Carmen Soo's dress is nothing less than fabulous, no question about it. Perfectly accessorized also.
I just don't like not recognizing Katherine McPhee. I love her dress. I hope she goes back to brunette soon, though.
Fit issues notwithstanding, Juliana's dress is rockin too. So much so that I almost didn't notice she'd accessorized with black and gold, which looks ok. But just so. I would have been fab paired with just gold or white and gold accessories. The black is just too much for the softness of her hairdo and dress.
My inner Edna Mode screamed "too much of it dahling!" at #11.
Sadie, that was comedy gold! Its hard to pick a favorite, but of all the comments I think #11 wins. But, then I remember #4 and...damn its ALL hilarious!
This photo isn't retouched at all! Haven't you heard? Partial hip removal is the new weight-loss trend sweeping Hollywood!
All the leading ladies are doing it!
There is absolutely, literally (literally!) no question about whether this image was altered-- it was. The question is, to what extent was it altered. Little things like blotchy skin, shadows, flyaways are always fixed. But a retoucher can obviously take it to that next step where body parts are slimmed, posture is changed, etc.
@lafleur: Ugh, she looks like a bobble head afterward. I much prefer the "frumpy" version that doesn't look like her body was left in the dryer too long.
Like I posted yesterday on the Tweet Beat thread, there are some obvious differences between Demi's "original" and the cover (here are the pics again for reference.. open in two different tabs to click back and forth to see the diff: [i49.tinypic.com][i46.tinypic.com] ). But yeah, I agree that I'm not convinced that her copy was the true, straight-from-the-camera shot. I've seen a lot of before-and-afters and hers just seems to be devoid of all unflattering shadows and the like.
But then again, it very well could be real.I don't think they slimmed her down too much.. she is very, very skinny. And I definitely don't think that the hip was photoshopped. It's not so much the hip in question as it is the connection between the hip and the thigh.. and if she has muscular thighs and she is leaning more to one side, then yeah this is definitely plausible.
It will be interesting to see where this goes. The only thing I hate about this is that so many websites have called this "the worst photoshop job of all time" and things like that. Come ON, even past RALPH LAUREN? No way. I would love to see them eat their words.
Hi all - just want to reiterate what I said to Xeni (and to Demi) - please see my quotes in Xeni's articles to get the full context. This has turned into a big poo-storm and I seriously feel bad that Demi is on the defensive. She's gorgeous, she's talented, and she has nothing to apologize for... this wasn't about her, her body, or even about retouching (I've no problem with retouching - do it all the time.) It all started as what I saw as a funny "blooper" - that's it. We all make mistakes (me, more than my fair share), so we should have just laughed and moved on.
But by the same token I can't sit idly by while I'm accused of "bullshit" by someone with her audience (2.5M on Twitter or something?) and not push back. All the Hollywood blogs and shows are parroting her as gospel "Demi proves her point by posting the original". I have to work in this town. So, when I saw her "bullshit" tweet and "original", I had to do something... I mean, the picture came out of the camera like that, guys? Really? Let's get real.
Anyway, W Mag should be dealing with this, not Demi.
@Anthony Citrano: No, I understand your point. She is a beautiful women. She's also a 47-year-old human being and pretending that this is what any 47-year-old human being is beyond disingenuous and possibly harmful. I'm just sorry she got involved.
I completely agree with the photographer. Anyone who has worked in this industry can tell that the image has been worked on. It may not have been the final proof, but color corrections and contrast adjustments were made. It also seems that her eyes were whitened amongst other things. It's very easy to do a quick retouch when selecting the final product, which helps to give a better idea about the end result. This is probably what Demi got ahold of.
Edited by sydbarrettsaves, emissary of hell at 11/20/09 5:24 PM
sydbarrettsaves, emissary of hell was starred
sydbarrettsaves, emissary of hell was unstarred
honestly I wouldn't have noticed anything amiss if it hadn't been pointed out to me. it just looks like she's quite thin with narrow hips. but the most disturbing thing is her butchery of the English language. *shudder*
Body issues aside, isn't anyone disturbed by a grown women nearing the age 50 flippantly using internet slang like a 13-year old emo kid.
Demi, honey, can't really take you seriously if you insist on using U instead of just typing the 3 letters out (although I do appreciate you capitalizing it).
I find it amusing (read: pathetic) when a star throws out the "don't they have anything better to do with their lives than critique my appearance??"
That's that person's job. If they are in design, photo, production of almost any kind, their job is to evaluate what makes you look best (or, most gaunt) in a magazine photo... a magazine photo that gives you publicity and exposure, which is what your career as a a famous actress hinges on. It reads to me like biting one of the hands that feeds them. And they're very well fed (metaphorically only, of course).
Granted, this particular photog wasn't a W. Magazine person involved in that particular shoot, but I find it belittling and rude for her to talk down so much to someone whose career revolves around making someone like Demi successful.
