A Tumblr Looks Like Frederique Van Der Wal Model Wearing Old Fashion Lingerie White

What has happened to Victoria'due south Undercover?

I hesitated posting this this night because it would technically be the second "rant" of sorts on Go Retro in i week. I detest to sound like I'thou complaining or existence cranky, especially when I really have been in a super mood lately. But the typhoon for this post has been sitting in limbo on Blogger for a few weeks now, and with the Victoria's Underground mode show most to air next calendar week, I might likewise become on with information technology and get it out of my arrangement. (Warning...this is kind of a lengthy mail service.)

And what I need to get out of my system is...Victoria's Secret sucks. It is so far removed now from the store I was a regular customer of in the '90s. I'm actually going to make a prediction hither: I wouldn't be surprised if, 5 years from now, we hear about the demise of the chain.


I first wrote well-nigh the downfall of Victoria's Surreptitious here a practiced v or 6 years ago, but the topic is worth revisiting. A few weeks ago, VS sent me a new "Angel" card in the mail (their cutesy name for their shop menu) and a $10 altogether gift card. I idea I might exist able to use it towards a nice blouse or at least a long-sleeved t-shirt.

Then I started to notice something very weird equally I went through their website.Hey, wait a minute. There were no jeans. No dresses. No suits. No blouses. Nil. In that location were some tops, only they literally looked like rags.

What the bleephappened to all of the clothes?

I deferred to Google, and saw a news announcement from last twelvemonth saying that Victoria's Secret was discontinuing a lot of their clothing line. Apparently, a lot equals everything but the undergarments, swimwear, and cheesy "PINK" line aimed at teens and higher students.

WTF, Victoria'southward Secret? Why? Most inexplainable virtually the corporate modify is the fact that the clothing array made the company a lot of money; betwixt $500 and $750 1000000 annually according to sources.

Now granted, it isn't the stop of the earth that Victoria's Hole-and-corner no longer sells a broad variety of clothing; I've always had plenty of other retailers to cull from. But it's disappointing to me that they're choosing to cater to a younger, selfie obsessed demographic and ignoring the spending power of older women. (And by older, I mean women in their 30s and 40s.)

And she'due south wearing gloves and earrings!

I realize, of form, that today'southward club has been dressing down so much with each passing twelvemonth it seems. Young women are no longer expected to wear suits and professional habiliment to the office, and corporate dress codes have been tossed out the window. It'due south all about wearing hooded sweatshirts, jogging pants, and other athletic "inspired" style, peculiarly for those young 'uns.

Sadly, that means today's image of Victoria'southward Secret is and so drastically different than the one I was a client of a skilful xx years ago. I detest visiting their stores today. I only get just to stock upwardly on cotton bikini panties, one of the few good things they yet make. The music is loud, the stores attract girls who look style too immature to be perusing sexy lingerie, and the shop itself with its techno modernistic interior feels cold. This is a stark 180 from what their image used to look similar.

Throughout the years the chain has been through so many owners and direction that kept changing the brand's focus, and that'due south part of the problem. In 2000, the new chief executive at that time, Sharen Jester Turney, complained that the catalogs showed too much cleavage and were a dorm roomPlayboy substitute; I actually think that describes today's incarnation of the catalog more than accurately.

I tried to locate a photo online of what the shops originally looked like, with no luck, then I guess I'll just have to briefly paint it with words. Pic, if y'all will, a store that looked similar a French or English boudoir from the 1900s. Pastel shades, cozy waiting chairs outside the changing area, and classical music softly being piped through the walls (in 1991, the company actually hired the London Symphony Orchestra to record a CD that was sold in the stores.) And the apparel were cute; sexy yet classy. It definitely wasn't a place that would accept appealed to teenagers. You had to be a certain age to enter a Victoria's Hush-hush store with conviction. I remember I was 19 or 20 when I first walked into one and began buying their habiliment through their catalogs.

Interestingly enough, VS was founded by a man and meant to exist a place where a human could comfortably shop for lingerie for the woman in his life. Roy Raymond and his wife started the company in 1977 after Raymond became dissatisfied with the dowdy selection of female undergarments and lingerie being manufactured at the time; push-upward bras and other sexy selections during the '70s were considered tacky novelty items and more often than not sold by the slightly sleazy Frederick's of Hollywood.

