• Intelligencer
  • The Cut
  • Vulture
  • The Strategist
  • Curbed
  • Grub Street
  • Subscribe to the Magazine Give a Gift Subscription Buy Back Issues Current Issue Contents
    Subscribe to New York Magazine
  • Subscribe
  • Profile
    Sign Out
The Cut
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
Style
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Shopping
  • Parties & Red Carpet
  • Fashion Shows
  • Cathy Horyn
Self
  • Health & Wellness
  • Motherhood
  • Advice
  • Sex & Relationships
  • Horoscopes
Culture
  • Books
  • Television
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Celebrity
Power
  • Politics
  • Work
  • Money
  • Rebecca Traister
More
  • Latest Stories
  • Video
  • About Us
  • The Cut Shop
  • nymag.com
  • New York Magazine
  • Intelligencer
  • Vulture
  • The Cut
  • The Strategist
  • Grub Street
  • Curbed
london dispatch
December 10, 2014

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Featured Tanned Butt Cheeks and Bouncy Curls

By Hattie Crisell

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
Photo: Getty Images

If any fashion event has higher security than the Victoria’s Secret show, backstage area, and after-party, we haven’t seen it. Getting access involves government I.D., a security pass, a guest list, a ticket, and a wristband. Then, you’re searched; afterward, you put your purse on the floor so that the sniffer-dogs can investigate it. Getting within a few meters of the Angels in London yesterday was harder than approaching the queen for a selfie.

When the press was finally shown into the backstage area yesterday morning to meet the girls during hair and makeup, it was like walking into a scaled-up Barbie Dreamhouse. So much pink; so much glossy, beach-waved hair; so many immaculate smiles.

Makeup artist Dick Page developed a custom lip color by blending Shiseido colors, a couple of beige cream eye shadows, and “a lot of 8-Hour Cream,” all applied over a Victoria’s Secret pink lip stain. “It’s just something to tone the pink down and create a healthy, rosy-looking lip,” he explained. As for eyes, as usual, it was about blending taupe and a black-brown cream shadow to avoid any hard lines. “It’s all buffed and diffused, you know — sort of like an animation.”

Before the show (which was the second one — the girls walk once at 4 p.m. and again at 8 p.m., to get two versions for TV edit, which airs on December 9th on CBS), executive producer Ed Razek came onstage with a message for the British audience, most of whom had never seen a Victoria’s Secret show before. “It’s perfectly appropriate, even though you’re in black tie, to get off your rich English butts and have fun!” he instructed us. Here are two important facts about the English: (1) we don’t all have rich butts; (2) getting us to whoop and dance along with lingerie-clad supermodels is always going to be an uphill battle.

Anyway, and with that, the show was off. Divided into six parts, it began with Gilded Angels, an all-gold, all-glittering, all-shiny collection that featured what looked like tinsel epaulettes on Behati Prinsloo (festive), a lot of beaded bras, and some fierce cagelike gold knee boots courtesy of Nicholas Kirkwood. (Later, there were shoes designed by Sophia Webster — a nice nod to British design.)

Next came the Exotic Traveler collection. While Ed Sheeran serenaded them with “Thinking Out Loud,” Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio walked out in this year’s two Fantasy Bras, designed by the jeweler Mouawad. The bras used 16,000 rubies, diamonds, and sapphires, strung together belly-dancer-style with chains of 18-karat gold. It was all very “exotic.”

The rest of the collection avoided any specific cultural influences by just borrowing from everyone — because the Victoria’s Secret traveler is an equal-opportunities traveler. There were embroidered bolero jackets; there were stacks of wooden bangles; there were pompoms; there was Kate Grigorieva in an extravagantly feathered jacket (over red lace panties, of course). There were, as you’d expect, tanned butt cheeks and acres of thigh muscle wherever you looked.

Next came Dream Girl, for which Taylor Swift performed “Blank Space” in a pink silk gown trimmed with black lace. Forget what Jessica Hart famously said last year — Swift fits like a glove with the Victoria’s Secret girls. She’s as tall and slim as any of them and of all the evening’s performers, she looked the most comfortable with the models. In fact, the presence of Swift seemed to make it obligatory for the models to ramp up the pointing, the winking, and the girl-power high fives.

