As I was browsing the Jacob website this morning I stumbled upon something I found rather interesting; their “No Retouching Policy”
They are claiming to be the first Canadian retailer that has committed to not retouching their model’s photographs because they want to promote an honest and realistic image of the female body.
Personally, I feel while it’s great to leave her body “as is” … lets be real here, she’s extremely skinny already and most of what they did in the retouched photo was remove the TINY curve she had.
What are your thoughts?
Still not a very realistic image of the female body, but an improvement I suppose.
they did also make her boobs bigger lol …
i mean come on Jacob …
BETTER than retouching yes … but still
Looks like they adjusted the lighting as well to appear more tanned. When you look like her who wants to mess with nature? I am sure it will drawn more customers towards their line.
they removed a bit of the ‘muffin top’, smoothed the line of her thighs, enhanced her calves, realigned her knees…they did a LOT to an already great body….glad to hear they are no longer going to retouch!
I agree with Anne, but I still think it is a step forward. Media portrays these very thin women to young females and it causes them to think they need to look this way – when realistically this should not be something young females look up to. Media disgusts me either way. Has anyone seen the 10 yr old girl in a Perfume ad? She’s beautiful no doubt, but it could gain the wrong attention.
@joseff – that is hardly a muffin top lol
Muffin top?!! Those are called HIPS!!! lol Women have HIPS. A muffin top is the result of cramming said hips into pants that are not the appropriate size for your hips.
Just went to their website to check it out. The only concern I might have is are they just going to choose even skinnier models? Browsed through the photos of the women on there and they are all very thin and quite unrealistic.
@ anne – LOL … breathe … breaaaaathe …
it’s true though … her “curve” is actually quite nice and sexy … instead they remove it so that she resembles a 12 yr old boy.
come on.
I think she looks much better in the first photo, before they did any retouching!
There are plenty of slim women in this world, who are just a real as the larger ones. Jacob doesn’t cater to plus sizes, so while it would be nice to see a larger VARIETY of sizes within their range, don’t insult this women by calling her “unrealistic” and implying she’s disgusting and too thin. It is just as bad as calling people fat – one doesn’t always pick their body size!
I get that they are trying to do something positive, but it is still very far from the ‘average’ woman.
@ Jill … i was insulting this model, she is very attractive… no one would think she was disgusting i’m sure!
the point is she’s gorgeous as is
Note that the image above says Jacob will no longer retouch the BODY SHAPE of its models — I assume that means skin tone, blemishes, face, hair, teeth, makeup, etc., are all still fair game.
I think it’s great, and hope other retailers follow suit.
Totally agree with you guys, this lady looks much better untouched. Why do they take her hips away? What’s with the straight robot legs?
Most super models look like teenage boys with long hair and breasts implants. The more manly and unreal, the more expensive the clothes.
I don’t think they need to be so cocky about it. Retouching has its place. Sometimes you need to remove shadow, dust, hair, or change color of the clothes so they are more adhere to the shelved items under normal light.
Why is this an unrealistic body image. Why can’t being 50 pounds overweight be an unrealistic body image? People who look like this have will power, do not eat extremely processed foods, limit what the eat. you only need 1200 -1500 calories per day if female. Eating Pilsbury toaster strudels is not going to get you looking like this. Also to those who start complaing OH my thyroid. No put down the donought or the donoght burger that they are having at this years Ex.
After 6 months using coupons I gained 15 pounds. I no longer use coupons to buy products that are processed high sugar ect. I dont care anymore thats it cheap or free its not worth it. I only use coupons now to buy health and beauty, cleaning supples. Or if its something that is not sugary, highly processed. I am almost back to my pre-coupon weight.
I dont think we should be promoting a plus size model image. Then young girls get the idea that being morbidly obese is an acceptable body image.
Lets not be PC and say being overweight or morbidly obsese is ok. Its not. No matter what you say, you can not be health and be overweight.
