Brief Talk Episode 4 - Why is ELC a photoshop free brand

October 29, 2021

Brief Talk Episode 4 -
Why is ELC a photoshop free brand

 

 

Welcome to episode 4 of Brief Talk, proudly brought to you by Everyday Lingerie Co. I'm your host, Danielle Sady. I am super excited to be talking about today's topic. It's all about Photoshop and photo editing. We are a Photoshop-free underwear brand at Everyday Lingerie Co. And we decided this very early on that none of our models would be airbrushed or touched up in any way. And there were so many reasons behind that. Some of them I talked about in episode 1, about my personal body image battles and what I found, and also the example I want to set for my kids today. But I wanted to start by giving you some statistics. So, I don't know how many of you actually watched the documentary by Todd Sampson on Channel 10 in September called Mirror Mirror. And the statistics were horrifying.

So, here goes: 99% of images are retouched in advertising. 99%. Proof has shown that untouched images sell less product or service than airbrushed or photo edited images. 80% of Aussies today use either a filter or a retouch app of some sort for any photos they put out on social media. I didn't even realize the apps and the opportunities were there in your device to actually even play around with. I'll change the color sometimes, I'll zoom in, but retouching or Photoshop is not something I've ever done in everyday life. I just... I wasn't aware. I didn't realize the stats were so high, but for me as well, it was really something probably subconsciously that I decided not to do because of my own body image issues in the past. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to airbrush up a photo. With some photos you can go, "Oh, if I just couldn't see this or that." We don't love our bodies every single day, everyone goes through their different challenges.

But if we choose to accept who we are and allow that to look at those bits that we do love and start celebrating that, it definitely sets us in a great motion. Well, that's what I've found anyway, from my personal experience. So with all of our imaging through Everyday Lingerie Co's marketing, what you see on socials, on our website, every single piece of that, we have never airbrushed or touched up any of the model's images. The reason that we have chosen to do that is because we want to celebrate those people for exactly who they are and their truly unique beauty that they offer and bring to the world. It's very important for us to have that. Yes, we touch up the backgrounds. The lighting's done. We shoot a lot of the time with professional photographers. So we have state-of-the-art equipment. We have lighting that's there and all those things.

And we do need to obviously ensure that our backgrounds are all universal on our website. So things like that are touched up. But please know, if you go back and have a look, you can actually see some tan lines on some of the models from where they're spraying tans been. You can see dirty feet from walking around on set all date. And we are proud of that because we want to be able to represent more and more women. We've currently worked with 18 women within all the photo shoots. And we hope to work with a lot of those women again and many more as we go through the life of ELC. And it's really important that anyone coming in knows, if they're not comfortable with something, someone says, "I don't really feel comfortable wearing a G-string on camera." That's not a worry, that's fine. They're not expected to wear that. We want them to be comfortable and really love the skin they're in. So if it means they're going to wear a brief and a boy leg instead? Awesome. We just love that they're part of our brand.

So, I want to give you some facts, just some more facts for you. Your weight or the size of clothing you wear does not equal your worthiness. Not now, not yesterday, and not tomorrow. The average Australian woman is a size 14 to 16. Again, weight does not equal health. While some people may choose to take to platforms like this and become keyboard warriors, etc. I think we need to all stand up and kind of not tolerate that trolling or the negative connotations that are put on people standing there being themselves authentically. I've got a jumper on today, an amazing jumper from a company called The Style Cantina.

And I love their message, "Be kind. It's gangster." And that's my stance on Photoshop. If you are choosing to put yourself out there, we really need to be kind and celebrate those people regardless. There is a place in society for Photoshop and editing a hundred percent. I don't think we will ever be a hundred percent Photoshop-free or edit-free society. That's part of advertising all of that, but I'd love to see those numbers decrease. From 99% of images being retouched in advertising, I would love to see in the next 10 years for that number to drop to 50%. That would be something I would love to celebrate. I think it'd be amazing. The more and more of a stand up and sit there and go, "No, I am okay with being me." We will see that transition. We will see those statistics drop, which is amazing.

We can empower ourselves today by turning off the filters, not touching up our images before we put it up. And I want to put a challenge out there to all of you today. My challenge is, for anyone watching this episode, I challenge you. If you're someone who uses filters or Photoshop on your images on social media to go one entire week of completely Photoshop or no touch-ups. Tag us in it. I want to celebrate you. I want to celebrate that you're loving the skin that you're in, that you love who you are, and will be unapologetically yourself. It's something that, as I've said, I've worked hard to do to accept who I am and love the amazing body I have. And it probably wasn't until I got pregnant that I actually started to really love and appreciate my body for what it can do. I didn't see all the beauty in it before. My tiger stripes, the curves, all of those things that make me, me and I'm now embracing it.

I'm now loving it. And I've got some COVID kilos. And I'm okay with it. The diet ads, when they come up on my feed, how to intermittent fasting, lose 10 pounds in 28 days, whatever. I hide them all, or I actually put up that they're irrelevant and get those ads removed from my feed. I'm not interested. I don't own scales. And I don't define myself by my weight, the clothing size I wear anymore. I define myself by how healthy I am, how happy I am and how happy I am that it impacts the people around me. That's what's important to me. So, if you want to take up this challenge. One week, no filters, no Photoshop, unapologetically, you show up. Can't wait to celebrate you. Please tag us so we can reshare. I just can't wait to see you embracing you, because you deserve it. You're amazing as you are.

And if no one's told you today, you are amazing. So, be kind everyone. It's gangster as highlighted by the Style Cantina. They know that all too well. Thank you so much for coming to episode 4 of Brief Talk. And I look forward to talking to you in episode 5 about Australian made and everything that comes with it for a fashion brand to be Australian made. The joys, the challenges, and everything in between, and how we've sort of done it within our brand. But if you can show up, I'd love to celebrate you. So thank you for coming along and being part of episode 4. Take care, stay well.

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