The Dream Girl collection was all about furry stilettos, chiffon robes, and, in Lily Aldridge’s case, a teddy cut so high in the crotch that it looked like the show was one misstep away from an NC-17 rating. Then onto the University of Pink, the star of which was Ariana Grande, performing “Bang Bang” with a troupe of the world’s most energetic dancers — leaping, clapping, and fist-pumping like there was no tomorrow.

Your university uniform for the coming year? Just expect extreme crops on everything. If your hoodie fully covers your ribs, and you’re wearing it with anything more than a “Very Sexy Panty” on your lower half, you’re not doing higher education right.

For the Fairytale collection, the models stepped out from sparkly white trees and a giant storybook, doing their best to walk with their trademark upbeat sexiness to Hozier’s funeral-paced “Take Me to Church.” The celebrity highlight of this section was Mel B, in the front row, standing up to give Jourdan Dunn a standing ovation. (Emma Stone would have died.)

Then a quick break for three male dancers to entertain the crowd before Taylor re-emerged in a black lace dress to perform “Style” for the Angel Ball finale. She walked the runway with best-buddy Karlie Kloss (wearing a lace and crystal bodysuit with ample sideboob) before doing a lot more pointing and performative flirting with Joan Smalls. If the previous five rounds of sparkly underwear hadn’t been raunchy enough for you, Angel Ball was there to finish you off with the kind of lingerie worn by sex symbols in the ‘80s — we’re talking black lace bustiers, stockings, and garter belts.

Finally, a cascade of silver and black balloons from the ceiling signaled the end of the show. As we filtered out of the space into the after-party, “Blurred Lines” was playing, perhaps in reference to the blurred line between briefs and thongs that Victoria’s Secret had walked so skillfully —we’ll just call it the “deliberate wedgie.” At the party, guests emptied the free bar and tucked into deep-fried potato balls and mini-burgers. Alas, this is exactly why the Angels’ toned glutes are up on the stage, and our big, “rich” butts belong in the audience.

The Victoria’s Secret show aired last night on CBS. Revisit the looks in the Cut’s coverage from last week.

Related

10 Victoria’s Secret Models on Their Anxiety Dreams
View
1 / 79 Photos
Karlie Kloss  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Joan Smalls  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Doutzen Kroes  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Alessandra Ambrosio  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Taylor Swift  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Karlie Kloss  Photo: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images
Alessandra Ambrosio  Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Candice Swanepoel  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Kate Grigorieva  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Lily Donaldson  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Behati Prinsloo  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Candice Swanepoel  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Martha Hunt  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Jourdan Dunn  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Lily Aldridge  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Sui He  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Constance Jablonski  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Kelly Gale  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Taylor Swift  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Enikő Mihalik  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Sigrid Agren  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Adriana Lima  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Magdalena Frackowiak  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Devon Windsor  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Lindsay Ellingson  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Isabeli Fontana  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Joan Smalls  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Izabel Goulart  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Barbara Fialho  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Doutzen Kroes  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Behati Prinsloo  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Isabeli Fontana  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Jasmine Tookes  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Shanina Shaik  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Kate Grigorieva  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Lais Ribeiro  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Daniela Braga  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Elsa Hosk  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Lily Donaldson  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Sara Sampaio  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Behati Prinsloo  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Romee Strijd  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Magdalena Frackowiak  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Elsa Hosk  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Sui He  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Kasia Struss  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Lindsay Ellingson  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Blanca Padilla  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Devon Windsor  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Stella Maxwell  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Barbara Fialho  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Jasmine Tookes  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Josephine Skriver  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Yumi Lambert  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Bregje Heinen  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Taylor Hill  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Jac Jagaciak  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Maud Welzen  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Sara Sampaio  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Ming Xi  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Karlie Kloss  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Ieva Laguna  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Grace Mahary  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Jacquelyn Jablonski  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Irina Sharipova  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Imaan Hammam  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Cindy Bruna  Photo: Samir Hussein/Getty Images
Lily Donaldson  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Constance Jablonski  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Lily Aldridge  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Martha Hunt  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Jourdan Dunn  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Izabel Goulart  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Behati Prinsloo  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Maria Borges  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Lais Ribeiro  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Cindy Bruna  Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Lily Aldridge  Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Ariana Grande  Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
1 / 79

