Have you ever been warned against dipping a metal spoon
The wings were back: faux feathered, quilted, tulle, tinsel, and star-spangled. Crystal bustiers and bras, lacy thongs, and boudoir silks made their return too. Superstars like Lisa, Tyla, and Cher dazzled the audience, while supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, Paloma Elsesser, Joan Smalls, Ashley Graham, Valentina Sampaio, Kate Moss and her daughter Lila, Eva Herzigova, Carla Bruni, and Tyra Banks strutted down the runway. All the elements were in place for the rebranded Victoria’s Secret show, six years after it was canceled amid controversy and the #MeToo movement. The world had realized that the show, once seen as a camp spectacle, was complicit in promoting a narrow body ideal and treating women as objects of male fantasy. In response, Victoria’s Secret embarked on a journey of market share decline, soul-searching, corporate reorganization, and public pledges to focus on female empowerment. The rebranded show claimed to put women in control, but did it really? The runway featured more diverse body types, including trans bodies and women of various ages. The lingerie was more accessible, with everything shoppable during the livestream. Models wore wings or robes with trains, which were lighter and more wearable than the old 30-pound versions. However, some wings looked like they came from a Halloween store. Despite the changes, the show felt more like a nostalgic high school reunion than a step forward. It prompted the question: What were we thinking? The Victoria’s Secret show is a relic of another time. While women can still enjoy lingerie and VS products, this particular way of displaying them should be retired. The history beneath the lace cannot be erased. Parading scantily clad bodies, regardless of size or age, is not about empowerment; it’s about objectification. There are as many fantasies and definitions of sexy as there are people in the world, and many of them don’t involve wings.