online models and our perception of the clothes.

[WeirdArchitecture]

I made a post earlier today featuring three different jumpers. I took screen snaps of them and posted for opinions.

But then i got to thinking, how much do we appreciate an item of clothing dependent upon the styling and model?

Some shots really do make the item look amazing, some not so much. There's a model on a website that i love, and every time they show her i really dont like the look of fit of the garment. If they use a different model, i love it.

How much do you think styling and model appearance make a difference to what we buy? Since we are having to shop online so much more now,
this seems to be an important question, as we can't touch of stand in the mirror so easily with it before we care to try it on.

Do brands need to up their game in this department now? I definitely think so. Those who fail to show measurements and proper photo's might be left behind (Toast!).

I've been pleased to see more sites showing models of different sizes, ages, colour. Tends to be the ones aimed at younger women who do this best imho.

I don't know, I think i separate the item of clothing from the model. I notice sometimes the model looks like a child but I still know that the item of clothing is going to be more desirable to my own age group. Most of the time your eye is like a stealth missile just focused on the clothes. Models all look kind of young, thin, aloof, groomed............... I think I hardly see them.

It's unusual to be able to see two different models wearing the same item of clothing. Not sure i've ever come across that.

@AnFiadhRua

I don't know, I think i separate the item of clothing from the model. I notice sometimes the model looks like a child but I still know that the item of clothing is going to be more desirable to my own age group. Most of the time your eye is like a stealth missile just focused on the clothes. Models all look kind of young, thin, aloof, groomed............... I think I hardly see them.

It's unusual to be able to see two different models wearing the same item of clothing. Not sure i've ever come across that.

oh i ve come across this on different sites often, especially john lewis. A different model can make a lot of difference to how i think an item will suit me.

I really do believe that a different pose, and styling can have a dramatic influence on how we might perceive the garment on ourselves. M&S, for instance, are terrible.

It has nothing to do with what the model looks like or how old they are, it is more about the general appearance of the photo.

Yes - there is a model who always puts me off clothes because she is so grumpy . She's in Hush and others .

Half a century of looking at clothes in print and on screen means I can generally see straight past the model. But I’m still hugely influenced by other external visual factors.

I think I saw your other thread. Was one of the jumpers from Poetry? If so - I’ve seen that brand name floating around MN for years and never bothered to take a look (possibly because it was always mentioned amongst other brands I wouldn’t touch). But this time (possibly buoyed by the proximity to an item from Margaret Howell) I clicked. Now, I couldn’t say the knitwear was nasty - bit smooth and non-crunchy for my taste but reassuringly not cheap and with lots of persuasive ethical credentials - but what really put me off was the deeply inoffensive pastel vibe of the whole website. I just hated it and didn’t want to live in that world. So I won’t be buying a Poetry jumper.

The same item shown on the Toast site would probably look proudly and artisanally drab. Still not for me - but I might buy it for someone I liked.

Knowing how easily swayed I am by such subjective things, I often try to view an item on at least two websites - and it’s amazing how much different lighting, styling, description and general site vibe can alter one’s perception of a piece of clothing.

I often buy clothes from & other stories because they use a few models who have similar colouring to me and look a little like me (although they are slimmer and more attractive 😂). I’m just as likely to buy things modeled by people who look nothing like me though, I just have to think more about whether the item will suit me.

I do think it’s really important to have diversity in terms of shape, size, age and colouring to make it easier for everyone.

If they’d just give measurements that would be a start. Inside leg length, skirt length, hip and waist etc

I like it when they use models of different sizes and when they state what size/height the model is. If I like an item and it's on a size 12 model I can imagine better what it would look like on me.

Websites like zara where they put everything on incredibly skinny 6 foot models are a nightmare as it's impossible to tell what things would look like on a more 'regular' woman's body.

Oh interesting question!

I definitely think I like an eye catching picture and I am more likely to buy something when I find the picture pleasing to the eye. But, I'm not about to rush out and buy a dress just because of the picture. It needs to tick more boxes than that.

