So, you see those Skims ads, right? They’re all over the place, looking super slick and minimal. Made me think, ‘how hard can it be to get that vibe?’ Famous last words, let me tell ya. It wasn’t for some big company or anything, just a little something for a friend.
How It All Started
My pal, Jenny, she started this tiny online shop for comfy, homemade lounge clothes. Super soft stuff, really nice. But, you know, she had basically zero cash for fancy marketing. She was stressing about how to even show off her clothes. I looked at her stuff, then I thought about those Skims ads again. They always make the fabric look so touchable, and the vibe is just… chill.
So, I opened my big mouth. “Hey,” I said, “why don’t we try to do something like those Skims ads? Keep it simple, focus on the comfort.” She was like, “You think we can?” And I, full of unearned confidence, said, “Sure, piece of cake!” Oh boy.
The “Brilliant” Plan in Action
First thing we did, we actually sat down and scrolled through a ton of Skims ads on my phone. We were trying to break it down, you know? Here’s what we kinda noticed:
- Colors: Lots of nudes, beiges, soft browns, muted tones. Nothing too loud.
- Lighting: Looked really natural, soft. No harsh shadows. Almost like a cloudy day indoors.
- Models: They just look… comfortable. Relaxed. Not super smiley, but not grumpy either. Just existing, looking good.
- Backgrounds: Super plain. Sometimes just a solid color, or a very simple setting.
Okay, armed with our “research,” we got to work. Jenny was going to be the model, ’cause, well, it was her clothes and we weren’t hiring anyone. For a backdrop, we found an old beige bedsheet. Yeah, a bedsheet. We thought if we ironed it really well, it would look smooth. Spoiler: it didn’t.
The Actual “Shoot” – Or, The Struggle Was Real
We picked her living room ’cause it got the best light. We cleared a corner, pinned up the bedsheet as best we could. I was the “photographer,” using my trusty old smartphone. I figured, phone cameras are pretty good these days, right?
Getting Jenny to look “effortlessly chic” was the first hurdle. It’s harder than it looks! It was a lot of me saying, “Okay, now look… thoughtful. No, not sad, thoughtful!” or “Just relax your hands. No, not like that.” We laughed a lot, mostly at how awkward it felt.
Then there was the bedsheet. It just loved showing off its wrinkles. We tried pulling it tighter, we even tried to steam some wrinkles out with her kettle held at a distance – probably not the safest idea. It still looked like a bedsheet with ambition.
And the lighting! We thought we had it, then a cloud would roll by and everything would go dark. Or the sun would come out blazing, and it’d be too harsh. My phone camera was doing its best, but it wasn’t magic. We spent a good few hours just faffing about, moving lamps, adjusting the sheet, taking hundreds of photos that mostly looked… meh.
What Came Out of It
After all that, I went through the photos on my phone. I tried some free editing apps. Tweaked the brightness, tried to get the colors looking a bit more like those Skims tones. Let me tell you, it wasn’t an Ad Age award winner. The photos looked very, very homemade. You could tell it was a bedsheet. You could tell it was just us in a living room.
But you know what? Jenny actually used a few of them on her little Instagram page. And people seemed to like them okay. Maybe they liked that it was obviously real, not some super polished thing. It had a bit of charm, in its own scruffy way.
My big takeaway? Those “simple” Skims ads? They ain’t simple to make. There’s a ton of skill, proper equipment, and probably a whole team of people making them look so effortless. It’s not just about having beige clothes and a plain background. I definitely learned to appreciate the real pros a lot more. And hey, at least Jenny got some photos, and we got a good story out of it. Would I try to replicate a high-end ad campaign with a bedsheet and a phone again? Probably not. But it was an experience, that’s for sure.
