American Eagle and Aerie Half Wins

Until recently I did not know that American Eagle has a separate ladies' undergarments company called Aerie.  What makes this website so unique?  They DO NOT photo shop the models.  Yep, hard to believe, but if you look at the girls you see real muscles and sometimes a little cellulite.  If the garment is a size 38D, then that is the size of the model.

http://www.ae.com/aerie/index.jsp

They've got their websites secured so that bloggers like me can't steal their pictures.  But as far as I'm concerned, this is a win!

Then I thought to go to American Eagle's website and look around.  Last I remember, I didn't think they supplied many sizes.  But I was wonderfully wrong!  They have jeans up to size 18.  Not only that, but they have short, regular, long, and extra long.  Wow!  What a range of clothing sizing!

"Miss Blogger, shouldn't this be a total win?"

Meh.  Sort of.  Here's my beef.  If you go to American Eagle Outfitter, they offer those sizes but once again you find stick thin models.  I would post a picture of their shorts, but again, I can't pull it from their site.  So just take a look for yourself: http://www.ae.com/web/browse/category.jsp?catId=cat1680006

The model with the dresses is fit and thin.  I like it.  She even has a chest.  But why, oh why, when you get to the skirts and shorts do we suddenly have nothing but frail legs, thigh gaps, and knobby knees??  I do not understand why retailers, even body image conscious retailers, insist on this thigh gap trend.  Why is it so bad for a woman to have real thighs?

A friend of mine bought me a book for my birthday that goes into many details about self-discovery.  It's fascinating to me.  The first part of the book outlines everything about personality traits based on just the physical.  It covers everything: from the lines in your hands to the shape of your face.  There is a page that shows what a woman thinks a man likes in an ideal woman, and then it shows what men really like in an ideal woman.  Guess what?  The drawing of the woman that the men described as ideal?  Her thighs and hips were larger than the women thought.

What does this mean?  It means that someone other than our male counterparts are influencing us women with what is considered ideal and beautiful.

Here's another tip: The drawing of how women perceived their bodies was MUCH larger than reality.

They say the camera adds 10lbs?  Well, then I think it's safe to say our female brains add 20lbs.

So, thanks American Eagle for your support with various sizing and girls that are not photoshopped on your underwear site.  But how about you have that same variance with your models on your regular clothing site?  And can you stop posing the model and adding the lighting to highlight a thigh gap?  Either you support women of all shapes or you are simply devising a marketing scheme to sell more underwear and bras.  So which is it?

#americaneagle  #aerie  #thighgap  #beautifulcurves