This Victoria’s Secret photo editor got real about retouching

We’re pretty much reeling after reading an interview with an anonymous Victoria’s Secret photo editor in Refinery29. Now, bear in mind, this is an unnamed source, but if the things she says are true, we’re a little shocked. Because while everyone knows the images we see in Victoria’s Secret ads are less than realistic, it turns out these images are edited more than we ever imagined.

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Basically no one actually has breasts like a Victoria Secret’s model. Not even the VS models have breasts that spectacular. All those perky boobs you see in the swimsuit ads are the result of careful photo manipulation. The models even wear push up bras under their bikinis!

The bra straps are just photoshopped out. The tell-all photo editor, who goes by the name “Sarah” in the article, says, “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.”

Also, nipples get erased. (Ouch.) Seriously, they do. And now that we know, we can’t help but notice it…

Clearly, the breasts we’re seeing in advertisements are far from realistic. But according to Sarah, *nothing* about the bodies we see in swimsuit ads is real, from head to toe (despite the fact that they are gorgeous with zero retouching.) Models either arrive on-set with hair extensions or have them put in immediately. Sarah says, “I don’t think I ever was on a shoot with a model that had real hair.”

Which sort of explains why no amount of hair products will make my hair actually look like this (sighhhhh):

When we say head-to-toe, we’re not joking. Feet are color-corrected. Teeth and eyeballs are whitened. Armpits are altered to edit out hair. Bikini lines are “fixed” to cover up stubble. So in case you’re wondering how those models get such amazingly thorough wax jobs, THEY DON’T.

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But here’s the super crazy part: Sarah says it’s standard practice to photoshop the VS swimsuit models to look curvier.

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Sarah says she does things like enlarge breasts, erase protruding ribcages, soften hip bones and plump up rear ends to make it look like they have more junk in their trunk. “Models are thinner than you actually think they are, and we retouch them to look rounder,” she says. “We have to curve them out.”

Um, what? This is actually the opposite of what we thought went on. And hey, if they want curvier figures, why don’t they just use curvier models? Brace yourself, because the answer is depressing AF.

Sarah says Victoria’s Secret actually did try using curvier models and the underwear and swimsuits they were modeling didn’t sell. And that’s what’s behind all these alterations in the first place: sales.

This is the painful part of Sarah’s interview. She says the public bears part of the responsibility of the extreme photo-editing that goes on because we’ve been so conditioned to see unrealistic bodies that now we’re effectively choosing to see a fantasy version of what a woman looks like rather than a realistic portrayal.

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Not this time, Robin Williams.

While this is a gigantic bummer, Sarah does mention that Aerie has been super successful with its #AerieReal body positive campaign, which uses real models with real curves that have been completely unretouched (holla!!!!). She speculates that the reason Aerie has been successful switching over to more realistic portrayals of women is because they’ve made it part of their brand and mission statement rather than just sneaking in curvier models to try them out. This is a good thing, guys. Here’s hoping other companies follow suit.

You can read the Refinery 29 article in its entirely here, which we totally recommend. It’s quite an eye-opener, although until Sarah’s claims can be confirmed by Victoria’s Secret, remember to take it with the usual grain of salt.

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