Ouch! OK we’re going to start this out by giving you our first “good sport” reaction: hilarious! Someone’s being cheeky here and we suppose we can find amusement in the “artistic” vision of the photographer (if that was the intention). All right, now back to YD land, this is fairly annoying! There’s so much to tell this young yogster it’s making our little yogadork brains explode!
Credit to elephantjournal for pointing out this American Apparel model’s yoga finesse, or lack thereof.
These photos are from the American Apparel site, in their latest push for the yoga market target. Oh it’s certainly grossly misaligned and gives us pains in our lumber spine just looking at the pics but 1. she’s not Twiggy, 2. No nipples or private parts on display! Nice of them to leave the mesh bodysuit out of this series, 3. No humping or soft-porn! (yes we realize it’s sad that we have to give them props for this).
We had a HUGE discussion over the morality and underlying controversies involved with yogi (and model) Tara Stiles donning the white stretchies for AA ads.
Are these new pics a yogic faux pas? Clever marketing? An attempt at realistic yogi portrayals?
What would you say to this yogi-hipster, and what would you suggest to the marketing team at AA? (other than where are the duds for dudes?!)
ps. if you can yoga in that bra you truly are gifted. if you can practice alongside someone in that bra you are the most enlightened of us all!
Earlier…Tara Stiles Models for American Apparel, Keeps Clothes On
Seriously, it looks confused. Or like a joke. But then, maybe they are trying to appeal to the young teenage girls who aren’t competant yogis? Or maybe its ironic?
No matter which way, please save me from the boob tube! 😉
yeah, this is totally a joke. AA has their ironic tongue planted fully in cheek.
at least she’s not wearing shoes… oh, wait she is! strappy little ballet slipper things. at least she’s not wearing mesh, or humping anything.
okay, so overall i find this less offensive than the whole tara stiles fiasco. and i think because this model is not an aspiring yoga celeb, this ad has a little more integrity (just a tad, tho). after years of looking at advertising for yoga (and everything else) featuring hot bods in perfectly unattainable poses, i find it refreshing to see somebody doing it her way. even if i don’t get the intention behind it (other than to sell AA clothes).
in that revolved triangle up in the top right, she’s looking at the camera and almost daring us to point out her rounded back. i also like the little belly roll in her uttanasana. in general, i’ve been aching to see ads for yoga apparel that appealed to every*body. i wasn’t expecting AA to be the first to step up to the plate. i wasn’t expecting a boob tube either, but whatevs. i can’t believe that AA marketing would have come up with this to portray “realistic” yoga, however.
she looks like 3/4 of my college-aged yoga students in spite of my CONSTANT alignment instructions!
100 pounds of pressure on each of those rounded vertebrae…turned head in bow pose…someone get her to linda’s class!
Aaah! Someone call the Alignment Police!
dear god, is she using her knee for support?! make it stop! also…it’s yoga, it should be somewhat enjoyable, at least TRY to make it look like you want to be there….?!
lock the knee!!!!!
My boobs like to try to come out and see what’s going on quite a bit during my practice. I would never attempt that bra.
And also, regarding AA yoga apparel’s modeling. NO. Just… NO.
While some of the AA ads are startlingly risque (full boob and butt exposure), many are simply young girls making the most of their ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME shot at fame. (Don’t waste your 15 minutes too soon, gals!) (Do you think they would get the Warholian reference?)
Anyway, these yoga poses are probably just “for fun,” like a model posing as a runner or a tango dancer or the Statue of Liberty (whatever).
Or perhaps I’m soft on this series because the girl’s form is so pathetic, but in a naive way. She’s just posin’! No big.
I guarantee all the people who commented in this thread: that is what YOU look like when you do yoga. Don’t fool yourselves. You probably think you look good having sex, too. You do not.
You can guarantee that, can you @zack?
Really Zack? You guarantee?
I think some folks who are new to yoga my relate to what seems like a very misaligned yoga pose. I have certainly seen people looking like this in yoga classes including ones I teach. Some yoga newbies especially those who are not dancers or athletes have limited body awareness at first. So they lock knees and round backs and look less than graceful. I think that was me when I started out.
So I’ll cut AA some slack on this on pose wise. Won’t comment on the outfit that another story
Yoga, is in its purest sense, about finding truth and eliminating the bull ****. Let American Apparel sell their clothes, and we can come back to our mats and spend our energy working on the yoga practice. And there was a point where my parsvotanasana looked much like that models; body awareness takes time to build so you start where you are.
If you’d like to practice in a classroom that doesn’t take itself too seriously…but where we do sweat a lot, come meet me at Sankalpah.com. Name’s Renee, I teach the Thursday Open Vinyasa at 8, and the Sundays Foundation at 11 a.m.. I believe in the asana practice, and you probably do too if you are reading this blog.
So I’ve been reading a lot of these articles and comments, and it seems that you all are a bunch of fucked judgmental motherfuckers. Jesus get over your fucking selves. Who gives a fucking rats ass who the fuck is wearing what, or who’s bulge is showing. MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS BITCHES!!!!