You know that Doutzen Kroes is one of my favorite models ever, right? I just love the way she looks. She’s got a great figure but I feel like she works hard on it and her priority is being strong and healthy as opposed to “thin”. Plus, I just love her face. I prefer my models to look like this – a pretty face with bouncy hair and a great smile. So, Doutzen is one the elite models and many women probably would give anything to look like her for a day. Well, Doutzen knows it. But in a nice way! She says she feels “guilty” about the image she’s created:
Doutzen Kroes is happy about the new Model Alliance bill to protect underage models, but admits the job can affect women’s self-esteem.
“Sometimes it makes me feel guilty now that I am in this profession that makes certain girls insecure,” the Victoria’s Secret beauty, 28, told us. “I always say, I don’t look like the picture . . . If you put me in bad light with no hair and makeup, it’s not good . . . I wake up sometimes like, this is not what I see when I look at the magazine, who is this visitor in the bathroom?”
Do you think she’s humble-bragging or merely being humble? Since I love her, I think she’s really being humble. She’s discussed this kind of stuff before and she came across really well – she’s spoken about how much work it takes to look like this, but that she considers it her “job” as a model to keep exercising and dieting and she would never expect other women to do what she does. That being said, I think “Doutzen on her worst day” is probably an aspirational model that few of us could achieve.
Photos courtesy of Vogue, WENN.
I don’t really have a problem with what she’s saying. My takeaway is that even her pictorials are photo shopped to a point. What you see is not what you get I guess.
I think she’s being humble, too. I think she has a keen awareness of the standards that she and her fellow super models are setting, and how damaging it can be to the self esteems of the masses that look nothing like them, that look like an entirely different species actually. She wants us to know that a lot of it is smoke an mirrors and that in bad light and without makeup on she doesn’t look so perfect. I think it’s genuine.
+1
Yeah, she’s not humble-bragging or being tone-deaf or anything. As Kaiser said, she’s one of the few models period, who actually talks about her job as being a job (not some high-calling or grand honor) and she’s honest about the work it requires from her. She has made statements like this before and with her work for models’ rights, I think she just wishes a lot of things could be different. She’s lying, because she actually is as beautiful in real life. But I’ve always loved that she’s never patronizing and there’s no BS with Doutzen. And the photoshopping and hyper-unrealism of everything in magazines and advertisements has gotten way out of hand, which makes the damage to people who don’t know how fake it is, all the worse.
I’ve seen her in a bad light with no makeup on – a couple of years ago I hung out w her and a few other fashion people for an evening during NY Fashion Week via a friend of a work friend. Let me tell you: EFING STUNNING. Jeans, white tank, no makeup, and the face of a freaking angel. And she was nice and smiley the whole time! No b*tch-face ever. I basically pulled the obnoxious act of a lifetime and put on my sunglasses indoors so that I could semi-inconspicuously stare at her without looking like a psycho stalked. Sorry, DK!
I’ve also only heard nice things about her, sweet, intelligent and hard working. She also does a lot for charities and admits she has help from trainers, stylists and nutritionists to maintain her body to that standard. There are a lot of pictures of her without any make-up on and she still looks absolutely stunning.
Me too, saw her at Balthazar, (seemingly) no makeup, ponytail, GORGEOUS. Sigh. Some people are just born that way!!
She’s in her twenties for Gawd’s sake. She should look good without makeup! So tired of all the magazines showing supposedly makeup free 20 something models and “actresses” and lauding them for looking good. Please! And, I’m glad to hear she’s nice. The fact that we’re all so excited that she’s just a nice person when she’s so BEAUTIFUL makes me even sadder for us “regular” folk. Are we that frigging hung up on looks that Victoria’s Secret models have become huge celebrities? Frankly, I can’t tell any of them apart! She looks just like Candice and Candice looks just like…and the list goes on.
I’m not dissing her and her “message.” I just work with lots of young girls and the overly sexual messages they’re getting from people like this woman and celebrities in general is not good. Some of the girls I work with are 9 years old and already concerned about looking “sexy.” Not Doutzen’s fault at all–she’s a pawn in the game–but to elevate her to some higher level because she graciously says her job promotes an image she doesn’t approve of is ridiculous in my view. If she thinks she may be damaging the self esteem of young women, maybe she should quit modeling, go to school and do something worthwhile?
Yeah I would believe that. There is just nothing to her face that could possibly look ugly. *Sigh*
I think sincere.
I think she sincerely feels bad that women look at her and feel bad about themselves. Having said that, she lives in my neighborhood and I’ve seen her coming out of her spinning gym and she is stunning even then. Not head-turning like she is is full drag, but naturally, absolutely, enviably beautiful if she happens to catch your eye.
I read as the others did above , that those photos are not how she wakes up. I think it is pretty easy to feel bad about yourself when looking at models photos and I know they are photoshopped.
Yeah…except she’s even better w/o the photoshop. The most stunned I have ever been by a human beauty in person. Could not. Look. Away.
+1
sat next to her at a cafe in new york. crazy beautiful.
and she ate…a huge roasted veggie sandwich.
i know it’s weird, i watched her eat too.
Pro tip: Since there’s no way I can possibly look like her, there’s no reason to feel poorly about it either.
She’s my favorite of this generation’s models and I want to think that she’s a lovely, sweet person.
Thus, my vote is that this is genuine humility and awareness.
🙂
I took her comments as saying that she’s sorry that she’s in an industry where the artifice can make some feel insecure. It’s not like “I’m too beautiful to get serious roles” like some actresses have said. I think she was being humble, too.
