Generation Photoshop
- Words by Peppermint
Maybe she’s born with it? Sure, if her mother owned a pink plastic car and was married to a man named Ken. These days you can barely walk half a block without confronting hoards of overblown, airbrushed faces staring you down from billboards, newsstands and TV screens. Kim Kardashian has a new bikini body? No she doesn’t. Kim Kardashian has good lighting and a very savvy photo editor. At Peppermint, we couldn’t care less about keeping up with Kim and her clan of Kardashians. Our goal is to keep pushing the Voluntary Industry Code Of Conduct created by the National Advisory Group on Body Image to help create more positive beauty ideals. Its aim is to bring about long-term cultural change in the media by encouraging the normalisation of natural and ‘real’ looking women, diversity in the idea and ideals of beauty and use of faces and bodies which have not been digitally manipulated. (Plus we honestly think pore-less, airbrushed skin and facial/body homogenisation just looks eek).
But we’ll be the first to admit it’s definitely not easy trying to champion change in an industry firmly set in its ways, and we certainly don’t always get what we want: from photographers who refuse to release unretouched images, to modelling agencies without girls beyond a Size 8 on their books and clothing labels without the sample sizes to fit a woman any bigger than this anyway. It’s an industry where professionalism is judged by the lack of texture on a model’s face (and the bronzed, digitally-lengthened limbs that accompany her), and for most, to steer away from this expectation is a huge risk.
They call it ‘polished’. We call it problematic. What do you think?
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Disillusioned by the realities of fast fashion, design grads Emily May and Sidonie Moore ditched clothing for a business that finds fun in the everyday. Enter @TheNonsenseMaker: a collection of unique homewares, fun wall art, greeting cards and more that breathe life into Emily’s illustrations: “I love the idea of taking real-world objects and changing your perspective in a way that brings magic and whimsy into everyday life!”
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#PeppermintMagazine #TheNonsenseMaker #LocalMakers #SustainableCraft
Any New Year’s resolutions on your list? We love this from @OtterBeeStitching - “be brave enough to suck at something new”.
There’s no points for perfection, but you’ll get a trophy for trying. If nothing else this year, take the leap and try something new.
#OtterBeeStitching #Embroidery #BeBrave #TrySomethingNew #EmbroideryArt
Sunday serving suggestion ☀️
Gorgeous photos from @JolieFemmeStore - who make sweet garments from vintage bedsheets.
#PeppermintMagazine #SlowSunday #SwitchOff #Unplug #ReadAMagazine
A toast to the old you 🥂
We wholeheartedly love this post from the brilliant @EmilyOnLife:
“2026: Reinvent, burn it down, let it go (whatever it is). Year of the Snake it up. Exercise your boundaries, exercise your body, take one teeny step every day towards a life that feels better to be in.
But don’t you dare shit on your old self while you do it.
Hold yourself with reverence and tenderness and respect, because you got you this far. You did your very best with the information and tools you had at the time. You scraped yourself together, you made it work, you survived what felt impossible to survive: again and again and again.
You are perpetually in the process of becoming, whether you can feel it or not, whether or not you add it to your 2026 to-do list.“
Some very wise words from @Damon.Gameau to take us into 2026 🙌🏼
⭐️ We made it!!! ⭐️
Happy New Year, friends. To those who smashed their goals and achieved their dreams, and to those who are crawling over the finish line hoping to never speak of this year again (and everyone else in between): we made it. However you got here is enough. Be proud.
It’s been a tough year for many of us in small business, so here’s to a better year in 2026. We’re forever grateful for all your support and are jumping for joy to still be here bringing you creativity, kindness and community.
We’re also excited to be leaping into the NY with our special release sewing pattern – the Waratah Wrap Dress!
How great are our fabulous models: @Melt.Stitches, @KatieMakesADress and @Tricky.Pockets - and also our incredible Sewing Manager @Laura_The_Maker! 🙌🏼
Ok 2026: let’s do this. 💪🏼
#PeppermintWaratahWrapDress #PeppermintPatterns #SewingPattern #MeMade #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