That’s great, now maybe Jacob could stop using that disgusting perfume they spray all over their store (store policy….once an hour), and maybe I’d want to shop there!
She’s got a crazy-perfect skinny body as is.
Jacob is not being very ground-breaking or daring here, as clearly they are only going to be using women who have such perfectly photogenic bodies they don’t NEED to be retouched.
1200-1500 calories per day is not enough for most women.
Oh hahaha!!! She doens’t need to be retouched. If she had some stretch marks and some fat on her, maybe then what Jacob is doing would be credible.
Dear Ferdo, thats the ignorance where all of this garbage comes from. You cannot be overweight and be healthy?? For my height I should be 135 as my perfect weight, I am 160 and I run marathons. I rock climb, I mountain bike, I swim, I golf and I kayak. So who is healthier here Ferdo, me or someone with the f*cked up mind set like you?
Ferdo- Growing up my sister and I were given the same portions to eat for dinner, we had most of the same friends and did most of the same stuff. We were in gymnastics, swimming, ballet, etc. Yet my sister was as thin as that model and I was about 20 or so pounds heavier. I was still in my normal weight range, she was actually under hers.
Anyway my point is that people have different metabolisms so stop judging people that may be a bit over weight, they dont all eat over 2000 calories a day, they dont all sit on their butt and watch tv for hours. People are built differently and gain weight differently then others.
And people are not asking for a morbidly obsess model they are saying it would be nice to see a model that is not a size 00 that is maybe a size 6, or even 12. All of which are normal non plus size sizes.
Normally someone who wears a 00 is under weight, although there are exceptions(petites).
My step daughter is a 00 and is 10 pounds under weight according to the doctor. This is not her normal body size, she tries to barely eat because she wanted to get down to this size, she used to be a size 4. Now if maybe more of the models were a size 4 or 6 she might have been happier with the way she looked and not have felt the need to become under weight in order to feel beautiful.
BTW a size 00 is about the same waist size as a size 12 girls
I actually prefer the first image… I’m very petite and slim (naturally) and I think the second picture does not portray a woman (what happened with the hourglass shape!?) but more like a plastic surgery topped anorexic! Yes blemishes, white teeth, etc is probably still fair game but I don’t think that leads to nearly as much self image issues as the currently unreal body images fashion is portraying!
If that is a muffin top then I think I would qualify as having a nuclear muffin top.
Who are they trying to fool? That image is completely retouched. They say “no touch-ups will be made to reshape the bodies of its models” – they’ve completely done that here!
nevermind – i misread, the first photo is the one they actually used! Yay for Jacob! 🙂
I think it’s good they’re claiming they will no longer retouch them, but you know they will. After all, they have to adjust things–especially if their photographer isn’t all that good. 🙂
@Peppermint Patty. LOL! Me too! But hey, nuclear muffin top sounds pretty cool. 😀
@Ferdo You do realize “plus size models” are anywhere from size 10 – 14 right? Size 10 – 14 is HARDLY “50 points overweight”. In fact, most people that size are within their healthy weight range!
…and by ‘points’ I meant pounds. Oi. I need to read through what I type! 🙂
I think it’s a step forward that any retailer would show an untouched photo of its models. yes she may be a size 2 but at least she looks likes woman now and not pre-teen.
I’m glad they are doing this.
To me having a realistic image of a female body means accepting and appreciating that women come in all shapes and sizes. I hear a lot of people saying these women are too thin and unrealistic. I understand that there is a need to have different types of women represented so that young girls don’t just see one type and think that they have to measure up. But I disagree that the body types represented in the pictures are unrealistic (other than the boob jobs). I have a naturally thin body type, like the woman on the picture. Believe it or not, it affects my self esteem too when I hear people constantly putting that body type down (too thin, looks like a twelve-year-old, etc.) I just wish we could all realize that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all perfect body. Perfect will look different for each one of us, depending on the body type we have.
I think it is great that they have decided to stop retouching.
