My Dream To Be A Victoria Secret Model Is Still Alive
From that day on I was SOLD!
I can remember my first experience with Victoria Secret. I was a 12-year-old girl shopping in the new Pink section of their store. Around the time I turned 12, the Pink section was still fairly new. It was my first time shopping at the store. I fell in love with the giant pink dog and the colorful patterns. I was not big enough to wear any of the clothes yet, but that did not stop me from shopping at the store. I remember buying colorful and cute undergarments and a sweatshirt with the word "Pink" on it. From that day on I was SOLD!
I remember staring at the models on the wall and thinking I would love to be like them one day. Not because they were skinny and thin, but there was a sense of self-confidence that they had and I was looking for. Believe it or not, wearing the clothes from that store seemed to help me with that self-confidence. I remember leaving the store that day and telling my mom I am going to be a Victoria Secret model.
Every year I watch the fashion show and think I could be one of the Angels. The fashion show is a chance for people like me to dream of a day when we can see ourselves on the stage. There is something about the musical performances and all the lights that help to ignite that dream in me.
The women in this fashion show seem so elegant and graceful. They stride across the stage like movie stars. They have a sense of confidence and proud that makes them incredible and beautiful people. They wear these gorgeous outfits that shimmer and sparkle. The outfits that they wear have all kinds of jewels and rhinestones that add something special to the look. The highlight of the show is always, what they call, the "Fantasy Bra". This bra has a lot of diamonds, rhinestones, and jewels. The jewels and rhinestones often come from all around the world. The model that gets to wear the "Fantasy Bra" is the model that everyone aspires to become. She has a sense of elegance and grace that can only seem to come from the confidence of wearing this bra.
There have been many different "Fantasy Bra" through the years. Some of my favorites are the 2007 bra that was holiday inspired. The model wore a bra that was covered in diamonds and had rubies and emeralds. This was one of my favorites because I love the holiday times. It has always been a dream of mine to wear a bra like the one I saw in 2007.
Another one of my favorite bras is the 2008 "Fantasy Bra" because of the black diamonds on the bra and the gorgeous black and white wings that Adriana Lima wore with the bra. Then there were bras like Miranda Kerr wore in 2011 that had beautiful colored wings that drew extra attention to the bra, and the one that Alessandra Ambrosio wore in 2012, that was not only colorful but had amazing flower details.
My favorite "Fantasy Bra" was the ones that Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio wore in 2014. The bras contrasted each other perfectly. Adriana wore a bra covered in sapphires and diamonds, and Alessandra wore a bra covered in rubies and diamonds. There were jewels that dangled and hung all around the bra.
There are some many Victoria Secret models that I look up to and admire to be like. Some of my favorites are Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Taylor Hill, Miranda Kerr, Karlie Kloss, Behati Prinsloo, and Candice Swanepoel and Martha Hunt. These are the women that I look up to and want to be like. Every year I feel like I could become a Victoria Secret model because of how amazing and beautiful they look at the Victoria Secret Fashion show.
Young Adriana Lima blowing her infamous kiss.
Bella Hadid flaunting her flawless figure, despite recent body shames.
Sister Gigi Hadid embracing her curves.
Kendall Jenner floating down the runway without a flaw, as usual.
Until then! Xo,
I'm Standing With My Trans Sisters And Boycotting Victoria's Secret
Victoria's secret has been revealed, and it's just as discriminatory as we all suspected.
In a recent interview with Vogue, Victoria Secret's CMO Ed Razek was asked about why the company's infamous fashion show does not include plus-size and transgender models. To this, he replied that the show was meant to be a fantasy, and that they include models that appeal to the markets they sell to, not the whole world.
Reading between the lines with barely a smidgen of effort, Razek meant that their goal is appealing to their cis-female, 14- to 18-year-old demographic so that those customers can better appeal to the white, cis men—the show targets, which explains all the meatless, opinion-less models.
Who cares if they promote unrealistic standards for girls with real-life bodies who aren't #TrainedLikeAnAngel?
In an effort to create that fantasy, they certainly can't be bothered to worry about the fatsos and trannies, too.
Anyone could've told Razek that secret should've stayed in the closet, but it is not altogether surprising coming from a company who only reluctantly started celebrating their top models' racial diversity and national backgrounds.
Unbeknownst to Victoria, representation for the trans community has exploded in recent years with the fashion industry leading the way. Under the influence of supermodels and activists like Arisce Wanzer, Carmen Carrera, Isis King and MiMi Tao, these women and their equals have gone from being token "trans models" to simply owning the supermodel title they so rightly deserve.
Even despite the Trump administration's most recent attack on trans rights, campaigns like Laverne Cox's #TransIsBeautiful have emboldened more trans and gender nonconforming people than ever before to be themselves in everyday society.
Victoria's Secret apparently didn't get that memo.
From a marketing standpoint, the company's stubborn refusal to change with the times is absolutely moronic. Every day, commercial brands like Arie, Gap, and H&M come out with new lines and campaigns that cater to a variety of people of all colors, creeds, shapes and sizes.
Yet, Victoria's Secret Pink line still doesn't even provide sizes past XL.
It's this obvious exclusion that has made the popularity of their fashion show decline in recent years, for young girls and femmes can no longer relate to the content.
While the size discrimination may be attributed to the availability of the cheap, uncomfortable materials the company refuses to branch out from, Razek's comments brought their discriminatory practices into stark relief.
The CMO's opinions set off a firestorm for the company, taking heat from plus-sized and trans models alike, but many of the outraged voices from trans activists were of a similar tune.
Trans women live their dream fantasy every day by simply being themselves, whether or not that fits Victoria's Secret's cookie-cutter vision for what that should be.
By refusing to include the queer community in their beauty standards, they are ignoring what the company symbolizes to many trans women who are brave enough to be themselves.
As Victoria's Secret is one of the most accessible lingerie brands on the market, I can only imagine how young trans ladies must feel when they purchase their very first piece of lady's underwear from the retailer. For a company that represents the pinnacle of womanhood and sexuality to so many developing girls, this could be a pivotal moment in many trans women's lives.
Razek's comments confirmed that the company couldn't give less of a damn about this portion of their clientele or what their brand might have represented.
With that in mind, it's no wonder this statement is quickly becoming the tipping point in the company's relationship with young people who are only going to keep getting more progressive.
Indeed, I and many other young millennials have already started to grow tired of the brand's repetitive patterns, unrealistic fit and vanilla beauty standards for some time now. It's foreseen that the company will lose more than just their queer customer base after this blunder.
It's a shame this company is so resolutely stuck in their outdated ways, refusing to embrace the inspiration that people like Christian Siriano and Ashley Grahm inspire, when they started off as a trailblazer in celebrating women's sexuality. But it's sheer, delicious luck that this happened the same year Rihanna graced us with her presence in the commercial fashion industry.
So, in the words of the infamous Trace Lysette, I'm marching over to Savage Fenty with my dollars.