Textual Analysis: Victoria’s Secret
Whitney Matt
Comm 121: Media Theory
Ted Gournelos
Abstract
Victoria’s Secret was first introduced to society in the late 1970’s in California.
Victoria’s Secret is very different than most lingerie stores. It is more widely
accepted because it is seen as not trashy. Victoria’s Secret is seen as cute, fun and
sexy by women. They feel comfortable shopping at this store. Through a textual
analysis of Victoria’s Secret’s this paper will argue that Victoria’s Secret is put out
there to be very feminine, sexual and classy through not only their advertising but
also through their store’s entrances, physical layout and attitude of the store.
People might shop at Victoria’s Secret because their merchandise is “cute”, “fun”,
“girly”, and “sexy”. Victoria’s secret appeals to women between the ages of 18 and
44 mainly (The Spotlight Blog!). Although men do love Victoria’s secret they are not
in the demographic for Victoria’s Secret, being the fact that there is not one item
specifically for men in any of the stores. It also appeals to women who like sexy
sheer and lace but who also want to feel safe, clean, and sophisticated at the same
time. This is what distinguishes Victoria’s Secret from other lingerie stores such as
Frederick’s of Hollywood; which makes itself appear more trashy and for more
scandalous women.
Roy Raymond, a doting husband, found himself attempting to buy lingerie for
his wife. Raymond found himself extremely uncomfortable in the department stores
lingerie sections; since all of them were either too frilly or too conservative. He
believed that most women and men would agree with him and would like to see
“lingerie stores” find a middle ground between these two. In 1977, he borrowed
$80,000 and opened his very first Victoria’s Secret in a shopping center in San
Francisco. Raymond wanted the store to resemble a Victorian bedroom because
that was his ideal of sexy and romantic. He decorated the store with oriental rugs
and vanities, which held panties and bras from upscale designers in a form of
“classy seduction”. In the first year of business, the store made over half a million
dollars, which let Raymond expand his company by adding four new locations,
headquarters, and a warehouse. Raymond sold Victoria’s Secret to Limited Brands
for four million dollars. Limited Brands mass produced Victoria’s Secret in the
1980’s. Victoria’s Secret was expanded from only four stores to over 400 stores.
These stores were mainly placed in middle to upper class areas, generally in strip
malls, although in larger cities, such as New York and Chicago, there are
“megastores” Victoria’s Secret then started vending other products and also added a
mail catalog. By the 90’s Victoria’s Secret had become the largest lingerie outfitter,
surpassing Frederick’s of Hollywood and Cacique. Today there are thousands of
Victoria’s Secret stores nationwide, grossing millions of dollars per year (Victoria's
Secret History).
The entrances of all of the Victoria’s Secret Stores are very distinct and
different from any other store. There are generally three common entrance types.
The first (see figure 1) and most common being a plain black square entrance with
the words “Victoria’s Secret” in pink. The second (see figure 2) most common being
a plain white square entrance with the words “Victoria’s Secret” in gold. The third
(see figure 3) entrance being a plain white square entrance with the words
“Victoria’s Secret” in black. There are other entrances but these are the most
common. Even though they’re all different they all still send the same message;
simple yet romantic, girly without being too frilly, strong but still feminine. Another
thing that sets Victoria’s Secret apart from other stores is their window displays at
their entrances. I looked at many window displays at many different stores. They are
all like their entrances; simple yet romantic, girly without being too frilly, strong but
still feminine. I chose one particular window display to look at harder than the rest.
It’s called “Backstage Sexy”. It features a white female mannequin bending over in
black lingerie. She is surrounded by black and white photos on the ground, which
seems to make the display seem an old Hollywood sex icon. There is also a pink
feather boa. I think the feather boa symbolizes femininity and glamour. The
mannequin is wearing thigh high nylons with lace and ribbon on them. Once again I
think that they symbolize femininity as well as sexuality. She is also wearing high
heels, which makes this display that much more sexual. She has on some sort of
thong panty with beads and whatnot hanging off of it, which makes it sort of show
girlish, which supports the words on the display “Back Stage Sexy”. Matching the
panties, she is wearing a black lace bra which makes her seem very feminine once
again. Her hair is long and loose, making her have sexual appeal. Overall this
window display was meant to be extremely feminine, sexual, and powerful while still
having a certain amount of class.
