Victoria’s Secret is, hands down, the most popular intimate apparel line on the market. The 1,100 stores generate $7.2 billion in annual sales, blowing past the competition. Victoria’s Secret constantly updates their lingerie and other apparel and provides a complete customer experience. So what’s wrong with that? The popularity and success of Victoria’s Secret has, ultimately, exposed young women to a distorted body image that is near impossible to obtain.
Victoria’s Secret knows how to sell their products. They hire beautiful models to wear their newest bras and panties and they familiarize their models with their consumers. Ever heard of Candice Swanepoel? Adriana Lima? Behati Prinsloo? We are constantly exposed to the same names because we begin to feel a sort of connection to them and we ultimately aspire to be them. Yes, they are all beautiful women, but what we as women forget is that we can be beautiful as we are instead of trying to attain a supermodel body.
Every year, Victoria’s Secret hosts a fashion show to promote new products and the “lifestyle” the brand is trying to sell. It is the most watched fashion event on the planet and there’s a reason for that. The show features beautiful women, beautiful bras and panties and amazing guest artists -- of course people are going to tune in.
Every year, I constantly hear the same things from my friends. “Are you going to watch the fashion show? Let’s watch the fashion show together!” I typically agree because I do enjoy watching it. Now, what do I hear during the show? “Wow, I really wish I had her body. I’m going to go run 10 miles. Looks like I’m having lettuce for lunch tomorrow.”
Is this the goal of Victoria’s Secret? To show off their intimate apparel even if it means that young women everywhere are going to go to extremes to achieve the so-called perfect body? The image they have created for females today is that you need to be tall, skinny and flawless in order to be accepted by society.
What us women need today is to look past brands like Victoria’s Secret and aspire to be the best version of ourselves. I’m currently 5 foot 4 inches and I’m probably never going to be 5 foot 10 inches like most of those models, and that’s OK. I work out to feel good about myself and, yes, to maybe shed a few pounds, but ultimately because I enjoy doing so.
We are so quick to compare ourselves to others and especially the models we see in catalogs because they’re beautiful and wearing the $80 bra we so badly want, but we fail to recognize that we are special and unique in our own way. I am in no way saying that having a supermodel body is bad, but I think that if we don’t, we automatically believe we should be working toward that goal.
Here’s the bottom line: I like shopping at Victoria’s Secret because it’s a cute brand and I'd be lying if I said it wasn’t. But what I don’t buy into is the body goals they set out for us, because I know that being a supermodel isn’t in the cards for me and I’m happy with the way I look. We are only given one body and I believe you should treat it right and do what is best for yourself, not society or anyone else.
