Next time you slip into those little silk panties and bra set, or the gym clothes made by Victoria’s Secret – maybe you will think about where the material came from or about the upset they caused recently. Or maybe you couldn’t care less and continue to wear the overly priced threads.
Victoria’s Secret, the lingerie company that leaves nothing a secret, was under the spotlight this month when model Karlie Kloss walked the fashion walkway of disgust at the company’s annual fashion show wearing a Native American style headdress – with a bra and panties to match of course.
This scandal comes a year after Bloomberg did an investigation to where VS got the ”fair-trade, organic cotton” from – turns out the cotton wasn’t so fair and the company they got their material from used forced child labor overseas.
Personally I think this is disgusting. For one, it’s illegal to claim something that isn’t true and two, it’s 2012, no international company should be dabbling in child labor or sweatshops – but it still happens, and this is hard for me to deal with.
For that reason I think twice about buying VS products now and feel a little guilty about wearing what I do own of theirs.
As for last week’s scandal, many people were outraged at the headdress and said the company showed ignorance to the tribal culture of Native Americans who wear the headdresses with spiritual meaning, highlighting acts of bravery and compassion.
VS and Kloss apologized in a public statement, saying that it will not be in their show’s TV broadcast next month or in any of their marketing campaigns.
I fully understand the people who are upset with VS for the headdress incident but I didn’t get upset when the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen used tartan in his revealing collections (just for the heads up I’m a Scot!).
Now, correct me if I’m wrong but Halloween is a huge part of US culture right?
The day where people dress up in just about anything – including risky nurses outfits for those that go for that Mean Girls “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it,” look.
But I’ve never been aware of any outcry over wearing a slutty nurse’s outfit, especially as it is an occupation that does wonders in helping the sick. But what difference is this?
Yes, the Native American headdress is something that maybe shouldn’t be paired with skimpy underwear. But as I said, what about those offended nurses, or celebrities families who see people dressing up as their deceased loved ones – it has the same thinking behind it.
I’m sure many people disgusted by VS’s actions would agree with Coco Chanel when she said “Fashion is made to become unfashionable.” However, I think that fashion is about taking risks and about getting creativity from the world around us. Yes, maybe pairing a spiritual headdress with a lingerie set is a bit distasteful – but have you seen the collections in their store?!
For those who haven’t, let’s just say, don’t take your Grandma on a trip there.
