Untitled

Oil paint on Victoria’s Secret catalogue
Oil on canvas
18” x 24”

2004

I was sort of obsessed with the VS catalogues from 1999-2006. I made art and a zine with cut-outs from some of the pages as a way to deal with my obsession. The artwork pictured above is a painting collage, and the artwork in the carousel below are excerpts from my 2005 zine, Ghost Author.

When I was 16 in 1982, I saw my first Victoria’s Secret catalogue. The photography and models and clothing were sexy and glamorously grown-up. For years I had that catalogue on the wish-list in my mind.

VS gave me my first credit card when I was 33, and also a way to buy cute clothes cheaply. I bought so much they sent me their secret catalogue, the one with the amazing deals.

I’d lost the 53 pounds that had plagued me most of my life, and it was finally fun (instead of devastating) to shop for clothes. After I gained all the weight back, I continued shopping at VS - in person but especially through the secret deal catalogues; the items were pretty and inexpensive. Lace-topped thigh-high stockings in different colors! Micro fishnets! Sun dresses, camisoles, and blue jean shorts! Sweaters, miniskirts, and dressy blazers! They even had shoes, one of my favorite pairs ever, a black net wedge-heeled mule.

Eventually I heard about their exploitative labor practices, and learned about sustainable clothing that they didn’t offer. And they began a campaign marketed to tweens and teens, mostly sweatpants and undergarments and perfume, with a distracting “Pink” logo all over the items. Kind of like equating underage sexuality with sport. But I wasn’t analyzing it like that, it simply just turned me off. So I quit shopping there - although it was only when Wayne called them that they quit sending catalogues. Not sure why. But I’d requested a stop twice and it occurred to me that if a man called then they’d listen. Which they did! So weird. Almost every customer service rep was so kind to me over all those years. I loved the customer service reps, all of whom were women.

But now I miss the catalogues. I really loved them.

So I recently watched a documentary series about the company, “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons” (2022) about the sexual harassment and sex trafficking the men who ran the company and at least two women endorsed, and that their private plane was called the Lolita Express because many of the women trafficked were actually underage girls. It’s so depressing. Many of the men who were on the plane and at the businessmen’s lavish homes were government officials, politicians, royalty, and bankers. I also learned that one of the businessmen had owned the one store I loved at the mall when I was 13, the one store I’ve never forgotten because of the exciting clothing (black and gold and sheer!) and disco music playing one of the last times I went.

But the documentary reminded me of the art I made and I see my art differently now.

I also see the influence of VS on me as a consumer (credit cards, catalogues, compulsion). I’ve been a pawn on the game board of sexualized capitalism!

Excerpts from my zine, Ghost Author

Oil paint on Victoria’s Secret catalogue under tracing paper

4” x 5”

2005