Until Raymond sold the company in 1982, Victoria's Secret was mostly marketed to men. After the new possessor, Leslie Wexner, took over he inverse the focus to female customers. That included revamping the colors and patterns of the product line as well every bit the expect of the stores and expanding them into malls across the U.Southward.

Merely their sleepwear and undergarments were sold in the stores; the regular clothing line was marketed through their catalogs. Many of the items were credited to a manufacturer called Moda International and some of it was made in Italy and the U.S. When I worked at a hotel during my college years and and so secured my showtime office job about a year later on I graduated, much of my wardrobe was comprised of purchases from Victoria's Secret. The quality of their clothing at that time was quite practiced; I had dresses and conform jackets from them that were lined and tailored.

Recently I dug up the following photos, that were taken nigh 13 or fourteen years ago. (Yes, that'south John Mayer with me; a friend at the fourth dimension won free tickets to his show when he was just starting to make a name for himself and it included a "meet and greet" earlier the performance. Don't be impressed -- he acted like a douche. And I''m 99.9% sure he was stoned. Ah, memories.)

The reason I'm even including these pictures is because the dress I'm wearing there came from Victoria'southward Hole-and-corner. It was lightly lined and had a kind of '60s paisley print and ruffled three quarter sleeves. I miss it -- I donated information technology when I went up a dress size and now that I've lost the weight, wish I had held onto information technology.

Victoria's Secret also sold the best jeans, their London Jean collection which was discontinued some time ago. To this solar day I've tried on and bought many other denim brands, merely I've yet to observe ones that fit me quite like London Jeans did. And the nice thing about them is they came in a wide variety of styles and cuts...and then if y'all don't like low-cut jeans that teeter on the edge of your hips, VS gave plenty of options!

And the models that were employed by VS back in the 24-hour interval compared to today...well, there's no comparison. Just look at my intro graphic at the tiptop of my post. The models that made information technology into the catalogs were gorgeous and swish, and included Karen Mulder, Stephanie Seymour, Jill Goodacre (Harry Connick Jr.'s wife), Helena Christensen, Elle Macpherson, Tyra Banks and afterward, Heidi Klum. What used to be sexy and natural looking has now been replaced by over Photoshopped, underfed girls with no remarkable features in my opinion. Nearly of them are significantly younger than the models used during the '90s; notwithstanding clearly in their teens.

On Dec 8, several of those girls will strut their stuff wearing over-the-pinnacle costumes that wait like they came from Elton John'due south grand sale in the almanac televised Victoria's Hole-and-corner manner show, which is the only matter the visitor seems to be known for these days, sadly.

Ironically, Frederick'south of Hollywood appears to me to have better quality clothing these days, and they still utilize bonny adult women for their models.

I've done enough grumbling; the make'south old image is gone similar the wind and it'll never be back. But my memories of the older catalogs have been saved online; hither's some scans I found on a Tumblr page showing what Victoria's Hole-and-corner used to sell and what the paradigm looked like. Merely take a look, then visit the retailer'southward website to see what I hateful. Talk about a fall from grace.

Stephanie Seymour modeling a elevation and leggings that I seriously would choose over anything I saw on the Victoria'southward Hush-hush website the other twenty-four hours.

Jill Goodacre.

Claudia Schiffer likewise modeled for the catalogs.

A beautiful nightgown and robe existence modeled past Tatjana Patitz for the catalog. Why they notwithstanding can't sell clothing like this is across me.

Honestly, this suit would even so be in style today. I remember that I wanted it -- merely $189 was a splurge for an role Christmas party outfit in the '90s!

Buffet Retro!

This is adorable. I would totally wear this sleepwear in the summer.

I had a riding jacket from VS forth with one of their turtleneck sweaters and wool skirts.

Like I said, their London Jeans were the all-time...and that toll! Seriously, yous couldn't get improve quality for the cost at the time.

Heidi Klum modeling winter accessories. I still have (and habiliment) the white fur headband and gloves.

Those London Jeans again...the all-time.

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