A former Victoria’s Secret retoucher recently spilled the tricks of the trade to Refinery29,
1. Retouching existed long before Photoshop.
sometimes the color of a shirt doesn’t translate well when photographed, and the retoucher fixes it to show the accurate shade.You want something to pop more go ahead. "And then this thing just spiraled out of control.”
Take Instagram, for example. “Just a reminder, fitspo pictures aren't a real thing,” says Sarah. Even when they’re not retouched (which she says they often are), Sarah points out that they’re using the same lighting and posing tricks used on a professional shoot. “And, when you're manipulating the light and the camera angle like that, that’s technically retouching, because you're manipulating something to look as if it's something it's really, truly not in real life.”
And just as straight-size models get plumped up, plus-size models get slimmed and smoothed. “Anything to make [them] look delicate,” says Sarah. Not just waists, but wrists and ankles are taken in. “They make the neck more narrow because that is a very female, delicate thing to have.”
Even worse, child models are subjected to the same manipulations. "‘Can you make this 9-year-old look less tired?’”
It seems extreme, but it’s utterly standard.
8. Sometimes “fixing” is really “swapping.”
1. Retouching existed long before Photoshop.
sometimes the color of a shirt doesn’t translate well when photographed, and the retoucher fixes it to show the accurate shade.You want something to pop more go ahead. "And then this thing just spiraled out of control.”
2. Body “fixing” starts on set.
says Sarah. “I don’t think I ever was on a shoot with a model that had real hair.” Next, pads to alter the model’s breast size and body shape. Ears glued down and of course the spray on tan.
says Sarah. “I don’t think I ever was on a shoot with a model that had real hair.” Next, pads to alter the model’s breast size and body shape. Ears glued down and of course the spray on tan.
“They put a push-up bra under
the bathing suit. And we retouch out the bra...a lot of [staffers] would
complain because they even did it with strapless stuff. When you're
wearing a strapless bikini, in no way, shape, or form [can] you have
cleavage. It’s physically impossible with the way gravity works.” it’s barely her body anymore.
3. No one’s [insert any body part] looks like that.
Next comes the digital alteration: The bra gets taken out, and the nipples erased. Sarah was often asked to make breasts rounder, higher, perfectly symmetrical, and of course, larger (“they all have [size] A’s,” she says.)
“Everyone has blue hands and blue feet,” says Sarah. That’s just the way extremities show up in a picture. Furthermore, everyone’s armpits turn gray on camera. No matter how closely you shave, you’ll have a shadow, she says. And many of the models she worked with didn’t bother even shaving: They all have stubbly pubes — all the normal stuff [non-models have].”
“Models are thinner than you actually think they are, and we retouch them to look rounder.” Sarah routinely plumped up butts, hid protruding ribcages, and softened sharp hipbones under digital flesh. “We have to curve them out.”
Next comes the digital alteration: The bra gets taken out, and the nipples erased. Sarah was often asked to make breasts rounder, higher, perfectly symmetrical, and of course, larger (“they all have [size] A’s,” she says.)
“Everyone has blue hands and blue feet,” says Sarah. That’s just the way extremities show up in a picture. Furthermore, everyone’s armpits turn gray on camera. No matter how closely you shave, you’ll have a shadow, she says. And many of the models she worked with didn’t bother even shaving: They all have stubbly pubes — all the normal stuff [non-models have].”
“Models are thinner than you actually think they are, and we retouch them to look rounder.” Sarah routinely plumped up butts, hid protruding ribcages, and softened sharp hipbones under digital flesh. “We have to curve them out.”
4. So, why not just hire “curvier” models?
Because they don’t sell. Here’s where the business of beautifying gets even uglier. During Sarah’s time at Victoria’s Secret, “they tried different models and different body types all the time.” Consumers just didn’t respond.
“One time, during a swim season, they had these two girls come in that had abs and thick thighs and busts. They were really toned and their skin was amazing. They were still obviously models. But they were a different look. But, they didn’t sell anything and so they stopped using those girls.”
