Macy's Photoshops Boobs Onto Model, Then Changes Its Mind [Updated]

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A tipster alerted us to some idiosyncratic Photoshopping in the current Macy’s circular. A model appears in the same set of underwear on two different pages — but while in one shot she boasts some pretty impressive cleavage, in the other, her chest is smooth. Same bra. Same panties. Same model. Different boobs.

If you compare the two images side-by-side, a couple other differences are apparent. Aside from the glaringly obvious appearance and disappearance of the model’s boobs, a crease at her armpit shows up in one image, but not the other. A seam that runs across the gusset of the underwear has also been smoothed away in one of the images. Clavicles show themselves and fade away. What other differences can you spot? Looking at this is giving me a headache. Obviously, both of these are Photoshopped. But they’re Photoshopped to such different standards. Did Macy’s Photoshop in the boobs or Photoshop them out? Assuming the boobs were Photoshopped in, if it wanted to show how its bras fit ladies with larger breasts so badly that it drew boobs onto a model’s torso in Photoshop, why didn’t Macy’s just hire a model with, you know, boobs? Assuming the boobs were Photoshopped out, if Macy’s wanted to show how its bras fit ladies with larger breasts and therefore hired a model with larger boobs, then why did it then delete the curves and shadows of said breasts in post-production? And did Macy’s add the arm-crease or take it away? How did two photos of the same outfit, let alone two photos of the same outfit Photoshopped in such distinct ways, make it into the same ad?

As you can see when the two images are laid over one another as transparencies — once they have been resized and rotated slightly — they appear to match. I’m pretty sure it’s the exact same shot, only manipulated in post-production to create two very different images. Which were then printed in the same advertising insert. Oopsies.

You can see the two images as they appeared in the mailer here. Click to enlarge.

UPDATE: The model is named Jessica Perez. From the looks of these presumably unretouched agency polaroids, the cleavage was all her own. And the Photoshopping was all Macy’s.

 
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