Victoria’s Secret is doing away with sexy … or at least scaling it back a bit. CEO Sharen Jester Turney recently acknowledged that the brand had gotten a little too steamy.

Turney said the company, which continues to have mass appeal among teens and 20-somethings but has lost ground with more mature shoppers, would return to being the “ultra-feminine” lingerie brand it once was.

“In Europe, they seem to have a different attitude about lingerie,” said Amanda Nixon, owner of the Blue Corset Co. in Buckhead. “They actually celebrate lingerie as if it is part of your outfit.” When Nixon opened in December, she found her boutique concept appealed to many women who felt they’d been squeezed out of the Victoria’s Secret demographic.

She furnished the space with plush seating, dressing rooms for two, and copious amounts of bubbly. And she stocked up on bras, camisoles, bustiers and more in tastefully provocative styles from Italian and Dutch designers. “I want women to start a love affair with lingerie,” Nixon said.
- Source: Nedra Rhone, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Apr. 6, 2008 — – Summarized for you Trendy Lingerie

Ellen and I are far from being prude, but we tend to agree that lingerie should leave something — quite a bit, actually — to the imagination. And we like “ultra-feminine.”

At the same time, we can’t help but think that this move is inspired by the normal up-and-down trends in the fashion world. What’s in today will be out tomorrow, and back in style a little later.