It’s hard to believe there is a fashion show devoted not to the latest clothing styles and trends, but exclusively to what is worn underneath your clothing, items that may never even see the light of day.

And yet, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which took place on Nov. 13 at the Lexington Avenue Armory in Manhattan and airs on CBS on Dec. 10, is an extravagant and slightly eccentric fashion tradition that attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers annually.

Many people probably assume that the founder of Victoria’s Secret is a woman. While such an assumption is logical, it is also untrue. Roy Raymond founded Victoria’s Secret in 1977 as a result of the chagrin he felt when trying to purchase lingerie for his wife in department stores. Raymond’s goal was to create a place where men could feel comfortable purchasing lingerie for their wives, girlfriends and significant others.

Victoria’s Secret is currently the largest American lingerie retailer and, if you’ve ever visited one of their stores, you know that Raymond met his goal, evidenced by the fact that both men and women can be seen milling around the hot pink aisles, picking out tulle teddies and pricing rhinestone bustiers with complete impunity.

The first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was held in 1995, and the event has since become the lavish spectacle that it is today, complete with obscene amounts of glitter and bras worth $10 million. Often touted as the “sexiest show on earth,” this year’s show featured performances by Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift.

Given that Kanye West did not attend the show, Swift was able to perform sans any interruptions, but some still bristled at her presence due to her squeaky clean, “girl-next-door” persona not matching the sultry themes of the show. For her two performances, Swift wore a white cocktail dress with heavy beading and iridescent stones followed by a Union Jack-themed getup, complete with a tiny top hat. Swift’s ensembles complimented the equally luxurious pieces of lingerie the models wore, albeit in a much more conservative manner.

Yes, Swift was nowhere near as scantily clad as the models. And yes, her image does not jive particularly well with the unabashedly sexy ideology of the Victoria’s Secret brand. But I think it was in good taste not to have a performer who is too outrageously sensual (I’m looking at you Miley Cyrus).

After all, there really is no place for twerking at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. There is a very fine line between what is sexy and what is simply in poor taste. And when a fashion show features nothing but nearly-naked women in angel wings, it’s imperative to remain on the right side of such a line. Otherwise the company may run the risk of making the fashion show less of a fun, fabulous spectacle, but instead a smutty, pornographic debacle.

From the looks of the photos already posted online, it appears the show definitely stayed on the right side of the aforementioned line — and showcased some truly magnificent bras.

Beautiful undergarments aside, it’s also refreshing to see confident models with actual facial expressions strut down the runway. Often in high fashion shows, enigmatic facial expressions are discouraged because they can detract attention from the garments themselves. This is less of a worry when there is very little clothing to showcase in the first place.

Ultimately, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has made intimate wear a public affair and shows just how progressive and open the fashion world has become. A mere 50 years ago, such a show could not be broadcast due to obscenity laws. Luckily, the world has changed, and we can now see London, France and very expensive underpants on TV.

Jenna Belmonte is a magazine, newspaper and online journalism graduate student. Her fashion column appears every Monday in Pulp. She can be reached at jmbelmon@syr.edu.

Published on November 18, 2013 at 12:56 am