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[XiaNaphryz]

NY Magazine: Victoria’s Secret Has Change of Heart About Kate Upton:

When Kate Upton's first Sports Illustrated cover propelled her to international stardom in February 2012, her modeling portfolio contained only a few labels: namely, Beach Bunny Swimwear and the Victoria's Secret catalogue, where she appeared in early 2011. But casting agent Sophia Neophitou, who handles the books for the Victoria's Secret fashion show, was quick to distance the underwear brand from Upton. In a now-infamous Times interview in 2012, she sniffed that Upton's look was "too obvious" for the label's fashion show, adding that they "would never use" her:

“She’s like a Page 3 girl,” Ms. Neophitou said, referring to the scantily clad voluptuous women featured in The Sun, a London tabloid. “She’s like a footballer’s wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy.”

How times have changed! Fourteen months and one major Vogue cover later, Victoria's Secret — who hasn't featured Upton in any of their promotional materials since Neophitou's comments — put her on the back of their latest catalogue. It's unclear whether this is a reused image from her 2011 photo shoot — she's wearing their Body by Victoria bra in black, which has been around for years — so it very well might be.

Anyway, is this meant to be an olive branch toward Upton, who has now proven her ability to sell magazines and drive web traffic like nobody's business? Perhaps Victoria's Secret finally realized that they should have had Upton in their backyard this whole time. After all, they're the brand that prides themselves on using "healthier" models with "personalities" (translation: women with David Kirsch–toned quads who are willing to appear in goofy videos) instead of the waifish girls found on high-fashion runways. They probably never expected Vogue to start beating them at their own game. This may very well signal a change of heart on Neophitou's part, and the beginning of Upton's Victoria's Secret comeback.

 

[Strax]

Wow so she'll be semi-nude in a magazine again?

 

[jaxword]

Excuse me, I am a gaffer, Kate Upton is a 3, maybe a 4 at best. *hikes pants*

 

[R3TRODYCE]

I came for pics, but left thinking about her hair lip.

 

[Maninthemirror]

She looks smaller in that. Touched up?

 

[spiderman123]

call me when she works for Playboy.

 

[Guevara]

Wasn't she, uh, losing the model shape recently?

 

[TheKaeptain]

call me when she works for Playboy.

Have you seen the shit they have been putting out?

 

[AngmarsKing701]

She looks smaller in that. Touched up?

OP's pic is airbrushed to hell and back

 

[ginger ninja]

8 replies and +550 views..gg lurkers

 

[The Faceless Master]

sounds like they were hating the player instead of hating the game and the game came back and bit them in the ass.

 

[Cynosure]

She looks ideal for the catalog, but she'll never walk on the Victoria's Secret fashion show runway.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Hmmm...looks like Upton's actually had 2 Vogue covers since the whole Neophitou bit, though one of them was for Vogue UK which I guess may not count for the article writer.

 

[RumblingRosco]

SHE SNIFFED.

 

[Maninthemirror]

Wait I just noticed her eyebrows and now I can't unsee them.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Good lord she's gorgeous. Eat your words VS.
I wonder how many of the current VS models have made the cover of Vogue?

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

There is something about her face I really don't like. I can't put my finger on it but it's totally off-putting.

 

[bengraven]

 

[Angelus Errare]

Which VS model holds the record for most Vogue covers? Hell which runway model in general has the most Vogue covers? I know Naomi Campbell has like 14 covers.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Which VS model holds the record for most Vogue covers? Hell which runway model in general has the most Vogue covers? I know Naomi Campbell has like 14 covers.

Apparently the top 3 are:

1. Lauren Hutton: 26 covers
2t. Jean Shrimpton: 20 covers
2t. Karen Graham: 20 covers
3. Cindy Crawford: 18 covers

 

[DominoKid]

She looks ideal for the catalog, but she'll never walk on the Victoria's Secret fashion show runway.

maybe she's gotten better at walking since then. she looks like an awkward teenager.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Apparently the top 3 are:

1. Lauren Hutton: 26 covers
2t. Jean Shrimpton: 20 covers
2t. Karen Graham: 20 covers
3. Cindy Crawford: 18 covers

Naomi you were so close!

