The Internet Is Freaking Out About Some Untouched Victoria’s Secret Photos

Can we not?

October 31, 2016 9:00 am

A photo of model Jasmine Tookes can surely cause man to fan himself.

And while a new Victoria’s Secret photoshoot featuring the 24-year-old model is unsparingly doing just that, it’s also caught social medialites across the fashion industry by surprise.

Forget that she’s wearing the lingerie company’s highly coveted $3 million dollar Fantasy Bra, which, before this story, I had no idea existed. Or that she’s the first black model to be given the honors to wear said bra in a decade.

What’s got everyone talking is the fact that the photos are unretouched, revealing a universal truth of the body: everyone has stretch marks, even Jasmine Tookes.

See ‘em? Squint your eyes. They’re on her hip.

Understand, as a man reading this, that, sure, this is grounds for progress, especially for a brand notorious for airbrushing, hoisting up breasts and condoning some pretty draconian diets. “The reason people retouch bodies is because they’re just trying to sell you something,” an anonymous Victor’s Secret photoshopper once said.

So, sure, this is a step in the right direction for the lingerie giant, but let’s not give them a Nobel for it just yet. They’re not exactly pioneers, as far as embracing body positivity goes, and it’s not hard to imagine that the leaks represent — gulp — a marketing gimmick as much as they do an actual change in ethos.

Also, call us cynics, but isn’t there something a tad-bit ironic about an unretouched photo of Tookes sporting a 450-carat bra?

Welcome to my crib @voguemagazine #VSFantasyBra #VSFashionShow

A video posted by Jasmine Tookes (@jastookes) on

Point is: of course a Victoria’s Secret Angel model is still traffic-stoppingly attractive when you don’t retouch her photos. She’s a Victoria’s Secret Angel.

But while the photos represent a small step towards better body standards in the beauty industry — which is great — let’s not act like these are the first stretch marks the universe has ever seen.

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