However, I DONT want to see a bigger model. Why? Because Jacob doesnt cater to bigger people. If I want to see a bigger model, I will shop at a store that caters to bigger people. Its not as if Pennington uses size 00 models.
If you are overweight, and dont like seeing this, turns out, you DONT shop here anyways, so why complain?!
I think this just made me more conscious of my body lol!
Ferdo, people in third world countries look like this too. Are you seriously saying that they underweight because of “willpower?” Give your head a shake.
i think she looked fine in the first place..50 pounds overweight is considered obese but what most of the people here consider plus size is why people have eating disorders.society’s expectations of what is a normal size..plus size in today’s standards is anything over size 12.i know people who are size 14 who aren’t “fat”
Cheryl888- When people say bigger they do not necessarily mean plus size. I dont shop at jacob (not becaue I wouldnt fit their clothes, I would its just not my style) but I would imagine like most stores they go up to about size 12 or bigger. All people are trying to say is that maybe instead of having all the models in the 00-4 size range they could add a few that are in the size 6-12 range so that more of their customers are represented. I know when I see ads I always have to try and picture how it would look on me, it would be nice to see other sizes represented so that people that are say a size 8 or 10 can get an idea of how it would look.
You also mention going to “penningtons” because it caters to bigger people if we want to see bigger models. On average plus size models don’t even wear plus sized clothes. Although I have noticed that there are some bigger girls in some ads now. But back when I was in high school a girl in my class was a plus size model and she was only about a size 12 maybe even a 10 which is not even considered plus size.
It’s about time.
I like that retailers are trying to portray a more realistic image of their models. Working with kids, I can tell you, that images affect children at a very young age. I met a 5 year old a couple of weeks ago that looked perfect who said she was on a diet because she was too fat….WTF?
Of course retailers aren’t going to be picking larger girls to represent their clothes. However, I am a size 10. I work out 4 times a week, run half marathons, and wish that there were normal sized models represented in their ads. Not everyone is a size 00-4.
I realize that this site is populated mostly by women, but the reason they hire hot models is that fat women are disgusting. This is what guys want. Noone wants to be with a size 10 unless you happen to be 6’4″. I know size 10’s and 12s are not alone, but trust me, the guy you are with wishes you were a size 4. The reason he is with you is because he can’t afford better. Just like he drives that minivan and wishes he could drive a corvette.
Think twice before you let him buy a lottery ticket ladies. He would leave if he could afford it.
..Wow, Slider.
I’m a 12/13 (well, a 10 back before my back-to-back pregnancies…) and I think my husband is happy with me, thank you.
Otherwise, why would we have a second child on the way??
Oh, and I let him buy lottery tickets. 😉
slider is trolling..badly..
I don’t think there is anything wrong with showing really skinny girls in media, as long as its not retouched to be completely unrealistic. It is probably healthier to show skinnier girls to promote girls to exercise and look healthy, than to promote the thought that “any size is beautiful” because that is NOT true. Yeah when people say that it might be good for their self esteem but not good for their health. Also I don’t understand why there is a double standard – when girls are overly skinny they get criticized to gain some weight and even called anorexic, but apparently it is “wrong” to call a girl fat??
A size 12 is NOT healthy, and shouldn’t be considered “normal.” I’m a size 6 or 8 and people tell me that I am so skinny, but I think people should think this is the average. Have you been to France, Germany, Spain or anywhere in Asia? Most women there are tiny, and that is the norm. Here in North America we just have a very skewed opinion of what is normal and what is over or underweight.
i don’t know where people get how certain sizes arent healthy..size 2x is not healthy.size 12? really.i know size 12 people that are athletic,tall,and have a healthy bmi. i know people who are size 14 with the same bmi’s but re taller. normal is anything between a size 4 and a size 12. anything below that is considered extra small and anything above is considered large to extra large..plainly saying size 12 isn’t healthy really is ignorant to what the size 12 person’s body looks like and what their bmi is.