This is what Sarah means when she says “we’re choosing this” — if consumers responded positively with their dollars to less conventionally shaped models, brands would use them more in imagery.
5. In the end, it’s just about selling.
“The reason people retouch bodies is because they're just trying to sell you something,”
6. It’s not just one industry. It’s all of them.
Because they don’t sell. Here’s where the business of beautifying gets even uglier. During Sarah’s time at Victoria’s Secret, “they tried different models and different body types all the time.” Consumers just didn’t respond.
“One time, during a swim season, they had these two girls come in that had abs and thick thighs and busts. They were really toned and their skin was amazing. They were still obviously models. But they were a different look. But, they didn’t sell anything and so they stopped using those girls.”
This is what Sarah means when she says “we’re choosing this” — if consumers responded positively with their dollars to less conventionally shaped models, brands would use them more in imagery.
5. In the end, it’s just about selling.
“The reason people retouch bodies is because they're just trying to sell you something,”
6. It’s not just one industry. It’s all of them.
Take Instagram, for example. “Just a reminder, fitspo pictures aren't a real thing,” says Sarah. Even when they’re not retouched (which she says they often are), Sarah points out that they’re using the same lighting and posing tricks used on a professional shoot. “And, when you're manipulating the light and the camera angle like that, that’s technically retouching, because you're manipulating something to look as if it's something it's really, truly not in real life.”
And just as straight-size models get plumped up, plus-size models get slimmed and smoothed. “Anything to make [them] look delicate,” says Sarah. Not just waists, but wrists and ankles are taken in. “They make the neck more narrow because that is a very female, delicate thing to have.”
Even worse, child models are subjected to the same manipulations. "‘Can you make this 9-year-old look less tired?’”
It seems extreme, but it’s utterly standard.
8. Sometimes “fixing” is really “swapping.”
“There's
a lot of the switching bodies up,” says Sarah. She gives a common
example: “‘Can you change these arms with a different girl's arms,
because her arms are making it look like she's, like, picking her butt’ —
or something.” Awkward gestures are often fixed this way. “A lot of the
time, retouching isn't about trying to make a body look ideal, but also
to avoid criticism of the image.”
9. Some things are changing — and some may never change.
“I won't take in waists anymore. I refuse to do that,” she says. Teeth and eyeball whitening. “Nobody has really white eyes” she says.”
Still, there are some standard practices she doesn’t see leaving anytime soon. Just as nearly every model has acne, cellulite, and stretch marks (Sarah's reminder: “You don’t get 6 feet tall during puberty without having stretch marks.”), every retoucher knows to remove them.
Most of her clients ask for her to lift them a bit, “which is, like, okay. It's not the worst thing in the world. I'm not copying and pasting boobs. At least I'm not doing that. I'll take it.”
While Sarah’s glad to see pushback within her industry, she knows that the bigger battle is changing consumer hearts and minds — even her own. “I ordered a Victoria's Secret swimsuit this summer. And then I got it and, of course, it wasn’t as cute as in the photo. I'm the one retouching this stuff and I'm still not immune to marketing. It's incredible.”
9. Some things are changing — and some may never change.
“I won't take in waists anymore. I refuse to do that,” she says. Teeth and eyeball whitening. “Nobody has really white eyes” she says.”
Still, there are some standard practices she doesn’t see leaving anytime soon. Just as nearly every model has acne, cellulite, and stretch marks (Sarah's reminder: “You don’t get 6 feet tall during puberty without having stretch marks.”), every retoucher knows to remove them.
Most of her clients ask for her to lift them a bit, “which is, like, okay. It's not the worst thing in the world. I'm not copying and pasting boobs. At least I'm not doing that. I'll take it.”
While Sarah’s glad to see pushback within her industry, she knows that the bigger battle is changing consumer hearts and minds — even her own. “I ordered a Victoria's Secret swimsuit this summer. And then I got it and, of course, it wasn’t as cute as in the photo. I'm the one retouching this stuff and I'm still not immune to marketing. It's incredible.”
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