Aerie Ditches Photoshop Like A Boss

          It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a clothing company in possession of a good fortune, must airbrush their models. 
          I'm sorry for that pride and prejudice reference, but I'm more sorry that you don't get it. 
          Still, it's true- almost every clothing company Photoshops their models beyond recognition. Even though you probably already knew that models are airbrushed that way, here's a short time-lapse video showing just how drastic the changes are.

          Now that you know just how crazy the modeling business can be, I've got a less depressing snippet of the media for you: ads released by Aerie, American Eagle's sister store for lingerie, that feature models who have not been airbrushed at all. This is a really bold move on their part- I mean, when was the last time that you saw an underwear ad that didn't feature a stick thin, roll-less, belly-less, flawless skinned model? It's probably been a while. Here are some of the ads from "Aerie Real" ad campaign.

Here's one featuring a gorgeous young lady who has a belly. Up until the age of twelve, I was under the impression that unless a woman is overweight, she has a completely flat stomach. So you can imagine my distress when I hit puberty at ten and gained a few (normal) pounds, and I wasn't a skinny prepubescent kid anymore. And I was lucky- I didn't develop anorexia or bulimia like other young girls who suddenly feel like now that they're older, they aren't skinny enough.

Here we have a model whose tattoo is front and center, even though they're usually photoshopped out in underwear ads.

A model who looks... Well... Real. Aerie, you have hit the nail right on the head. And on a side note, that is really cute underwear.

*sarcastic voice* is that- gasp! Cellulite??? *falls out of chair* *gets back up again to make sure that precious laptop is still running*

And finally...

Thank you, Aerie. Thank you because your models are real people who haven't been edited and airbrushed until they literally look like plastic dolls, like the woman in the video at the beginning of this post. Thank you because unlike other ads, this one doesn't demean people who don't feel good enough because of our society's false standards of beauty. Thank you because your brand, which is aimed at girls 15-21 years old- girls in high school and college- is one step closer to helping young women understand that they're always gorgeous, and that they shouldn't let anyone tell them otherwise. I don't mean for this post to be a promo ad for your company, but you deserve a serious congratulations for this awesome ad campaign. Good job.