She can be seen standing in the right window of the local store at University Mall. She turns the head of almost everyone who walks by her, and she has caused at least one woman to point and raise her eyebrows. The woman is tall and slender with long, brown hair, and she wears purple, almost transparent underwear. She leans forward and grabs the sides of her bikini-like panties as if she is about to pull them down. In gold letters, on the window that she stands behind, are the words "Body Bare."
Enter the world of Victoria's Secret.
The woman is one of the famous lingerie company's models on a poster that advertises its newest line of underwear, described by VictorasSecret.com as comfortable, sheer and stretchy.
However, there is more to a picture than meets the eye.
Joe Thompson, a senior majoring in criminal justice, offered his opinion about the window ad.
"Don't get me wrong," he said. "I think the picture is fine. In fact, I kind of like it," Thompson said, laughing. "But I think it might make some women -- you know -- feel bad."
Thompson turned and pointed at the picture.
"I know if I was walking by and saw a big picture of some buff guy in his underwear, I would feel kind of inferior," he said.
Despite, or maybe even because of, conflicting opinions about the company's portrayal of women, Victoria's Secret continues to dominate the lingerie business. University of Alabama students and faculty, along with experts at the national level, have offered some insight about how and why this company appeals to so many women.
University students gave a variety of reasons for their attraction to the store, from liking a particular item to enjoying the shopping experience itself.
Beth Hensleigh, a junior majoring in biology, recently purchased the Body by Victoria bra, which the company boasts as "the most comfortable bra ever made."
"I bought it because it is comfortable, and I like the styles and colors," Hensleigh said. "They have a lot of variety."
Keia Huff, a junior majoring in criminal justice, purchased a set of four fragrance sprays from the store. She said her reason for shopping at Victoria's Secret is that the store has nice lingerie that does not make her feel sleazy.
"You don't feel like you're doing something wrong, like you have to go into a dark room or something," Huff said.
In the June 5, 1995 issue of Forbes magazine, Victoria's Secret CEO Leslie Wexner made a simple statement about why he thinks his company has been so successful:
"Narcissism is real," he said. "It's the key to business."
Robert Robicheaux, a professor in the University of Alabama's Department of Management and Marketing, said he almost never agrees with Wexner.
"Narcissism may be a key to his lingerie business," he said. "Certainly folks who buy there include some who are self-consumed by their physical appearance. Many others shop there for staples -- everyday bras and panties. They stole that business from JC Penney."
Robicheaux, who is also the director of the Hess Institute from Retailing Development, said the branding concept responsible for the company's success had been attempted previously by Frederick's of Hollywood, but Victoria's Secret made the concept legitimate.
Robicheaux said that the company's "secret" has nothing to do with persuasive communications.
"Instead, it is based on a marketing strategy that was based on an understanding of the change in American culture and a greater openness toward sexy clothing," he said.
However, some people feel that the company's marketing strategy can be detrimental to the physical and mental well being of women.
Marianne Rosenzweig, a clinical psychologist in the College of Human Environmental Sciences, is a eating disorders expert who has treated several professional models. As she thumbed through the pages of a Victoria's Secret catalog, she described most of the models as being very "buxom," meaning heavy-chested, with very small waists and hips.
"Generally, when you're large-breasted, you have a larger hips and a larger waist. Victoria's Secret models are not in the same proportion that we would generally find women."
Rosenzweig said that women should realize that models for Victoria's Secret are chosen because they have bodies that most women do not naturally have, even though some models do not look that way naturally.
"The retailers are trying to send the message that if you use this product, you will look like this person," she said. "But what most people don't realize is that people in the ads don't look that way naturally."
Rosenzweig said that although eating disorders are determined by many factors, media pressure to be thin is the main cause.
"We know that unless there's that socio-cultural pressure to be real thin, very few people would ever develop an eating disorder," Rosenzweig said.
Rosenzweig cited a study which found that the incidence of eating disorder fluctuates according to what body type is in vogue.
"In the 1950s, the full-figured woman was considered attractive, like Marilyn Monroe. And at the time, the incidence of eating disorders was really low," she said.
Rosenzweig said that women are attracted to stores like Victoria's Secret because they think that it is what men want.
"Women think that men like women who look like the models in the magazines. In reality, they do not. Men, for the most part, like women with meat on their bones."
Rosenzweig added that many professional models have had plastic surgery or have an eating disorder, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia.
Regardless of who buys or does not buy from Victoria's Secret and why, the company has taken market share in the intimate apparel business with an average annual profit of $2 billion, according to the Feb. 2, 1999 issue of Body in Mind.
"I don't know who's buying this stuff, but somebody's got to be or they wouldn't keep putting it in the catalogs," Rosenzweig said.
According to Progressive Grocer, Victoria's Secret began as a chain of five stores in San Francisco founded by Roy Raymond. The stores were making an average of $7 million annually when it was sold to The Limited in 1982. According to Hoover's Online, more than 350 million copies of its namesake catalog are mailed out each year. The catalog features lingerie and other types of clothing like jeans, sweaters, sportswear and evening wear.
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