clearly this is an example of how sad society is becoming…that if you are over a size 8 you are fat…
I wished mags and other companies didnt retouch, its like lieing to the person who is seeing it, everyone has imperfections, thats what makes them unique and more human, i think i’ll think more highly of Jacob as being the 1st ones.
wow….
slider, the woman you are with is only with you because she thinks she cant do any better, she thinks she isnt worth a man who will treat her the way she should be treated, she cries herself to sleep every night and hates you.
ps, i used to be a size 00 and my then boyfriend always pointed out “fat” girls and said how hot they were, now i am no longer a size 00 and said man is my husband and forbids me from losing any weight because according to him i now look like a woman!
bubs, i totally agree, my first thought was the same, sure pick a perfect model and then brag about not retouching her!
Jill and Lisa, thank you for your eloquent and spot-on comments. 🙂
There really isn’t too much of a difference in this retouched and untouched image, so I think they picked a bad comparison to compare since the changes are pretty minor. The only big thing I see is that they made her legs more stick like. She has a bigger gap between her legs in the photo shopped image and less flesh…The changes are very minor though.
I have the exact same body as her natural untouched image so I think it’s kind of ridiculous that they would even retouch someone that naturally small to begin with…especially when she is probably a size 0 or 2 to begin with.
I disagree with the comment that the model is “extremely skinny”. If she was extremely skinny, she would look emaciated and stick thin, which she does not. On the contrary, she appears to be in good health. The average North American is overweight, perhaps this may cause perceptions of what is truly skinny to be skewed.
it’s a start anyways!:)
you may notice that they did enhance her breast size a little as well. Not much but her cleavage is a little bit more pronounced. Sad that our society has a hard time showing women for what we really are.
Can’t complain, it’s a start!
@ Anne: This is not an unrealistic body image because I’m her size and I’ve been told I’m big eater, I just don’t gain weight and I happend to be Asian so that helps! This is my natural size.
It’s a good thing that they changed their policy because even skinny girls have imperfections. I have a small belly that probably won’t go away unless I exercise but my boyfriend likes it and it doesn’t bother me…how many women actually have a flat stomach?
For the record, size 0 is not the greatest! I used to be that as a teenager and now I’m a size 3 and I love it. Now I got ass and curves! When I was a size 0, I know alot of girls were jealous I was skinny, but I was always self-consious and avoided wearing all black. Size 0 is definitely too skinny unless if you’re really short!
@Slider: Not every girl can be a size 4 and not all guys are shallow! Ya I’m skinny but I’d like to think my bf would still be with me if I gained 50 pounds!
I’m pretty sure this is not new news.
Also, I’m pretty sure I don’t give a rat’s ass what they do to the photos of their models. Their clothing doesn’t fit me (I’m 5’2″ & weigh ~105lbs, but my 25″ waist & 37″ hips mean I’ve got curves that are incompatible w/ the cut of their clothes). I am not their target audience.
Maybe you should all work in a womens clothing store for a while!
You would see that not one size is the same on everyone. I have seen women who are 5 feet tall and look like they are a size 16 but actually can fit a 10. As well there are lots of taller 5’7 or so who are attractive and I thought they were a 8 or 10 size but actually were a 14 or 16. So you cannot judge someone by a size as body type as I all ranges. I was 118lbs. long ago but wore a size 12 top as I have broad shoulders. For my height that was skinny.
And to SLIDER gee, if my husband did win the lottery he would be welcome to leave me for someone skinny. I somehow do not care. And I would get half of the cash, being together for sooooooo long. So I win both ways. You portray all women as pathetic, too bad for you.
I love it !! She looks very fit. I think she looks fantastic. I do not like the retouched photo because I know that I could never look like that, but with excersice I could look like the other model and think young women should know with a healthy diet and excersise it is possible to have a healthy fit body 🙂
That is more like 5 steps in the right direction. I used to think some of these models had implants but no their cleavage is brushed on. lol. It silly how if a “ordinary” woman wears a push up bra it can be considered as “false advertising”. Yet this is false advertising to the max. It would be nice if men realized that instead of assuming these models really look like that and comparing them to ordinary women who are not models.
