Ah, the Victoria Secret Fashion Show, the Superbowl of events for women across the world. The show is set to air on December 9th and for the first time ever, the pink carpet is rolling out in London. Along with Hollywood’s most elite- musical guests including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, and Hozier will rock the glittery runway.
Not only does the show kick-off the holiday season but it presents some of the top-notch musical acts, theatrical elements, and not to mention some of the most beautiful women dominating the catwalk in gorgeous lingerie. Because who doesn’t want to see that after a week at home pregaming for the event by shoving your face with turkey and pumpkin pie?
Victoria’s Secret executive VP for brand communications, Monica Mitro says, “It’s the only one-hour network show dedicated to a single brand. It puts our brand in front of millions of people around the world during the crucial holiday period.”
Despite the abundant amount of cleavage, the event is for female, not male, viewers- not that they still don’t tune in! And unless you have a minimum of $12,500 to dish out for a ticket to the show, you’re a part of the 12.4 million at-home viewers.
It’s a night for you and your girlfriends to hang out and feel like you’re getting a peek inside the glamorous world these models live in. With the help of social media, we get access to behind-the-scene clips that include confessional like videos that are meant to forge a “girlfriend like bond” between the models and their fans.
There’s something about seeing these beautiful women wearing angelic wings while stunting down a glittery runway that all of us have a guilty love for. And I mean come on, who doesn’t have a bit of a girl crush on the angles?! (#TeamCandiance all the way!)
But as much as we admire the sexiness and confidence that these girls radiate we can’t help but to feel some damaging tolls on our self-esteem while watching. So you pour yourself another glass of wine and try to pick out any flaw you can find in the models. In the end you come up with nothing better than maybe it’s a little tacky to blow that many kisses within a 5-minute span. To top it off, Alessandra Ambrosio appears and shows off her rock hard 6-pack abs. Suddenly those brownies your girlfriend brought over become a lot less appealing. We’ve all seen our twitter feed become filled with “Eating my feelings,” or “Time to go workout for 20 hours,” type tweets.
Then the next day the gym suddenly becomes 10 times busier with girls filled with newfound motivation. The angles have achieved ‘perfection’ in their bodies by society’s standards with their long legs, tiny waists, and chiseled abs. We can’t help but think, “Why can’t I look like that?” We often fail to remember just how many hours they put in at the gym and the intensely strict diets they follow. Adriana Lima is said to not eat any solid food for the 9 days leading up to the show, just protein shakes made with powdered eggs then will work out twice a day for weeks leading to it. It’s an unrealistic lifestyle but these women are paid the big bucks to do it.
Since the show first aired in 2001 protests from groups like the Parents Television Council, the National Organization for Women, and the American Decency Association have arose to try and call it quits. But despite the controversy the show still goes on year after year.
As much as we want to boycott the show and save our self-esteem we still love to watch. Maybe it’s because of the glitz and glamour or because you secretly are dying to be an angel, but either way we’re always coming back for more. “The show fulfills a fantasy, and not just the obvious one of gorgeous women in their underwear,” says Glamour magazine contributing style editor Tracey Lomrantz, “Everything about it is over the top, from the performances to the sets to the shoes. It lets the audience have a kind of escapist moment to a place where everything is sparkly and idyllic.”
One thing that is for sure is that these girls never fail to impress us. They share the same message year after year: that with a mixture of hard work, dedication, and a little bit of luck- your dreams can come true. Because they too use to just be a small town girl before they became a famous VS angel.
One of the most common things the models will say is how nervous they are before the show but looking at them strut their hard earned bodies down the runway- you’d never be able to tell. Adriana Lima says “To have beauty, you need strength,” which to me just translates as “To keep my job, I have to have abs like a Ken Doll.” But we learn just how important confidence is in every aspect of our lives. So you can try to hate the Victoria’s Secret models or you can remind yourself that the life of an angel probably doesn’t involve pizza, and I don’t know about you but a life without pizza is not one I want to live.