 

[XiaNaphryz]

maybe she's gotten better at walking since then. she looks like an awkward teenager.

Wasn't she still 18 in that and had just started runway work in terms of modeling? So yeah, she actually was in a way.

 

[wenis]

God this woman is overrated in the looks department.

 

[NoRéN]

Excuse me, I am a gaffer, Kate Upton is a 3, maybe a 4 at best. *hikes pants*

well done.

 

[Trent Strong]

Bad stomach, legs, and ass.

 

[DiscoJer]

Wait I just noticed her eyebrows and now I can't unsee them.

Yeah, usually they don't seem quite so obvious. Maybe she should bleach them?

 

[Currygan]

I really can't stand that face. Reminds me of Jon Voight and Gertrude, my aunt's giant sow

 

[StickSoldier]

She looks ideal for the catalog, but she'll never walk on the Victoria's Secret fashion show runway.

too bouncy

 

[GQman2121]

maybe she's gotten better at walking since then. she looks like an awkward teenager.

She's a swimsuit model, not a high fashion model, like the majority of the girls VS uses for their shows. The contrast to Naomi Campbell--who's as big a name as you can possibly book--is a sound one.

Also, this is clearly a stock photo from their catalog. I wouldn't put it past them to throw her on the back just for the attention boost. What do they have to lose?

 

[pr0cs]

God this woman is overrated in the looks department.

 

[botty]

She looks ideal for the catalog, but she'll never walk on the Victoria's Secret fashion show runway.

Such a disgusting walk.

 

[Gorillaz]

Hmmm...looks like Upton's actually had 2 Vogue covers since the whole Neophitou bit, though one of them was for Vogue UK which I guess may not count for the article writer.

God she looks so airbrushed and photoshopped. I know it's like that for alot of covers but still jesus.

 

[Madness]

Kate Upton is amazing. Great to see how curvier or non wafer thin models are being accepted at the top fashion magazines or catalogues.

 

[Squid_Vicious]

Such a disgusting walk.

gaf is a cornucopia of hilarity when it comes to talking about women...

 

[Salsa]

gaf is a cornucopia of hilarity when it comes to talking about women...

I dont know. If he's talking in the context of being a runway model then I agree, that's awful

 

[I'M FINISHED!]

Kate Upton is amazing. Great to see how curvier or non wafer thin models are being accepted at the top fashion magazines or catalogues.

Curves for days....or hours....or minutes.....um. Lines for days.

 

[botty]

gaf is a cornucopia of hilarity when it comes to talking about women...

I'm not talking about the way she looks. Her runway walk is a complete mess. She's walking too fast, clunky, her facial expression is awkward, and her breast appear to be making an escape from her dress. There are proper ways to walk a runway as seen by actual runway models, such as Naomi Campbell...as seen in the gif shown above:

Notice how this walk is smooth, confident, properly paced, and showing complete control. The complete anti-thesis to the walk done by Upton.

The only hilarity here is your presumption.

 

[jaxword]

Who knew gamers would be experts as to the proper way models should walk? I consider myself educated.

 

[Squid_Vicious]

Who knew gamers would be experts as to the proper way models should walk? I consider myself educated.

My thoughts exactly. I've worked for 2 fashion heavy publications here in Toronto and I've never once thought "man Kate Upton's runway walk is awful".

 

[jaxword]

My thoughts exactly. I've worked for 2 fashion heavy publications here in Toronto and I've never once thought "man Kate Upton's runway walk is awful".

Yeah, why can't she walk properly like a real woman?

 

[Trent Strong]

Kate Upton is amazing. Great to see how curvier or non wafer thin models are being accepted at the top fashion magazines or catalogues.

The only curvy part of her are her boobs. The rest of her isn't curvy at all.

 

[flamingotripod]

gaf is a cornucopia of hilarity when it comes to talking about women...

Comparing to a Victoria's Secret model though, her walk is pretty bad. It just looks like shes walking from point A to B, where the VS model in the gif posted above she looks like shes walking with power, controlling the attention in the room.