I think it’s a great policy for them to implement. I found about 5 things that were retouched (inner thighs, waist, bust, skin colour, face) and although she is already very lean at least that is her as she is, not an unrelastic version. Baby steps in the right direction are still heading in the right direction!
Lol slider is ignorant and probably don’t even like women or at least legal-aged women. Most guys I hear like curvy, proportionate women. Not women with bodies like 10 year old boys. They added this model’s cleavage on. Breasts are fat, and they felt the need to add fat, so fat cannot be that disgusting.
Being curvy myself, not to be boastful, but I notice that I get hit on a lot at the clubs, men wanting to grind up on me, want my number etc. While I see my slimmer friends looking bored and no one approaching them.. So slider’s commentary is completely inaccurate. Men want to skip the appetizer and go straight to the meat.. LOL But let’s not blame slider here, maybe he had a bad experience, or no one wants him so he is bitter.
So this explains why I don’t leave the house wearing a low-cut top without wearing a smaller size push up bra so cleavage can spill out unrealistically..lol. Gotta love the media..
No those are not hips or a muffin top. Its (very small) love handles, since they are just above the hip. Hips start below the bellybutton. It comes out from her waist and goes straight down. Usually it slopes out more below the waist if the person has big hips. If not this is realistic but not out of shape.
Come on, the model in the photo does not need any touch up in the first place. However, nothing is mentioned about makeup and lighting. We all can look better if we have pros giving us a makeover.
Reality check, not all of us, even at that age, looks that way. The only way this girl get to be a model is by looking the way she does, all the power to her. Companies have rights to hire models that reflect their target consumers. However, they tend to forget that not all people in whatever category they are targeting look or shape the same. What we need is more models that represent all the different looks out there, not just one specific type. Not retouching is just a very small step in the right direction.
Ferdo, Do you have an eating disorder? And you are a guy? batiboy go to the gym and be a man. Stop ragging on people for eating. Someone should ship his butt to Somalia and see how it feels to not have food if thats what he wants.
@Jazzy – those are NOT love handles lol …
that is called the NORMAL CURVE of a woman’s body!
Men who don’t appreciate a woman if she is a couple pounds overweight to straight up overweight doesn’t qualify to be a man in my opinion. They must be abusive, and will end up in prison with bubba at some point.
Also men who only want a skinny woman, probably its because it is easier to overpower. They want someone they can kick around. Thats also why a lot of men have a problem with muscular women. Maybe we can melt down all the abusers so they make one decent man? lol.
Jackson I agree. BE A MAN! lol
Wow whats wrong with men wanting skinny women? It’s not cause they’re abusive lol, it’s cause women who are skinny are usually healthier and look better (well as long as they have curves and they’re not anorexic skinny)!
Skinny women being easy to overpower?? Pleaseee, women that are skinny tend to have more confidence in themselves so techically an overweight woman with low self-esteem would be easier to overpower mentally.
Everyone’s entitled to their own preference, including men who love to date big girls and don’t like skinny chicks!
There are absolutely no “love handles” on that chick ahahaha!
@Slider
Wow, really? My boyfriend has a corvette and dated a girl who was a size 2. He ditched her pretty fast when he met me. Oh, and I’m NOT a size 4! I’m a size 8, and he much prefers my body. Why? Because my body is a healthy weight, hers is not. She is too skinny for her structure and looks bony and unhealthy.
Yes, it’s fine when a girl is size 4 if she’s built for that size. But the girls who aren’t built that size and who restrict and have “willpower” (can we say Pro-Ana with that statement?) and become that skinny, look unhealthy because they’re NOT meant to be that small. And it looks awful.
