Today’s Little Photoshop of Horrors brought to you by: Madonna & Louis Vuitton

Look, if you don’t focus on the black bunny ears and the bubble skirt, Madonna looks fairly extraordinary for her age. Which is 51. Given that she is widely acknowledged to have had fairly extensive surgery and works out most of the hours in every day, that is hardly surprising.

But was that good enough for Louis Vuitton? Say it with me now: noooooooooo.

madge Todays Little Photoshop of Horrors brought to you by: Madonna & Louis Vuitton

The un-retouched images from her 2009 ad campaign have just surfaced and while they’re not surprising, once again, it’s an important reminder that fashion images should have a big fat FICTION stamp on them. Or maybe just a disclaimer saying: “This is an illustration and in no way reflective of what Madonna, or indeed any other 51 year old women could ever look like in a million years. Heck, you couldn’t even look like this if you were 15.”

madge3 Todays Little Photoshop of Horrors brought to you by: Madonna & Louis Vuitton

The un-Photoshopped picture of Madonna comes courtesy of Dashusland via Fashion Copious and Fashionising.

Article filed under: Featured, in the news , & published: Sunday, February 7th, 2010.

Kris2040 says:

February 11, 2010 at 5:06 am

How is how she looks haggard? She looks crazily good for a 51 yo! If you reckon that looks haggard, meet some real Mums face to face! Hell, meet ANY real woman face to face!

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sim says:

February 10, 2010 at 2:49 pm

i think LV is just creating a fantasy style campaign and would have probably done the same with a 14yo model, i don’t think its done in a bad way @ all. don’t think the original pic is the best one of the shoot, and i work with models and in all photo shoots even 14yo have a bad photo, its more about the angle, light and so on, i’m sure there are some great pics of madonna from the LV shoot as well, but as i said i believe that the effect on the photo would’ve been there anyway.i like it!

Lou says:

February 10, 2010 at 8:48 am

I love Madge…I think she looks terrific in the untouched phot…and I also like the styalised ones. They almost look like an oil painting, as someone else mentioned earlier.
…and like someone else said…if she wants to workout, wear what some may think to be, age innappropriate clothing, so what.

She’s always put herself out there and good on her….it doesn’t mean I “love” everything she does, recording and video clip wise, but if I’m not keen on something, I don’t watch or listen.

Little Girl From East St KIlda says:

February 9, 2010 at 12:40 pm

Hey Guest, people are entitled to their opinions. When you introduce words like vicious sand bitchy I begin to wonder what your problem is. And what’s with the ……….. ” Why can’t she (Madonna) dress however she bloody well wants’? If you say that you take a long time to get dressed in the morning because you worry about whether you’re going to ‘cop it from other women,’ you seriously need to consider whether you have some issues and that is why you have had difficulty dealing with the comments here. The add is a fraud that is why people have commented on Madomna and her arms and other body parts. I haven’t found anyone’s comments bitchy and vicious except your’s.

Anonymous says:

February 9, 2010 at 11:46 am

*too* *write*

February 9, 2010 at 11:44 am

No, I’m the person who ‘liked’ your comment (I really need to come up with a name for myself!). The comment about her being ‘dreadfully unattractive’ bothered me, although maybe it was meant as a joke? And just the overall tone of some of the other comments, about how old she looks and how she should dress her age and how awful her arms look. I understand that the woman is a celebrity and puts herself out there and we have every right to comment on her but I really don’t understand why people feel the need to attack like that. What is it about her that annoys people so much? Is it because she tries to hard with all the exercising and plastic surgery? Surely that’s her choice? If anything I would have thought she is setting a good example by keeping fit. Much better than say, Kirstie Alley. Why don’t we do a column on her and we can all right what a giant, disgusting slob she is with no self control and how all our mothers look better than her. No? Why not? I will shut up now, I know this whole thing is meant to be about photoshopping and I’m getting a bit carried away but it does bother me alot.

lindsey clare says:

February 9, 2010 at 11:19 am

and that’s why it’s so interesting (and strange, to some of us). it’s more the idea of Madonna, than the real Madonna. or you could say, the idea of a woman, as opposed to a real woman.

this is why i don’t buy into “luxury brands”. i much prefer reality over the idea of some fancy life that doesn’t exist.

Cate says:

February 9, 2010 at 11:10 am

I don’t know if you’re referring to mine at all (I said she looked tired, bored, and like she doesn’t belong in the clothes) but I feel I should’ve pointed this out in my comment anyway. I don’t think there’s a problem with Madonna looking tired or bored. Quite frankly, I have a lot of admiration for Madonna for the way she consistently reinvents herself and for the dedication she has to looking the way she does. I think she looks great for her age. But I can see why Louis Vuitton opted to Photoshop it.

February 9, 2010 at 11:08 am

Because it’s Madonna. Madonna is going to get Louis Vuitton far more attention than some unknown model.

February 9, 2010 at 10:20 am

Some people on here are being so viscious. In my opinion that’s more of an issue than the photoshopping. Why do women have to be so bitchy about each other? If Madonna wants to spend alot of her time exercising why is that such a terrible thing? If she looks older than your mother, so what! Why does she have to dress her age? Why can’t she dress however she bloody well wants? This is why it takes me so long to get dressed in the morning, I’m afraid if I get it wrong I’m going to cop it from other women. It’s ironic isn’t it, the whole photoshopping thing is meant to be about how wrong it is and how we should just be able to accept women as they are and then you lot come out with all your comments about how awful she looks.

February 9, 2010 at 10:07 am

so what?

February 9, 2010 at 9:15 am

why use Madonna then? why not use an ethereal, arty looking model? i don’t get it.