@Apollonia: Yeah, when you invest an enormous amount of time, money and energy in your appearance, for the express purpose of looking a certain way, it's disingenuous to then say "oh, I can't imagine why people are so busy critiquing the way I look."
Perhaps because you've so obviously reduced your entire existence to how you look?
There's nothing wrong with Demi investing all that time and money, but there's definitely something wrong with posting the photo on Twitter (i.e. saying LOOKATMELOOKATMELOOKATME) and then fussing at people for looking at her.
I have mixed feelings about this. Half of me is thinking, "Who cares?" Not, mind you, because photoshopping isn't a problem, but rather because calling Demi out on her photo seems tasteless and petty. The magazine's editorial staff and photographer should be held accountable, not the actress, in my opinion.
On the other hand, I find it really annoying that Demi would claim that the photo is not re-touched. It comes across as paranoid and shallow--like when people have had obvious plastic surgery (cough, cough) and claim to the contrary. She's beautiful and having had help by re-touching or cosmetic procedures does not take away from that. I fail to see the point in lying.
I don't know. Playing devils advocate but maybe it really is the way she is standing. I have a slight bend in my back from scholiosis, thus my hips are uneven and one side looks slightly bigger. Thats what I thought when I first saw it, looks simlar to how i imagine my hips would look if i was a "chopstick".
@duetoprivacy: I am with you. I can see this just being her stance in the photo... When you stick out one hip the other does kind of recede and create a straighter line on one side, so I can see this being the case. I am sure they photoshopped the picture to some extent, but I don't know if they necessarily chopped her hip.
@femme-bot: If this isn't retouched though... aren't we all bodysnarking?
I think the waist-hip-shoulder thing might be that she is really skinny and twisting her hips to one side while holding her shoulders/face directly forward. Does that make sense?
@BeckySharper: That could be because she is standing in counterpost, but they've fiddled around with the photo so much you can't see it. Normally in counterpost, the hip would stick out, but I think they've made her hips narrower
11/24/09
I just don't like not recognizing Katherine McPhee. I love her dress. I hope she goes back to brunette soon, though.
Fit issues notwithstanding, Juliana's dress is rockin too. So much so that I almost didn't notice she'd accessorized with black and gold, which looks ok. But just so. I would have been fab paired with just gold or white and gold accessories. The black is just too much for the softness of her hairdo and dress.
My inner Edna Mode screamed "too much of it dahling!" at #11.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
All the leading ladies are doing it!
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
11/20/09
But then again, it very well could be real.I don't think they slimmed her down too much.. she is very, very skinny. And I definitely don't think that the hip was photoshopped. It's not so much the hip in question as it is the connection between the hip and the thigh.. and if she has muscular thighs and she is leaning more to one side, then yeah this is definitely plausible.
It will be interesting to see where this goes. The only thing I hate about this is that so many websites have called this "the worst photoshop job of all time" and things like that. Come ON, even past RALPH LAUREN? No way. I would love to see them eat their words.
11/20/09
But by the same token I can't sit idly by while I'm accused of "bullshit" by someone with her audience (2.5M on Twitter or something?) and not push back. All the Hollywood blogs and shows are parroting her as gospel "Demi proves her point by posting the original". I have to work in this town. So, when I saw her "bullshit" tweet and "original", I had to do something... I mean, the picture came out of the camera like that, guys? Really? Let's get real.
Anyway, W Mag should be dealing with this, not Demi.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
Demi, honey, can't really take you seriously if you insist on using U instead of just typing the 3 letters out (although I do appreciate you capitalizing it).
11/20/09
11/20/09
[site.despair.com]
this shirt makes so much more sense now.
11/20/09
Oh - please make that check out to the charity of me. Thx!
11/20/09
That's that person's job. If they are in design, photo, production of almost any kind, their job is to evaluate what makes you look best (or, most gaunt) in a magazine photo... a magazine photo that gives you publicity and exposure, which is what your career as a a famous actress hinges on. It reads to me like biting one of the hands that feeds them. And they're very well fed (metaphorically only, of course).
Granted, this particular photog wasn't a W. Magazine person involved in that particular shoot, but I find it belittling and rude for her to talk down so much to someone whose career revolves around making someone like Demi successful.
11/20/09
Perhaps because you've so obviously reduced your entire existence to how you look?
There's nothing wrong with Demi investing all that time and money, but there's definitely something wrong with posting the photo on Twitter (i.e. saying LOOKATMELOOKATMELOOKATME) and then fussing at people for looking at her.
11/20/09
11/20/09
On the other hand, I find it really annoying that Demi would claim that the photo is not re-touched. It comes across as paranoid and shallow--like when people have had obvious plastic surgery (cough, cough) and claim to the contrary. She's beautiful and having had help by re-touching or cosmetic procedures does not take away from that. I fail to see the point in lying.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
I think the waist-hip-shoulder thing might be that she is really skinny and twisting her hips to one side while holding her shoulders/face directly forward. Does that make sense?
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09