Tags:

  • victorias secret show
  • vs
  • victorias secret models
  • london dispatch
  • karlie kloss
  • taylor swift
  • joan smalls
  • adriana lima
  • nicholas kirkwood
  • sophia webster
  • lily aldridge
  • alessandra ambrosio
  • vs angels
  • bras
  • slideshow
  • More

More Galleries

parties! May 13, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Bury me in Dove Cameron’s Saint Sintra skirt. 
parties! May 6, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Cue the Met Gala after-party FOMO. 
met gala 2022 May 2, 2022
Met Gala 2022: All the Looks [Photos]  Billie Eilish, Kim Kardashian, Michelle Yeoh, Hailey Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Blake Lively, and more. 

Most Popular

  1. Which Women Do We Choose to Believe?
  2. Madame Clairevoyant: Horoscopes for the Week of May 16
  3. Waking Up From the Nap Dress
  4. The Woman Who Killed Roe
  5. It’s ‘Hot-Girl Walk’ Season
  1. Which Women Do We Choose to Believe?
  2. Waking Up From the Nap Dress
  3. The Woman Who Killed Roe
  4. How an Aspiring ‘It’ Girl Tricked New York’s Party People — and Its Banks
  5. The Woman Wondering If She’s Bisexual Enough to Come Out
parties! Apr. 29, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  This one goes to Olivia Rodrigo and her sweater vest. 
parties! Apr. 22, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  “Fuck those Zoom tops.” 
celebrity style Apr. 18, 2022
The Best Looks From Coachella 2022  From Harry Styles’s sparkling Gucci set to Megan Thee Stallion’s metallic bodysuit. 
style Apr. 13, 2022
A Look Inside the New Museum’s Spring Gala  Featuring all the best looks. 
grammys 2022 Apr. 3, 2022
Grammy Awards 2022 Red Carpet: All the Looks  Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Lenny Kravitz, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and more. 
oscars 2022 Mar. 28, 2022
How Were The Oscars After Party Looks Better Than The Actual Award Looks?  Finally, some fun. 
oscars 2022 Mar. 27, 2022
All the Looks From the 2022 Oscars Red Carpet  Zendaya, Regina Hall, Timothée Chalamet, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, Ariana DeBose, and more. 
style Mar. 22, 2022
Bridgerton Season 2 Premiere: All the Red-Carpet Looks 
style Mar. 13, 2022
BAFTAs 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Florence Pugh, Daniel Kaluuya, Emma Watson, and more! 
celebrity fashion Mar. 6, 2022
Spirit Awards 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Julia Fox, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, and more! 
Mar. 1, 2022
All of Rihanna’s Maternity Looks  From belly-baring looks to sexy leather dresses. 
Feb. 27, 2022
SAG Awards 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Selena Gomez, Ariana Debose, Daveed Diggs, and more! 
paris couture week 2022 Jan. 27, 2022
Glenn Martens Wows As Guest Couturier for Gaultier Haute Couture It is a sight to behold.
By Vivian Chuang
Dec. 9, 2021
All the Looks From the And Just Like That … Red Carpet  Sarah Jessica Parker, Billy Eichner, Sara Ramirez, and more. 
style Nov. 29, 2021
Gotham Awards 2021: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Tessa Thompson! Kristen Stewart! And more. 
red carpet Nov. 29, 2021
All the Best Looks From The British Fashion Awards Dua Lipa, Demi Moore, Kehlani and more looks.
style Nov. 21, 2021
American Music Awards 2021: All the Red Carpet Looks  Cardi B! BTS! Olivia Rodrigo! And more. 
By Olivia Truffaut-Wong
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Help
  • We’re Hiring
  • Press
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Ad Choices
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Accessibility
The Cut is a Vox Media Network. © 2022 Vox Media, LLC. All rights reserved.