To All of the One-Type-of-Body Clothing Brands

The body positivity movement is taking over the world, and it's time for you to catch up.

Last fall, I had an assignment for one of my classes that involved following a company and tracking their branding, social media, and promotional activities; basically anything related to their PR. My group decided to track Dunkin’ Donuts (I love my iced coffee!). On the day the final projects were due, we watched each group present their findings to the class. And though they were all interesting, one group’s presentation in particular made my blood boil.

This group (of all females, I might add) chose L Brands, specifically Victoria’s Secret and Pink. They described their branding as promoting “sexy lingerie;” we all know that to be true. But what made me sick to my stomach was when the girls said, as part of their analysis of competitors, that brands like Aerie have started to expand to plus sizes, but “we don’t think Victoria’s Secret can do that,” because “plus size doesn’t fit into the image of sexy.”

It took all of my effort to avoid screaming at the presenters. True, they might have been analyzing their findings, but it seemed that these girls agreed that bigger girls lack sex appeal. They went on to gush about the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show (which, in my opinion, is an over-the-top celebration of the sought-after “perfect” model body that is unattainable for most). I could tell that these girls really, really love VS/Pink, and their close-mindedness made me sad. But the incident got me to think deeper into society’s view of women.

Victoria’s Secret has been an extremely successful brand for a long time, and one could argue that they don’t want to mess with the image they have now. But other lingerie and clothing companies-such as Aerie, their main competitor- are embracing the body positivity movement, offering extended sizes and showing variety in their models. And this shift in marketing is WORKING. Young ladies everywhere are beginning to see girls like them wearing the products they like (what an insane concept!) and buy them because they know they'll probably look good and they feel more confident. But so many girls are still buying into this concept of “sexy is thin,” because society makes such a big deal about it, and then headlines like the VS fashion show perpetuate the issue. VS is on such a major stage to make a statement about body image, yet they don’t, because their idea of sexy sells.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t really feel overly sexy when I walk into VS and the perfectly sculpted supermodels on the walls are staring back at me. That’s not to say they shouldn’t be respected-they are beautiful and are just trying to do their job- but I’d love to see variation in their models and sizing. Pink’s bra band size only goes up to a 36! Aerie’s unretouched “The Real You is Sexy” campaign, on the other hand, is diverse and I can relate to the body types showing off the undies.

Food for thought: What kind of message are we sending ourselves, our younger siblings and our future daughters? Pink is highly regarded as a “cool” brand (I often see tweens/young teens in the store picking out thongs(!!) -but that’s a discussion for another day!) and how do we think the “bigger” girls feel when they don’t fit in the clothes? Growing up is hard enough as it is; body image is something we as a society can influence, if we just let ourselves understand that striving for these likely unattainable bodies often does more emotional, mental and physical harm than good.

So Victoria’s Secret, and all the other brands that focus on "only skinny is sexy," I think it’s important that you consider your power and the impact you have on females everywhere. You can stick with your current branding model, but I don’t think you’ll be able to last like that forever. We know that diversity-whether race, size, disability, sexuality, whatever- makes up our society, and the ever-growing media sources are beginning to catch on and promote this acceptance. Women need to empower one another and be all-accepting, not tear one other down. This has to start from within, so that the chain reaction can begin and we can spread the love and confidence.

We are speaking up, and our voices are being heard. There are just some who still choose not to listen. But I know this is only the beginning of some amazing things to come. :)

P.S. Thank you Aerie for all that you do; you make me a more confident woman who is able to embrace her body the way it is and live her best life!