IF you’ve scrolled through Shein, you’ll probably have seen your fair share of questionable Photoshopping and plenty of awkwardly cropped photos.
One influencer has taken the fashion brand to task though, after seeing the brand’s latest blunder.
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The fast fashion brand has become the go-to-destination for low cost clothes, with influencers doing mega hauls with endless items on Tiktok.
Whilst shoppers might be flocking to the app, Shein has been called out for overly editing photos of a model in a recent advert.
Originally posted on Facebook, the promo picture showed a beautiful blonde model posing in a slinky bodycon dress.
Standing in front of a mirror, the ombre dress perfectly flattered her svelte figure and even had a thigh skimming slit.
It’s easy to understand why shoppers would want to recreate the look, especially after seeing it styled with black knee high boots, sunnies and a matching handbag.
Though the model looked gorgeous in the sponsored post, it wasn’t long until people began to notice something off about the image.
In the reflection behind her, the model’s figure looked noticeably curvier compared to the woman who stood in front of the mirror.
Even more shockingly, Shein’s website had a heavily edited image of the young woman – with her reflection looking much thinner compared to the original ad.
Having spotted the Photoshop blunder, it wasn’t long until people started to call out the fast fashion brand for it’s unrealistic beauty standards.
This included body-positivity influencer Danae Mercer, who even took to Instagram over the Photoshop fail this week.
Posting a photo of the unedited image on her stories, the influencer pointedly wrote: “When the clothing site forgets to edit the mirror… (and she looked amazing to start with!)”
It wasn’t just the content creator’s 2.3 million fans who were howling over the badly edited image, with Reddit users also commenting about it.
Writing on the Instagram Reality subreddit, one unimpressed user claimed: “This clothing site forgot to edit their Facebook ad but remembered to edit the website display.”
Others questioned why Shein felt the need to heavily edit the model’s photos, with many saying that they preferred her unaltered figure.
“I would be more inclined to visit this website and consider buying the dress if they posted how it looks on the woman in the mirror rather than an edited model physique,” argued another in the thread, with many agreeing.
“Her figure in the mirror is really nice as well. I’m more inclined to but from brands that show different body types,” added a third.
Though many have seen the funny side of the Photoshop fail, heavily edited images like this can have a damaging and last effect on our minds.
In fact, research by the government found that 35 per cent of adults have felt shame or experienced mental health problems related to body image – showing just how much these images can impact us.
Concern over the issue has grown so great that the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned influencers from using ‘misleading’ filters on beauty adverts in 2021.
As everyone spends more and more time on social media, let’s hope we see more natural bodies in the near future.
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