Like me, millions of women love lingerie. Men, do as well, no doubt, albeit for different reasons. Victoria’s Secret has always been to lingerie what Nike is to sportswear. It’s clear via their advertising, it sells sex and fashion, not just sex — and that’s particularly obvious now following their annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which airs once a year on television.

As pretty as it might be, I don’t want to see models with fake wings wearing hardly anything. Lingerie is for private consumption, obviously.

The Victoria’s Secret brand has struggled in the last few years, particularly recently following their decision to drop clothing and swimwear from the brand. The fashion show started airing on television in 1995, but it didn’t become prominent for several more years. Still, while the show’s reputation has spread, its viewership hasn’t necessarily increased. In 2015 and 2016, the show only garnered around 6.5 million viewers. The brand probably spent half as much in dollars getting models and their outfits to Shanghai, where they filmed this year’s show.

Still, selling lingerie is a booming industry.

Make no mistake, everyone is watching Victoria's Secret and studying the missteps. Local lingerie firms are popping up, able to sell similar designs for half the price, and China is eager to encourage a booming domestic industry. #VSFashionShow — Milena Rodban (@MilenaRodban) November 29, 2017



Yes, sure, the models look like a gorgeous spectacle: Every panty and bra set is fit with over-the-top feather wings and many of the outfits appeared to be inspired by Asian culture. Of course, Victoria’s Secret doesn’t expect anyone to don the whole outfit at home in bed: They are marketing not only the lingerie the models are wearing — sans 120-pound, gorgeous, long-haired blonde — but the idea of sex.

The Victoria’s Secret strategy is simple: Lingerie attracts, beauty woos, and yes, sex sells. That’s it. It’s not a mystery and nor is this complex. Victoria’s Secret is in the market of helping women feel beautiful — so why resort to a fashion show with women strutting down a slippery runway in their stilettos? (One model fell.) I guess when you mix marketing and sex and fashion, this is what you get.

There’s only one problem. The Victoria’s Secret show doesn’t do well in terms of ratings, because, while the brand views it as a marketing stunt, real people don’t think of Victoria’s Secret in terms of branding.

Men and women look at Victoria’s Secret in terms of real life — because that’s what it was made for: Sex. In real life. Unsurprisingly, foreplay — which is essentially what the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is, in a way — isn’t something people want to see in real life. It’s intimate and private and people naturally shy away from watching or being told this is how you should look. Especially if you’ve had a baby (or four).

While the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is certainly a pretty experience to view — and the men and women who do tune in do it just to ogle — there’s a gap there between real life and marketing that’s really hard to bridge. When I see a woman in an outfit like that, I think to myself, "this is so over the top, no one can relate." It’s as impractical as it is absurd."

Women wear lingerie to feel sexy and have sex. Only for a moment is it about fashion — it’s much more about conjuring a feeling of arousal, love, and intimacy between a couple. This is what the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show misses, ironically, even though that’s what their entire brand is about.

What the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show lacks in intimacy it makes up for in gaudiness — and that’s why it’s ultimately a failure. It would be like if Nike were to start selling cardboard cutouts of LeBron James. Is it related? Sure, kind of. Is it practical, useful, or even inspiring? Not really.

So it is with the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Is it interesting to look at? Sure. Does it help sell lingerie to women who want to feel sexy with their guy? Likely not.

Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She was the 2010 recipient of the American Spectator's Young Journalist Award.

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