I found this recent Slate article on the history of the Victoria’s Secret company interesting. I’d always assumed that fancy lingerie stores were a standard fixture in the boutique shopping areas of most cities. Apparently that only became true in America in the 1980’s when Victoria’s Secret went from a company founded with $80,000 in ’77 to a $1.9B empire by ’95. I was particularly amused by the fact that the founder originally created it because the department stores made him feel like a ‘deviant’ for shopping there and he wanted somewhere for men to be comfortable. I know quite a few dommes where that embarrassment and deviance factor would count as a bonus not a drawback.
Of course this story gives me an excuse to feature a suitably frilly image with a hint of femdom. This is Larisa Fraser shot for Bonprix lingerie.
I love VS lingerie as it’s well-made for the price and really holds up over time, BUT they cut down too many poor fuckin trees to support their totally wasteful catalog campaigns. Also, their publicity encourages women to be neurotic about their weight and age, though I suppose they are hardly unique in that. BOO!
Love the photo, though. Lovely and fun.
Thanks for blogging!
I can’t remember where I seen it, but some TV network aired a show where they talked about that. I especially liked the part where it was suppose to be a place where men would feel comfortable…maybe if they dimmed the lights, added a bar, and put a stage and pole in the back, lol. Anyways, thanks for refreshing my memory on that one. Good stuff!
Haven’t seen the TV show on it, but it does seem to be a well known story, although this was the first time I’d come across it. Glad you enjoyed the post and thanks dropping by to comment.
-paltego
Did slate mention that the founder was gay, and that he was concerned about men shopping for their own lingerie. It is a story with a very sad ending. After selling his four bay area stores to a clothing conglomerate, he eventually jumped off the golden gate bridge.
His stores were the only place women could buy sexy european undergarments made of natural fibers, like cotton.
The fact he killed himself was covered in the article, and is definitely a very sad end to the story. However, I’ve not seen any evidence or discussion of him being gay. He was originally shopping for lingerie for his wife with whom he had a couple of children. That admittedly doesn’t mean he wasn’t gay, but none of the articles I’ve seen suggest that he was. It sounds like none of his later business ventures succeeded and he killed because of that when he was depressed. A terrible shame.
-paltego