Crimes of Photoshop: Victoria’s Secret photo of Laís Ribeiro

Lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret is coming under fire for a photo they recently posted on their Facebook wall featuring model Laís Ribeiro striking a seemingly anatomically impossible pose wearing pink Body By Victoria bra and panties. The photo has received nearly 2,000 comments, most all of which either claiming the image was Photoshopped or expressing anger at Victoria’s Secret for using such an abnormally thin model.

The photo does look to be a bit disjointed, with Lais’s top half seemingly askew from the bottom half, with a bit of awkward stitching behind the arms. But, if there’s anyone on the planet who has a body that could possibly look like that, it’s Laís Ribeiro. Always one to do a lot of research when it comes to issues involving lingerie models, I rounded up two other images in which Lais strikes a similar pose (There were quite a few to choose from – it seems Lais rivals even Michelangelo’s David when it comes to contrapposto!) and placed them side by side with the original full image in question in the center:

The photo on the left looks to be a professional studio shot as well, so of course it could have been womanipulated in Photoshop too. But, the photo on the right is from a photographer in attendance at the 2011 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, so aside from some color balancing or other minor alterations, it should be 100% Photoshop free.

When I started this post and all I had to go on was the original photo of Laís Ribeiro, I assumed I was going to conclude Victoria’s Secret is guilty of some seriously over-the-top Photoshopegery, but now that I have done my research on Miss Ribeiro, I’m willing to conclude that the photo is entirely believable – anatomy be damned!

Don’t worry though, you can still be angry if you’re opposed to the use of really thin (and looooong) models!