Also, buy the MH jumper

I hate it when you can't see the clothes properly ( stares pointedly at Zara).

It's really odd isnt it?

I can't appreciate anything on the fat face website, and would always have to look in store - have had some very good, hard wearing basics in the past. But the styling is horrendous (to me), and whilst i love the inclusion of different model types, my sad little genX brain is so used to the standard 5'9" clothes hanger that i cant undo the mechanisms that allow me to judge an item in what had become my 'default' way.
I was always a similar build, size to standard models but shorter, so I suppose it was easy to knock a few inches off in my mind, length wise.

Fat face have lovely models, but the poses and styling always come off a little too giddy and shapeless to me.

As for mood and styling elsewhere, I agree about Poetry, but i am the other way: i like the vibe. But i think most of their models look unhappy and out of place in the clothes. Since they dont state the height of their models or the size they are wearing, they don't get much business from me, but thier colours really suit me.

I am trying to think of a store that uses models and styling that i identify with and can only come up with Nygårdsanna, a Scandi label which is difficult to find in the UK and a bit out of my budget :(

Toast are indecipherably out there for me, visually. And i think this is why they place so much emphasis on artisanal lifestyle stuff, because i dont think many of the items would sell if left to stand alone without the arty marketing. Their usual colour palettes dont suit me either, and if the stuff looks too large for a 6' model, im not in the running.

@BreadBreadBread

I hate it when you can't see the clothes properly ( stares pointedly at Zara).

Yes, one more photo depicting a model stretchng out the hem of a jumper......grrrr. I always think if they do that then the fabric is of shit quality. Who even goes around pulling the hem of their tops out of shape anyway?

Joules are hilarious for this, so many cheeky contortions and happy-happy bollox!

Examples of jumper pulling.....just no.

Zara advertised a coat like this the other day. I love their clothes but have given up with their website

Didn't attach!

Cheap imports, but I love using the Shien app for clothes as they often show them on several models and always include their measurements. Though their plus size models in sizes 18+ still manage to have flat stomachs and I have no Idea how!
They also let reviewers add photos of then wearing stuff and add their measurements. It's so helpful.

Now if I could have a similar experience with a brand that was ethical and better quality, I'd be really happy.

@showmethegin

Didn't attach!

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤣🤣🤣🤣

What the hell?! Why?

all the zara type funny positions. It's a shop, I want to see what the clothes look like, I don't want to see how creative and unique you can get creating a fashion spread.
And yes different size models. If I'm curvy and short then I won't buy an item that's only modelled on a 6ft size xs model, as I have no idea what it will look like on me.

That was too the pictures, not your comment gin

Just taking a quick look at the first block of sites held on my screen

& Other Stories
Acne Studios
Après Paris

are all sites on which I spend far too much time, just because I feel completely at home in their aesthetic universes, the third in particular. I buy something at Stories about once every three years (the stuff is mostly much too flimsy for me) but I do love their styling. And the vibe at all three. So I go there again and again and then can’t quite get my head round the MN swooning over Hobbs and Phase 8 …

Yes. I'm very suggestible in that way. If the model looks my idea of cool and gorgeous, it elevates the garment in my eyes. Models with a look that isn't my idea of attractive can put me off the clothes. I don't need models to show me how the clothes will look on me, I know what suits me and can make the mental adjustments.

I appreciate that many retailers are using plus-size models, but they still leave me with little idea what the clothes will look like on me. The women still don't represent my shape.

I like to get styling ideas from the photos for jewellery and other accessories but, again, the styling of the clothing (tucked in tops, belting etc) would look absolutely awful on me.

I do like looking at magazines, seeing all the lovely clothes & things, but it also leaves me feeling a bit low; knowing I'll never be able to wear them.

Why they always put the models into coats with no clothes underneath (or just a bra) annoys me

I find Monki the best for realistic models in realistic poses.

I think the models who scowl as if they'd been forced to wear the clothes out me off. Cos is a prime example of this. I have one dress from there and I love it.