When I date girls I love them no matter the size, I just like to see them happy, healthy, and comfortable in their own body. But I will admit, I’m a sucker for huge curvy hips! 🙂
The untouched photo is a realistic version of a female body, because it IS a real female body.
the one that is touched up is not, not because they took away the little curve she had, btu because they shaved her knee down and added extra cleavage that wasn’t there.
she has a beautiful body as is, maybe mine doen’t look that way, but it’s not her fault or theirs, it’s mine and the hamburger helper I just had for supper.
But frankly, i wouldn’t worry so much about it if they didn’t want to make me look like something that isn’t physically possible. at least by looking at the original image I can get a sense of what is physically attainable and real.
being over weight myself i constantly struggle with body issues. From my lowest to my highest i have fluctuated around 70 pounds *give or take a few pounds*….and it definitely doesn’t help seeing retouched photos of un reachable *goals/aspirations*…..yeah, the model is slim in the first pic, but it’s still REAL and she looks great! This is what we need more of REAL body images….hurray!! definitely a step in the right direction!
Skinny girls are more healthy? WOW! The person who made that statement must be VERY ignorant and is living in a shell waaayyy under the sea. lol. The healthiest person is an average weight, but more specifically for THEIR size, bone structure and what not. It is better to be average that underweight(which is unhealthy, not to mention who wants to be shagging a pile of bones?) To be muscular is definately healthy. More importantly is the body fat ratio. You can see slim people who actually have more body fat percentage than a heavier set person. So slim doesn’t always mean healthy. Get it through your bone head lol. I don’t think it is nice to make fun of skiny people as it is not right to insult a heavier person. But ot has always been the trend to insult bigger people, so I understand why skinny people are being insulted more these days.
As for self esteem, It is usally the people who are skinny are still not satisfied and they are still trying to lose weight. So skinny girls are OFTEN suffer from self esteem issues than a girl with average weight (which I understand that is going up in this part of the world, as the obeisity rate is increasing which is sad, yet people continue to scrutinize instead of sympathize) People who have weight problems I could understand self esteem issues but wait, I think it transends all sizes since the media portrays this (The retouched version) And there is quite a difference between both images. So people are striving to achieve this and losing weight and not always satisfied with the results because it usually decreases the breast size.
Skinny girls are more healthy? WOW! The person who made that statement must be VERY ignorant and is living in a shell waaayyy under the sea. lol. The healthiest person is an average weight, but more specifically for THEIR size, bone structure and what not. It is better to be average that underweight(which is unhealthy, not to mention who wants to be shagging a pile of bones?) To be muscular is definately healthy. More importantly is the body fat ratio. You can see slim people who actually have more body fat percentage than a heavier set person. So slim doesn’t always mean healthy. Get it through your bone head lol. I don’t think it is nice to make fun of skiny people as it is not right to insult a heavier person. But ot has always been the trend to insult bigger people, so I understand why skinny people are being insulted more these days.
As for self esteem, It is usally the people who are skinny are still not satisfied and they are still trying to lose weight. So skinny girls are OFTEN suffer from self esteem issues than a girl with average weight (which I understand that is going up in this part of the world, as the obeisity rate is increasing which is sad, yet people continue to scrutinize instead of sympathize) People who have weight problems I could understand self esteem issues but wait, I think it transends all sizes since the media portrays this (The retouched version) And there is quite a difference between both images. So people are striving to achieve this and losing weight and not always satisfied with the results because it usually decreases the breast size.
I don’t think it’s nice to say that skinny models look like boys and boards. Some of these WOMEN, despite their lack of curves, are still women and still deserve the same respect that larger, curvier women have. We all want to promote healthy body image but keep in mind of whose feelings we may hurt by calling someone fat or skinny. Some people have a lot of trouble putting on weight, just as some people have trouble losing it.
It would be nice to seeall sizes in the media, however, just because we don’t, it’s unkind to criticize and insult the type of bodies that we see currently…
The point is they removed natural hip/waist and thigh curves all women have regardless of body size. Which is unrealistic.
Besides all you people claiming she’s “skinny”, no she is not. She looks fit and toned. There’s a difference (look at runway models for example). She’s also likely never had kids yet…