# Is this the most unflattering product photo or what? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820 "2011-11-13T19:06:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/1 "2011-11-13T19:06:19Z")
So I run a shop on CafePress and they’ve recently, as in the last 2 weeks, added like 8 new products, which I’ve been adding to my shop. Among them is a women’s nightshirt. By way of example, here is the product image for a white women’s t-shirt: [https://picasaweb.google.com/109656880045202933892/GenericImageStorage#5674556215956569554](https://picasaweb.google.com/109656880045202933892/GenericImageStorage#5674556215956569554) In your shop, your image would be overlaid on that picture. Looks pretty good. Here is the preview image of the nightshirt. When you put it in your shop, your image shows up on the front, but this is the product image that it shows up on: [CafePress.com : Sell Your Designs, Photos and Images on CafePress.com : Women's Nightshirt](http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/index.aspx?area=products&page=productdetail&prodtypeno=576) Would you buy that? It also comes in pink, and that image isn’t quite as bad, but it’s still not very flattering: [https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FprCLVzXPjZ5H7706M9gnw?feat=directlink](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FprCLVzXPjZ5H7706M9gnw?feat=directlink) How much does the product image matter to you when shopping for something like that online? Would you make the mental adjustment to what it would look like on you and buy it anyway, or would the ugly product image put you off from buying it? ---
**Author:** ![Cap\_n\_Obvious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@Cap\_n\_Obvious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cap_n_Obvious)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/2 "2011-11-13T19:26:17Z")
Oh wow, that picture makes that look ugly. Something you’d expect to see on a shrew of a woman from the 1800s. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/3 "2011-11-13T21:28:55Z")
I see no redeeming quality to this produce. If it’s really absorbent cotton, it would make a good grease rag. One could do better at a local garage sale. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/4 "2011-11-13T23:53:15Z")
Moving from IMHO to Marketplace. ---
**Author:** ![ProbablyProcrastinating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@ProbablyProcrastinating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProbablyProcrastinating)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/5 "2011-11-13T23:59:05Z")
It makes a huge difference. Did you complain to Cafe Press? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/6 "2011-11-14T00:27:46Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Moving from IMHO to Marketplace. Since I’m not linking to anything I sell, or discussing my shop or my products at all, I think this move is inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/7 "2011-11-14T20:38:47Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Moving from IMHO to Marketplace. Back we are in IMHO, since apparently nothing was being sold after all. Ellen ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/8 "2011-11-14T21:53:22Z")
I don’t get it. What’s supposed to be ugly about a picture of a shirt? What shop? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/9 "2011-11-14T22:00:33Z")
The way it hangs, it’s very unflattering. The other example the shirt is over a body form to give it shape, which is much more flattering. Would you buy that nightshirt? I think it’s ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/10 "2011-11-14T22:04:45Z")
I would click away from that whole site so fast my fingers would shoot sparks off the keyboard. If I can’t see it in person, the picture has to be 150%. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/11 "2011-11-14T23:14:35Z")
It just looks like a regular long t-shirt to me. If I was in the market for a nightshirt printed with something on it, I’d buy it. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/12 "2011-11-14T23:20:01Z")
Exactly. If you can’t try it on, the example photo has to be that much better. And this one sucks. It is annoying because I think the product is a good and desirable one, but I doubt that many people will sell many of them, unless they get a better photo up. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/13 "2011-11-14T23:24:55Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I don’t get it. What’s supposed to be ugly about a picture of a shirt? What shop? I think the issue is that they didn’t put mounds for the boobs, as in the first picture. OP wants more boobage. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/14 "2011-11-15T00:04:25Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I think the issue is that they didn’t put mounds for the boobs, as in the first picture. OP wants more boobage. No, they have contoured surfaces under the mens’ shirts as well so you can see how they’d fit on a body; I just used the women’s shirt since the nightshirt was women’s. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/15 "2011-11-15T01:46:04Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > No, they have contoured surfaces under the mens’ shirts as well so you can see how they’d fit on a body; I just used the women’s shirt since the nightshirt was women’s. OK… but you’re saying you want a “contoured surface” and in this case, since it’s a women’s shirt, then the primary “contours” you are looking for are boobs, are they not? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/16 "2011-11-15T02:17:12Z")
As a woman, I really couldn’t care less how much boobage was on the model they used. They could use a flat-chested female mold for all I care, I just want to see the nightshirt on something resembling a human body rather than just hung on a hanger and looking dumpy. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/17 "2011-11-15T02:53:32Z")
I agree, it is an unappealing shot. It looks flat, fat and square all at once. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/18 "2011-11-15T03:13:07Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > As a woman, I really couldn’t care less how much boobage was on the model they used. They could use a flat-chested female mold for all I care, I just want to see the nightshirt on something resembling a human body rather than just hung on a hanger and looking dumpy. OK, sweetheart. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/19 "2011-11-15T14:08:28Z")
So the problem isn’t the ‘stained and then washed too many times’ faded gray color? ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820/20 "2011-11-15T17:40:25Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Since I’m not linking to anything I sell, or discussing my shop or my products at all, I think this move is inappropriate. > [@OpalCat](#): > > So I run a shop on CafePress and they’ve recently, as in the last 2 weeks, added like 8 new products, which I’ve been adding to my shop. Among them is a women’s nightshirt. I notice you are selling said nightshirt anyway. Can you refuse to list it and let the service know that you will not list it until they provide a more flattering sales image? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-unflattering-product-photo-or-what/602820.md?page=2)