When I was a teen I loved my Elle and Mademoiselle magazines. I also had to look at these faces:
https://www.pinterest.com/milagrosfdez/tribute-to-80s-90s-supermdels/
It was very hard for me to look in the mirror (and those girls were only slightly older than I am) and not believe I was ugly. No chest or butt, bad hair, big teeth, glasses. UGH! It must be even harder now for younger girls to deal with, especially since social media is all over and retouching has reached such monumental proportions. I know there was retouching then, but I don’t think it was as crazy as it is now. Plus, the “ideal body” in 2013 versus 1983 is so different. At least back then if you had a fuller figure you were in magazines. Now it is really unhealthy and so stressful to live up to. I have a lot of respect for anyone raising a daughter in this day and age.
Are these photos from the 80s/90s so much more beautiful than the pictures I usually see today because photoshop didn’t play such a big role back than?
I vote humble, as well. And I seriously covet the top she is wearing in the first picture.
That fact that she mentioned bad lighting, no makeup, no hair done, makes it a very realistic comment, so yes she’s being humble. Great comment by her!
I think this is sincere and I get what she’s saying.
I expected her comment to be obnoxious given the headline but its actually quite smart.
Linda Evangelista said the same thing..
I think she’s gorgeous. And yet, I don’t feel intimidated by her, probably because no amount of exercise, surgery or hair dye could ever make me look like her. I am more intimidated by the types of health and beauty I could actually achieve 😉
I was really put off by the “don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” idea, but when I read the quote again she really is talking about the industry, not herself. Good for her.
Didn’t Cindy Crawford say “Even I don’t look like Cindy Crawford in the morning”?
Well I think she has a point. And it’s kinda crazy to assume she’s blind and oblivious to the fact that she looks better than the 99% of women out there. But it’s just genetic lottery really. I know she works out and is really careful about what she eats, but lets be honest, she was born with the beauty she has. Yes she needs to maintain it because the standards are surreal these days, but nonetheless, she didn’t work very hard to have that perfect face, body type or height. That’s pure luck. She seems to appreciate it though and doesn’t think others who look differently than her are any less worthy, so I give her thumbs up.
saw documentary of her on the Fries regional television channel, and she sometimes looked downright sad and embarrassed when talking about the industry she’s in and the priviledge she has because of something she was born with. She was much younger back then, yet that state of mind hasn’t really changed apparently, but she seems more comfortable about her position now and does a lot of charity work and she’s very passionate about that.
I loved that documentary, it seemed so sincere and shows you a little more insight about the industry. It’s not all glitter and glamour.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–319OsNZZk
yep that’s the one!
I think it’s great that she’s this self-aware. She’s confirming what everyone has pretty much guessed by now–that so much about the fashion and beauty industries is just smoke and mirrors, i.e. good makeup, lighting, and Photoshop.
Doutzen is so beautiful and she’s got a hell of a lot more to work with than the average person, but I think most people would be surprised by how much even a face and body like hers can be altered in post-production. I made my bones in post work, so I can tell you that some clients are INSANE about the level of “perfection” they expect to see. I’ve always believed that one of the most important skills in airbrushing is knowing when to stop, but there are just some clients who won’t be satisfied until you’ve turned a 23-year-old woman into a 16-year-old waif.
Anyhow, I totally understand where Doutzen is coming from. As the production half of the equation (even though I do a lot more designing than retouching these days), I do still feel a bit guilty for the part I play in this process of manufacturing false standards of “attainable” beauty.
I absolutely love Doutzen. Her and Freida Pinto are my girl-crushes so they can do no wrong in my book. I think Doutzen was being sincere. I read a comment about her statement yesterday and the commenter said that if she feels so guilty, then stop doing it (modeling). I think to ease her guilt, she tells the truth. In the past she has talked about how even she doesn’t fit in sample sizes (although I can’t imagine her being thinner than she is!). So she does try to break the thought that models are perfect and I admire her for that… as I admire her absolute perfect face and body. ugh!
I just…don’t feel jealous of her because I already know I’m pretty. Is that wrong?
There aren’t that many women I look at and feel jealous of. I might not be a model, but I turn plenty of heads. Good enough for me.
Right on, chica! awesome
Not wrong at all! Being confident in who we are is such a big part of the battle! I know I’m pretty, too. Not a model, but I appreciate my ginger looks!
I think she’s being sincere. I also think her name sounds like a type of pastry.
The headline kinda reads as douchy, but the quote is much better. I get what she’s saying, that she realizes that her looks can make people insecure and jealous, and she never intended for them to. But that since this is her job, she works hard to look that good. Which is fine. In fact, thats better than fine because she talks about all the hard work and doesn’t try to convince us that her looks are effortless and easy. I hate being lied to more than being a little jealous of her figure.
There are many candid pics of her online and she is gorgeous all the time.
remember that busdriver giving that mouthy-chick an uppercut?
😐 yeah. that.
Eeeh no? Explain please?
I’ve never seen her until now and I don’t find her particularly attractive.
As the daughter of a Dutch father myself, I have to say that Doutzen typifies the kind of person you often find in the Netherlands. Dutch people are very friendly, kind, hard working and — best of all, in my opinion — extremely respectful of other people and their varying ways of life. I liked her before because of our shared Dutchiness, but after reading this article and watching the clips above, I only like her more! I wish more famous people were this sincere. Plus: her husband and son are totally adorable.
I think she’s really pretty. But I think there are lots of pretty girls.
okay can we talk about how she should have gotten the honor to wear the million dollar bra this year. Candice is featured too much as it is.