To think this picture of a child has been airbrushed???

[PrettyFlyForAWifi]

tablet.hm.com/gb/product/11624#article=11624-C

Is it me or do this child's legs look unnaturally skinny - please tell me they're not airbrushing kids' thighs now.

That's really wierd looking. My Dd was always really skinny at that age, h and m's skinny jeans were the only ones that fitted properly but they were never that tight. and her legs were not as skinny as that. It definitely looks airbrushed and unnatural.

it's a composite, and the clothes have been altered slightly to look their best.

at a guess they would have photographed the children in pants & vest/topless in a few poses in one session to superimpose lots of tops on.

the shadows and seams have small flaws when you zoom in. they've also made the right shoulder a bit too wide by mistake (to fit the cardigan on - probably from a mannekin? it's missing two darts which are clearly visible on the product in other pics. it's been brushed out.

artificial hands on most of her pics - and you can see here that her thighs are slender and normal - not missing a chunk off the side normally ;) www.hm.com/gb/product/06254?article=06254-A

also here they didn't get too happy with crease removals on the jeans: www.hm.com/gb/product/16265?article=16265-D

at a guess I think a much older woman with long very slim legs posed and when it's been matched up to the child's body it looks wrong because it's out of proportion with her frame - her "knee" has been made the same width as her upper arm!

same clothes, but better proportions! www.hm.com/gb/product/16265?article=16265-C

same child again www.hm.com/gb/product/00789?article=00789-K

Children are supposed to have skinny legs, they shouldn't be compared with adults and there's something very wrong if they're anywhere near the same size as one.

Well, quite, Zora but the point I made is that her image appears so disproportionate that I wondered if it had been altered as it looks unnatural.

And yy to fluffy

its not been airbrushed but just looks as if it is made from two seperate photos

I don't think it's airbrushed, because they would have corrected her slightly asymmetrical features and awkward pose if they were that concerned about perfection...

She also has protruding collarbones which are a good sign of being naturally slender, and my daughter has very skinny legs like that.

she does look out of proportion

Both my DD and I were that skinny at that age, with teeny little sparrow legs. DD still does have sparrow legs and finds it difficult to get skinny jeans which are actually skinny on her.

m.hm.com/gb/product/00789?article=00789-G#fullscreen

If this link works, you can see she's been airbrushed/edited too. Her eye whites have been brightened and her skin has been played with. It looks to me like they only do a little though (whether that's any better than doing it all or not).

They've done the same with her leg!

On that last pic posted by AmyFarrahFowlerCooper, you can clearly see where they have been slap happy, taking out the stray hair around her head, it looks most odd when you zoom in.

I am sure they photoshop everything, the first image is odd imo, it looks all out of proportion.

the head is too big for the body surely?

I meet quiet a lot of kids who have a head that looks too big for their body actually! They do grow into it after a while though.

Lots of children are naturally skinny but that's not all they do with airbrushing is it?

They add light and shadow and recolour eyes and take out stray hairs and all sorts of things as well as make people look slimmer.

Ulrika Jonsson is in the news talking about it today, with a comparison picture of herself to show what happens when a picture is airbrushed.

But if you google airbrushing before and after you get a lot of images back.

It may be that they've done some airbrushing on this photo without actually slimming that girl down, but it's a shame that they would bother on children. Or, in fact, on anybody.

And my point about the google before and after pictures, which I completely forgot to make, is that you can see where they've added the light and shadow act, or evened out/lightened/darkened skin tone or added a tan, or changed eye colour etc.

My son was a baby model. He was on the cover of Mother&Baby magazine, Parents and did various commercials. When a client wanted to plaster him with make up for a shower product was the time I decided enough was enough. He did well and I can see no psychological damage and he's now driving around in the car his earnings bought him. However another mother told me how she didn't allow her 6 year old to participate in PE in the week before a shoot and that appalled me. Upon discussing it with a makeup artist there for the adult models, she informed me that I'd be like that one day if I stayed.....I made the right decision. Airbrushing didn't exist back then but i have no doubt that if it had, DS's birthmark would have been edited out.

At that age some are skinnier than others, but perfectly normal to me.
I was drawn only to their lovely faces anyway.
The 1st link girl had a mature intriguing face, but noticed one eye lid was droopier than the other so not air-brushed imo.

Just to update - received a reply from H and M:

Dear Pretty,

Thank you for your email.

We do include a range of different models in our advertising and to promote our range, though H&M do not airbrush to change the body shape of child models used in our advertising campaigns or online store imagery.

I can understand any concerns that you may have in relation to such an issue, though please be assured that we do not partake in any such practices. Along with this, please know that your feedback on this issue has been passed on to the relevant department.

Kind regards,

Andy G

H&M Customer Services

Ooh I like the avoidance in that! They don't airbrush to change the size but nothing about airbrushing for touch ups like the brightening of the eye whites or the blur/glow of the children's skin etc.

Thank you for the update!

Maybe it's just a horrible picture.

It's not really avoidance given the original query was wrt making her legs look skinny.

Removing blemishes/shadows etc is par for the course and to be expected with all catalogue photos, not just those of people.

Thanks miemohrs

I thought OP had asked if they airbrush children's images in general rather than specifically for shape altering reasons so that's why I thought they were avoiding things.