The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show may as well be classified as another “American” holiday just as popular as the Super Bowl. Although both males and females every year view this show of women parading around in jeweled and overpriced lingerie, the majority of the viewers happen to be women. Now whether the women watching are eating ice cream and making fun of the ridiculous “outfits,” or if the women are fantasizing over owning the products or looking like the models, all of the women watching are most likely to own some type of Victoria’s Secret product. Because Victoria’s Secret has been the leading lingerie company in America for over the past 10 years. They are constantly bringing in a heavy flow of female customers whose ages can range from 13-80. After recently picking apart every detail of their store located in the Thousand Oaks mall, down to the colors of the walls, I have realized that they work very hard to attract customers with the stores layout of neatness, home-like furniture, and bright vibrant colors.

Walking past the or-ever-popular lingerie store called Victoria’s Secret, something significant that is not always present in other VS stores is that the store is separated into two separate stores that are connects, “Pink”, and “Victoria’s Secret.” Now although these two stores are still the same store, you can immediately notice a difference before even walking in. All of the floors of the Victoria’s Secret side are a sleek black and the lights are dimmed to give off a sort of romantic ambiance, something to be expected when purchasing lingerie. The models on the posters advertising the products in the store are portraying a sexy and promiscuous feeling to the customers. Completely contrasting the VS side, the Pink section has bright lights, wooden floors and exuberant colors of pink and white lining the drawers and furniture in the store. From left to right, the feeling given off is warm, light and young. The models on the posters are either jumping up into the air with glee, or sitting laughing with friends. It is obvious that although both of these stores are connected, each store is reaching out to two completely different age groups. Pink is mainly targeting the younger generation, especially through their line of clothing that is called “Collegiate.” Although their clothing may reach out to older women as well, the VS section mainly reaches out to older women by seeming to have a more sophisticated and mature look that is not only shown in the clothing itself, but the way the store is fashioned.

As Malcolm Gladwell in “The Science of Shopping,” described Paco Underhill’s idea of humans while shopping are drawn to immediately direct themselves to their right, otherwise known as the “Invariant Right,” this was evident in paying attention to customers shopping at VS.(95) These customers were all women with a few males, who inevitably just awaited outside the store near me while their wives, girlfriends, or daughters shopped for lingerie products. While the customers would make their way into the store, not one of them stopped to look at the good sale of the V-necks immediately to the right when they walk in. Instead, shoppers continued to move to the right side of the store, yet not towards the far right closest to the wall. The way the Pink store up is set up is more or less similar to a less stressful maze. On both the left and right side of the store there are furniture pieces where many of their different clothing products lay upon. All these furniture pieces are white, yet are covered by clothing with vibrant colors which initially makes it easier for the clothes to appeal more attractive. As customers made their way through the different organizations of clothes, they would eventually end up in the middle to one of Pink’s largest, most constant, and most known sales. This happens to be the underwear sale, which commonly goes for “5 for 27,” and many shoppers appreciate this deal and constantly come to the store for this specifically. Where they store the products is also not underappreciated, the underwear are stored in drawers in a large dresser, so-to-say. Many customers I observed usually came in there with a purpose. Three out of the six shopped for the underwear alone, two just browsed and eventually found themselves finding something much more their taste at the Victoria’s Secret store, and the last person I observed purchased a jacket after browsing the clothing for ten minutes. Personally it is to my understanding that many people often go there specifically to find something they need, or use it to splurge on a nice hoodie.

In Anne Norton’s essay, “The Science of Shopping,” she explains that “The practice of shopping...has long been the occasion for women to escape the confines of their homes and enjoy the companionship of other women (pg.88). Therefore it isn’t surprising to realize that in the early 1970’s began the popularity of women’s-only retail stores. Stores like Sephora ( est.1970), Charlotte Russe (est.1975), Forever 21 (est.1984), and Victoria’s Secret (est.1977), although opened more than 20 years ago are now some of the most popular stores for women to shop at(Wikipedia). Now although there are popular men’s only brands, there are no very popular men's-only stores that could compete with any of the stores listed above. Although it is still proven that women do spend more time shopping than men, Anne Norton’s essay just proves that the sexist stereotype of “women doing the shopping,” is still present and that the women specific stores are only promoting this idea. More specifically, Victoria’s Secret has given lingerie a new face, and that’s the face of skinny models walking down a runway half naked. Their store gives women a homey and brings soft bright colors to their products so that we are able to feel more comfortable buying their overpriced lingerie that we pray we will look good in. The idea of sexism and the huge gap between the male and female genders is still larger than it should be in the 21st century.