Is that a gently rounded tummy on that bra and knickers-clad model? Is that a freckle? A slight padding of body fat? It says something about how distorted our view of the female form has become that American Eagle’s ads for its lingerie line, Aerie, can get attention for the simple fact that they’re not airbrushed.
The US company's decision to photograph models as they really are in its spring 2014 collection is one small step for a fashion house, one giant step for young people who have grown up not knowing what a real woman looks like. Caprice's ridiculously airbrushed body, her abdomen so flat she looks like she's been made in plastic by Mattel, is more the sort of thing we're used to. Unrealistic images of women have shaped the way a generation sees itself – usually negatively.
Maybe this is making too much of what are merely ads for underwear. Susan Hunter, who celebrates 30 years selling gravity-defying luxurious lingerie this year in her Dublin shop, is so experienced that she can tell what bra size a woman wears without a measuring tape, just by looking at her from the side – with clothes on.
“I thought the unairbrushed approach was a brilliant idea, but on the site they are using the most naturally beautiful girls. It’s still putting it up to young people, but it’s a move in the right direction.”
Hunter has never seen two women the same shape in all her years of fitting them in silk and lace. “People are snowflakes,” she says.
American Eagle is shipping to Ireland, but Hunter warns against buying lingerie online. "It's impossible, because bra sizes are inconsistent even within the same company and the same size", she says.
The young market Aerie is aimed at needs to understand that if you have the right foundation, clothes will look much better, though she acknowledges that many teenagers hate being measured. Go to an expert such as Susan Hunter, and you won’t be humiliated. One look and she’ll know.
