Lady Gaga’s un-retouched Versace print ads: not as bad as expected?

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Lady Gaga is the current face of Versace. Gaga remade herself into a version of Donatella Versace, and from the looks of things, they like to hang out together and get wasted. I shouldn’t say that. Donatella is allegedly clean and sober and has been for a decade or so. So I do wonder how she feels about Gaga. Anyway, Gaga’s Versace ads came out months ago, but Gaga’s fan-site just released some un-retouched versions of the ads. The header image is the retouched version that went to print in magazines around the world. I’m including the un-retouched photos below. You can see more here.

As first, I was kind of startled by the fact that Versace seems to have saved money by not putting any makeup on Gaga at all. It’s like they knew they would have to fix everything in post-production, so they just didn’t even bother hiring a makeup artist. But I have to say, giving these photos another look… it’s not as bad as I would have thought. I mean, Gaga looks like an exhausted alcoholic, but overall… it’s not terrible. I just don’t understand why Versace didn’t even attempt to put makeup on her. So… further evidence that no one really looks like the people in magazines. As if you didn’t already know that.

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Photos courtesy of Versace and Gaga Fresh News.

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30 Responses to “Lady Gaga’s un-retouched Versace print ads: not as bad as expected?”

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  1. John says:

    They look fine, it’s a 20-something in unretouched photos, what were you expecting? Horns? A second nose?
    And she has a ton of makeup on, flat base and pink eye shadow to make the Photoshop easier (think blank/white canvas).

  2. Cahend says:

    I believe that it is easier to digitally add makeup to a bare face as opposed to touching up/photoshopping a face full of makeup. Also may be easier to swap colors of eyeshadow, etc with a click of the mouse rather than removing and reapplying makeup. Just speculation.

  3. Penny says:

    She’s wearing plenty of make-up. Her dark circles show through because they were going for a glowy look and heavy concealer is harder to edit out than dark circles are. But everything else is there, the eyeshadow, the lipstick, the contour and the highlighter, the false lashes…it’s just that real life make-up doesn’t look like Photoshopped make-up.

    Compare for instance a promo image for a new NARS release with an image of a runway model wearing the new release products…the real life version never lives up to the ‘shopped version, not even on flawless models.

  4. The Wizz says:

    Forget about Gagas face, how amazing does that couch look in the photoshopped images compared to the original!

    • mimif says:

      Oh you are so right. One is totally seductive and the other is straight up Willy Wonka.

  5. Dani2 says:

    Did they try to make her look like (a cuter) Donatella on purpose?

  6. Birdie says:

    She wears makeup, but it’s the nude look.

  7. Loopy says:

    She looks like she has had a hard life in these pics.

  8. don't kill me i'm french says:

    I have a huge big book of 70’s/80‘s fashion pics and when i see these pics,i Say myself that the make-up artists,the model and above all the photographs were more talented.Their work with the light was amazing.Here all is photoshop( make-up,light,posture…)

    • Miffy says:

      Oh photoshop killed the need for so much skill! It’s a great tool but these days entire shoots are completely constructed under photoshop.

    • Kenny Boy says:

      You know that photos were retouched before Photoshop, right? It was usually called airbrushing then. They used their hands and ink and paint, but photos were still heavily manipulated. It’s easier and more common these days, but those photographers back in the 70s and 80s had help too.

  9. Ellie66 says:

    Her wig looks cheap and dry and screams for conditioner (do u condition wigs?)

  10. Emma - the JP Lover says:

    I’m sorry, but ‘untouched’ to me means no PhotoShop ‘and’ no makeup. She’s got on a ton of makeup, all altering her true appearance. I call a Fail on this.

  11. Al says:

    The most disturbing thing is the wig, right? That totally looks like real hair in the touched up photos. It’s freeking me out.

  12. Delta Juliet says:

    Why do they even bother using an actual person/model in the picture at this point? Seems like they can just copy/paste anything on the screen and manipulate it however they want.

  13. Kiddo says:

    That top photo looks so odd, the size of her head relative to the rest and the positioning. Is that one heavily shopped?

  14. Kenny Boy says:

    I don’t think these are the unedited shots from the actual campaign. The poses, facial expressions, and clothes are all wrong. These look like preliminary shots to test hair, makeup, and clothes. Not that the final shots aren’t photoshopped to hell and back – they are – but I don’t think these are the images that they chose to photoshop.

  15. Heather says:

    So interesting! I love looking at retouched vs unretouched images. I guess I know nothing about Photoshop[ so the reality of the before/after I always find fascinating! Gaga looks good in the befores, even. It goes to show she can be pretty if she would stop dressing like a moron! 🙂

  16. poppy says:

    she definitely has on makeup in the purple dress pics. and for unadulterated pics? not photochop on her but they were definitely color corrected, etc.
    as kennyboy said, test shots.
    that wig, NO.
    they definitely gave it a “natural Part” in the ad, thanks god.

  17. Brooke says:

    She definitely requires a shitload of makeup to pull off that straw-yellow hair colour. It is anything but natural on her. Also, she looks so spaced out and vulgar here. I can’t put my finger on it, but something seems emotionally off as well – vacant (beyond the intentional posing). Here’s hoping she’s okay!

  18. caitie says:

    as others have said – wearing makeup for sure – they are going for a ghoulish look

  19. Lauraq says:

    Her natural face is lovely, as is her unautotuned voice. Too bad she’s too insecure to show them to us. Also, too bad her personality is ugly.