny to begin with, and now there calling her fat. That’s outrageous. The video that she was in really described how she felt and the pain that she had to go through. If someone has been working for a company for modeling for over eight years, then they shouldn’t let her go for being to fat if they didn’t give her the chance to lose the “extra weight” that she had gained. The message that is being sent here is not good for the youth culture. They are going to make girls feel insecure about themselves, and cause girls to be too focused on their body image, and cause girls to become anorexic. This is a huge foul on the Polo company and makes me not want to purchase their clothing, but I am a guy so its easier to do then if I was a female in the same situation.
October 18, 2009 at 8:31 pm
alexander James
why would you photoshop a girl so she looks like that? She is disgustingly skinny and unattractive so I have no idea why she would be on the cover of a advertisement for polo. This just shows how messed up our values are that we consider a women like that to be something to strive for. She is probaly on cocaine and starves herself to look like that, its sad in a way. I blame the europeans for this sterotype of what women should look like since they seem to be the ones who push for the sickly skinny women look. Ralph Lauren is a very respectable company but for them to photoshop this picture in a way like that is horrible. Society today has this image for what all women should look like and its a problem. I wont lie and tell you that I do not judge girls but when a girl starts going to such extreme measures to lose weight and live up to these stereotypes I lose interest. Women are treated horribly in todays society and I hope if I have a daughter she never feels pressured to live up to these impossible expectations. It seems like even the models cannot be as beautiful as the public wants them to be.
October 19, 2009 at 8:16 pm
love2ski123
This is the absolute most disgusting ad i have ever seen. I honestly can not comprehend how someone would actually find these images to be attractive. That girl looks like she could be snapped in half, she is way too thin. It is extremely upsetting that this is the way that society portrays women bodies. No one should strive to look like these photo-shopped models, these ads are beyond thin they are simple unhealthy looking and disgraceful to regular woman’s curves. These expectations that society places on the appearances of women are unobtainable and create serious issues within the society. Women portrayed as this impossibly thin, do nothing but promote unhealthy eating habits. It is not okay to be this skinny, and women should not strive to every look like these models.
Not only do these ads create serious issues within adult women but the youth, our future generations, look to the media and find these images of the “perfect women,” and will attempt to imitate these images. These are not the messages that should be displayed to women, let alone young girls.
November 16, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Alex Cragg
I would just like to say that these photos are so completely unrealistic, it’s almost humorous. This is THE WORST photoshop job ever. NO ONE looks like that. Those models are probably very thin but the only women who look like those pictures are women in cartoon. My uncle is a fashion designer. He has designed for companies such as Gap/Old Navy, Banana Republic, Anne Kline and he is now at Talbots. I remember going into his offices when I was younger and looking at the Polaroid pictures of the models on his bulletin boards. NONE of them looked like those pictures. Who is Ralph Lauren trying to kid, and what message is he trying to send? Who decided unrealistically photoshopped girls were attractive? Do they think they will sell more clothes this way? I can tell you right now, based on looking at those ads, that I will not shop at Ralph Lauren because I won’t fit into their clothes. I think my body is perfect the way it is and I buy clothes that fit me. I don’t change my body to fit clothes.
November 17, 2009 at 1:55 am
Allison May
I loved watching this interview with Ann Curry up until the end… the last 8 seconds or so. What the hell was the woman from Cosmopolitan trying to say? She starts out by saying that “women need to protest…they need to rebel against the way Ralph Lauren and these companies are portraying women” But then she says, “They need to protest, but they also need to back up what they are saying. They need to have back up with their actions, with their POCKETBOOKS.” Excuse me? What does that have to do with anything? Okay, so we need to pay these companies to hire models that are ACTUALLY the size of the average American woman…and not photoshop the shit out of a girl who is a size 4? Just saying we want change isn’t enough??? Why should we endorse these companies that are giving young girls who are exposed to these ads eating disorders? I want to smack this Cosmopolitan woman in the face. I absolutely agree with taking action and protesting… I don’t agree at all with backing ourselves up “with our pocketbooks”. I wish the interview could have gone on a little bit longer so I could have seen what the hell she was trying to say.
Also, what bugs me the most is that Filippa Hamilton is a naturally beautiful woman who looked perfectly fine at a size FOUR, which for a woman of her height seems like too small a size anyway. (I’m bigger than that at 6 inches shorter). And that ad? Positively revolting.
November 17, 2009 at 6:27 am
Becky
It is funny to me that Ralph Lauren released a statement explaining that the photoshopped picture was a mistake. Every photo is edited and checked multiple times before it is submitted and even released to the public. I find it hard to believe that no one at Ralph Lauren bothered to fix or ask about why this model appears so thin, and why she was photoshopped to the extreme. I don’t know why magazines and designers photoshop women to be extremely thin, do they not think that we see these women on t.v. and sometimes in person, looking not like they do on the magazine cover. It is also similar to instances when people photoshop moles or other attributes dubbed to be an “impurity” off of a models face. It is just not real life.
Watching the clip of Hamilton defending her stance on the photoshopping and weight incident, I liked how the representative from cosmopolitan made a point to say that we as women need to take a stand to see a healthier fashion industry, that women say all the time that they would love to see real women as models, yet those articles and features rarely attract as much attention as the ultra thin models that grace the runways and high fashion magazines. Until we find peace with every body type, there will just be more body image issues with young girls and woman.
December 7, 2009 at 6:45 pm
re⋅spon⋅si⋅bil⋅i⋅ty « Responding to Digital Media and New Technologies
[...] discussed how fashion photography and celebrity images have skewed how we view women—the whole Ralph Lauren issue is still in discussion for some of you. Many of you argued against photoshopping images of [...]