Victoria’s Secret has a certain physical layout that they use repeatedly in
almost all of their stores. Most Victoria’s Secret stores have two entrances. The first
one is the “Pink” side of the store. This side usually features the Pink Collection,
under Victoria’s secret. It’s literally pink, bright pink, with white polka dots all over the
walls or the opposite, white walls with bright pink polka dots covering the walls. All of
the displays are white, accented with pink. This is more the side of Victoria’s Secret
for “younger” girls. The undergarments are more conservative, colorful, girly and
“cute”, instead of racy, sophisticated, and sexual like the other side of the store. The
other entrance of the store is usually the product side of the store. Here they have
the cash register, make up, sprays, and lotions. If you keep going back through
either the Pink side or the product side you get to the racier part of the store. I
believe that it’s in the back of the store for a reason, and that reason being that it is
racier than a lot of people, still today, refuse to accept. In this back part of the store
there is virtually no pink, it’s mostly just black and white. It still has the vanities with
drawers full of panties and bras exactly like when the stores were first opened, some
thirty years ago. It’s simple, yet elegant, feminine but not over the top, and classy
but in a sexual way. Everything is neatly organized which makes it seem more
sophisticated rather than just thrown into piles like a lot of lingerie stores. Everything
is arranged by styles, colors, and sizes. Most Victoria’s Secret stores have the same
layout and the same displays, all portraying the same things; femininity, class,
sophistication, and sexuality.
Victoria’s Secret gives off a certain attitude when you walk in. It automatically
makes you feel girly, I don’t care if you’re a boy or a tomboy, you automatically feel
feminine when you walk in the entrance. Everything is pink and black, which makes
you feel feminine yet powerful and strong. It smells like every lotion and spray that
Victoria’s Secret offers. It makes you feel feminine and sweet. You see the sales
associates, who are dressed in head to toe black, you feel sophisticated and classy.
You look around, a little harder this time, you see black lacey lingerie; it makes you
feel sexy and feminine. You move into the Pink room. The Pink room makes you feel
like a kid again. It’s colorful and girly. There are fun panties and bras; cotton, soft
with bright polka dots and stripes. It brings a smile to your face, that is until you see
the price tags. Overall Victoria’s secret makes you feel girly, feminine, fun, sexy,
sophisticated and classy every time you shop there. Victoria’s Secret’s signature
sound in their stores in the 90’s was classical music; (The Evolution of the Victoria's
Secret Sound) which helped to create the very distinctive environment that Victoria’s
Secret had in mind.
Victoria’s Secret generally distinguishes itself from other lingerie stores
because of the way it appeals to women through the way the entrances invite you in,
to the different rooms and physical layouts, to the way that Victoria’s Secret makes
you feel. Victoria’s Secret appeals to the American middle class. It does this by
placing its stores in shopping malls in areas that are middle class, keeping prices
low enough that most people can afford them, but high enough that not everyone
can afford them. This along with their products and marketing campaigns created a
class that had previously been nonexistent, and was not accepted before this time
period. Victoria’s Secret could not have existed previously to when it did. This kind of
store, a lingerie store for the everyday woman, in shopping malls where we take our
families, was not accepted previous to this time period. This type of open sexuality
would have been an outrage if this store would’ve been established sooner. Yes,
there were other lingerie stores out there, but they were known to be “trashy”, which
Victoria’s Secret is not. Women want this kind of environment. They want to feel
feminine, sexy, glamorous, and sophisticated; but what they do not want to feel is
trashy, which is why Victoria’s Secret is so appealing, it still holds a certain amount
of class.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Summaries, Study Guides. Retrieved November 6, 2009, from
http://www.bookrags.com/history/victorias-secret-sjpc-05/
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Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www.lingerie-uncovered.com/labels/victorias-secret-
past.htm
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o The Evolution of the Victoria's Secret Sound | DMX Blog. (n.d.). DMX Blog. Retrieved November
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o The Spotlight Blog! - Selected Back Issues: Victoria's Secret Plays Marketing Ball!. (n.d.). The
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http://barrymorris.blogspot.com/2006/06/victorias-secret-plays-marketing-ball.html
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