Lisa says:

February 9, 2010 at 8:44 am

I think it is important to show different examples of this kind of photoshopped image. There’s plenty of people out there who are not too media savvy and DO think that these images are real, and that their own bodies are freakish and wrong. I work with teenagers and I assure you, they consume magazines and advertising images without casting a critical eye over them. If they google images or info about Brittney and come up with an example of how she really looks (which is fine and normal) versus how she is manipulated to look (totally unnatural and unrealistic), and that helps them become more comfortable in their own skin, then bring it on. It’s not just kids but adults who need this kind of reminder too. If you’re bored by it, just don’t click on the link.

SupaDupa says:

February 9, 2010 at 7:50 am

she looks haggered in the top ‘blue’ shot… did they forget to retouch that one. The rest just look like an advert for barbie or some other doll

February 9, 2010 at 12:59 am

If you’re in KL, does it make any difference between having a shower and sorting your hair? LOL!!! Crazy humidity.

Little Girl From East St Kilda says:

February 9, 2010 at 12:48 am

Hey Guest, I don’t think there’s a ‘Jealousy Syndrome’ at work here in what Mia is bringing to our attention. It’s about pointing out various business practices in an industry that is ceating myths.

In KL says:

February 9, 2010 at 12:32 am

Do you reckon the celebs just don’t look in the mirror anymore? I know that sometimes I’m in such a hurry to feed the baby, get the 4 year old dressed and ready for school that I’m lucky to have a shower, let alone look in the mirror. And sometimes, when I do look in the mirror, I realised I haven’t really looked at myself for a long time. Do you think that’s what celebs do too? The difference with them is that they have such a distorted view of themselves that now they don’t think the reflection is what they really look like and instead wait for the makeup artist.

February 8, 2010 at 11:53 pm

I’m ok with this one. In the original, she looks tired and somewhat bored. And this might just be me, but there’s something about the unretouched one that, if I saw it in an ad campaign, would sort of sadden me. She just looks uncomfortable and like she doesn’t belong in the clothes she’s wearing. The retouched one is very obviously retouched to have the ethereal, arty look Louis Vuitton is is clearly going for.

February 8, 2010 at 11:30 pm

I posted this down yonder somewhere, but I really don’t want it to get lost. I want to be Sigourney Weaver when I grow up. She is fabulous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G02JqrKQZrE

February 8, 2010 at 11:28 pm

Check out Sigourney Weaver on Letterman. THAT is what a woman looks like properly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G02JqrKQZrE

I want to be like her when I grow up. She’s recently turned 60, and you can easily see no work has been done – she has nice starting to get soft skin like my (60 this year) Mum.

February 8, 2010 at 11:22 pm

She looks like a porcelain doll in the fixed ones! Like, seriously, a porcelain doll of madonna.

rainbow says:

February 8, 2010 at 11:17 pm

i am 100% with you on this mia. i like to be reminded how false these images are, in fact i need to be.
the other thing i can’t help thinking is, poor old madonna. people must recoil in horror every time they see her in real life. she must look so different to every image people see of her in the media it must come as a shock to see what she really looks like. same goes for just about every celebrity who is equally overexposed.

February 8, 2010 at 9:46 pm

I acknowledge that it is important for women to be aware of the misrepresentation of celebrities in the media, especially when it comes to matters of self-esteem and a sense of reality in regards to women’s bodies; however, I must question the purpose or intention of publishing SO MANY similar posts about the same topic.
I just read/viewed this post, as well as the ‘you might also like…’ post about Britney Spears’ body and airbrushing. I feel that the purpose of exposing misrepresentations is slowly becoming more about certain people feeling better about themselves and their bodies. For want of more eloquent phrasing: a ‘she’s-not-really-as-good-as-we’re-made-to-think-she-is’ jealousy syndrome.
Give it a break.

Anna says:

February 8, 2010 at 9:15 pm

The real picture of Madonna makes me laugh. In my humble opinion, it’s not that great. She looks like me after a hard day’s work at the hospital. Tired, bloated, ready for a glass of wine & and episode of The Bachelor. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it is hardly the glamour that Louis Vuitton is trying to exude, hehe! The re-touched photos are a little (alot) extreme, yes, but the originals look exactly like you would imagine an ageing woman in a fancy dress costume to look like! Weird!

Caroline says:

February 8, 2010 at 7:39 pm

Why don’t they just CGI people for gods sake!!! it could be made my an illustrator or painter. she can sell her image froma paitning rather than go to the trouble of taking a photo. Thanks for the double take. x

Betty Boo's Mummy says:

Hmm, I would not have guessed that was Madonna.

February 8, 2010 at 7:28 pm

With apologies to Chelsea ……………I love what Mia has in her head. And I love the stuff that she brings to our attention. Fashion shoots and catwalks may be about fiction and fantasy, but when you use a well-known celebrity and you photo shoot her, the way Louis Vuitton ‘photo shot’ Madonna then that is not about fantasy. it is about a lie. Madonna is not tall, thin and beautiful. (Okay, okay, many people may think she has a lot going for her, and she certainly is great for a 51 year old, but I’m sorry, she ain’t no beauty). Louis V wanted Madonna’s selling power and that’s why he used her rather than a tall, beautiful and thin unknown. But Louis V didn’t want Madonna’s arms or whatever else he cut and smoothed over. Fantasy and fiction may have their place but when you lie about the fantasy or fiction then you create a fraud. Nicole Kidman is another one who can be made to look pretty amazing in a photo shoot, but away from the cutting board she is pretty ordinary if not weird-looking.

OneSmallLife says:

February 8, 2010 at 7:08 pm

yeah I always find it weird that a client would pay top dollar for a personality then photoshop them so you have to ask yourself “is that Maddonna?”

odd.

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