What Do You Think of Victoria’s New Secret?

Yana Nadelyaeva

To begin with, this article will probably be interesting mostly for girls— sorry, boys!  But we are girls and, of course, it’s natural that we are crazy about shopping. So can you imagine your emotions at that very moment, when you see THIS—“OMG! It’s a new Victoria’s Secret catalogue!” With inexpressible excitement, with shivering hands, and absolutely preoccupied, you grab the catalogue and start looking through page after page to find out what will be trendy for the spring/summer season!

But, after turning a couple of pages and noticing every detail of the pictures, I personally start to feel sort of inferior! Couple of pages more—what?! How are these girls able to have such perfect bodies? Such flat stomachs, slim legs, and such big boobs! At that very minute, I’m getting an inescapable desire to stick my mouth together with super glue forever in order not to eat any more my of favorite  minty chocolate or fruit jelly bears. Also, I’m starting to run around like a madwoman. What should I do first? Should I run to the gym or make an urgent appointment with the best plastic surgeon in town?

Brilliant pictures with awesome sea landscapes and pretty girls, like Venuses with perfect bodies, who beautify these bright and colorful swim suits even more are shown in this catalogue. It seems that if just given a chance to be in their place, I would be the happiest girl in the world…

But, wait for a minute…a sudden memory came to my mind. In my late teens, I used to be a model—not a world famous one, just a model for the local magazines. I used to take part in many photo shoots for various advertising–it wasn’t as easy as it seems at first sight. It needed from you not just a perfect look, but a lot of emotional efforts as well. My point is that when I looked at my advertising pictures, I had to confirm that it wasn’t truly my body. It was too ideal, which is common in fashion magazines and catalogues.

I am not ashamed to say that I’m absolutely pleased with my appearance, but at the same time—I’m not a perfect Barbie doll. I have some small flaws as others do. But if you looked at those pictures in magazines, you could not notice anything because they were the works of talented photographers and a smart computer program known as Photoshop.

So, girls, my advice is don’t believe in these perfect bodies in catalogues and don’t be upset that you do not look like Victoria’s Secret Angels. Just be self-confident and believe in yourself in any situation. This is the key to being attractive and happy without any Photoshop manipulation.