 

[Salsa]

Who knew gamers would be experts as to the proper way models should walk? I consider myself educated.

not to be insulting but this is one stupid post. People here are just regular people who happen to play games, between other things, and you know this

ive been responsible for directing segments on 3 different fashion shows for TV and you could tell who sucked at walking and who didnt. Not that I think it qualifies me either, it's very easy to tell from those 2 gifs alone.

 

[botty]

My thoughts exactly. I've worked for 2 fashion heavy publications here in Toronto and I've never once thought "man Kate Upton's runway walk is awful".

Well i'd like to know what those people from the 2 fashion heavy publications thought about her runway walk.

Yeah, why can't she walk properly like a real woman?

That's the problem. She is walking like a real woman, and not a runway model.

Comparing to a Victoria's Secret model though, her walk is pretty bad. It just looks like shes walking from point A to B, where the VS model in the gif posted above she looks like shes walking with power, controlling the attention in the room.

Naomi Campbell has never been a Victoria's Secret Model...

edit: but she has walked on a show or two for them.

 

[Squid_Vicious]

Well i'd like to know what those people from the 2 fashion heavy publications thought about her runway walk.
.

Well they didn't ever think of her at all, to be honest.

We all know she has that sultry/sexy look and she has huge breasts. She is not by any means typical model "sample size" and I don't think anyone expects that.

I don't think we will see her ever walk the runway for Victoria Secret but she is definitely hot enough to do the catalogue.

 

[botty]

Well they didn't ever think of her at all, to be honest.

We all know she has that sultry/sexy look and she has huge breasts. She is not by any means typical model "sample size" and I don't think anyone expects that.

I don't think we will see her ever walk the runway for Victoria Secret but she is definitely hot enough to do the catalogue.

Well, I figured they wouldn't think about her since only the best walks cause people to talk. And like I said in my original response to your first post, this was not about how she looked. Kate Upton is a beautiful, sexy woman. My complaints were strictly about her runway walk, which is undeniably terrible. I do agree that catalogue is the perfect place for her.

 

[Pristine_Condition]

As a photographer who's got some skins in the fashion game, I'm just not a fan of underwear and lingerie models who are as high-waisted as her.

Look at this shot of her walking.

Her natural waist (that's defined in fashion as the narrowest point of the body between the shoulders and hips, not the area level with the belly button...this is a thing based on the fitment of women's clothes, as are most things in fashion) is EXTREMELY high compared to the other model walking in the other direction. This gives a more slab-like appearance to the lower torso/pelvic area. It also elongates the look of the hip, which visually lengthens the bum. Neither of which are great for lingerie or swimwear models.

No, that's not to say she isn't hot, or that I "wouldn't," or whatever. Just that from a sort of casting angle, the high-waisted thing is kinda a deal-breaker for me for that kind of work.

So even though I can kind of understand why her comp card might be left on the table in a casting session for a lingerie shoot, I do think she's got a nice face, great breasts, and shows a lot of personality and different looks, so I disagree completely with Sophia Neophitou's reasoning, which seemed snarky and elitist.

Right now though, she's an "it" girl. And you're leaving money on the table if you have a chance to use her and don't. Just carefully select the clothes that make her look her best...you've already got the best photographers in the world who know how to work around her limitations. Prime example, those two Vogue covers. The profile is WOWtastic (since you can't tell where her waist breaks,) and the other position does a nice job of obscuring her line as well.

I hope this conversation doesn't sound too bizarre. This is what the photo business is really like. These are the little things we obsess over. I'm personally glad I'm out of fashion for the most part. But I still cast models, and this is how the thought process works. If it comes off that we talk about models as pieces of meat or whatever...sorry, but we kinda do, and to us, they kinda are, at least until the casting is done. It's gotta stay impersonal, and sometimes we come off sounding like real bitches. We know this, thanks.

I promise you this though: If you think it's bad hearing someone talk this way about a female model, you'd be SHOCKED to sit in on a session casting cute kids for an advertisement. I'm real glad I'm not planning on ever having kids, because I've got so much bad karma built up...

 

[RustyNails]

I don't like women with moles on their upper lips. It's ugly.

 

[Spira]

lol