Victoria’s Secret brings back the wings and the Tumblr girls are watching
Somewhere, in a 2014 Tumblr archive, a girl is still saving pictures of Candice Swanepoel, listening to early Justin Bieber and dreaming of a life involving black eyeliner, champagne and unreasonable amounts of glitter.
This week, Victoria’s Secret gave her a reason to log back on.
The Fashion Show returned to Los Angeles on Oct. 18, bringing back the wings and the bombshell blowouts.
Kylie Jenner walked out wearing the brand’s first Fantasy Bra in eight years. Jenner’s diamond-covered Fantasy Bra was always going to divide the room.
Traditionally, the honour went to the brand’s most established Angels, women who spent years building their place in Victoria’s Secret history.
So why give its most expensive bra yet to a reality star?
Jenner, who ruled Tumblr in 2016 with blue and pink hair, heavy black eyeliner and a dark, glossy aesthetic, helped define a generation of internet glamour.
For Kallista Henderson, a 22-year-old first-time watcher, the backlash was baffling.
“I didn’t even realize the Fantasy Bra was such a big deal, but I thought Kylie looked iconic,” Henderson said. “I don’t get why everyone is being so negative. Let the girl wear the diamonds.”
Victoria’s Secret understands that fame is no longer confined to the catwalk. Jenner guarantees headlines, reposts and group-chat debates. Still, the original Angels deserve their flowers.
If the goal was to get everyone talking, mission accomplished. For a moment, it felt like someone had opened a 2010 Tumblr archive and given it a runway budget.
Maggie McGee, 22, has followed Victoria’s Secret for the last nine shows. She said this year it delivered more than nostalgia.
“I personally loved this year’s show,” McGee said, pointing to its body inclusivity, wider range of cultural appreciation and new faces on the runway.
The lingerie was “crafted exquisitely” and tailored to each model’s body, making the fashion feel as considered as the spectacle, she said.
“I think it’s important to remember that other women have dreams and that everyone deserves to chase their dreams in the way that they want,” McGee said.
She said Jenner is an inspiration to many young women and deserved her moment in the Fantasy Bra. As for people questioning why the honour went to someone who isn’t a professional model or an Angel, McGee had a pointed response.
“The best question is, who doesn’t know Kylie Jenner?”
Not all Angels returned. Romee Strijd, who walked in the 2010s, said she had not been selected. The controversy raises a bigger question: what happens when a brand built on its Angels starts prioritizing celebrity and internet attention?
Influencers can bring the clicks, but a following is not a fashion legacy.
McGee said she’d be a little annoyed if Gisele Bündchen, an original Angel, had been in the show and not received the honour.
“But she wasn’t walking this year, so I enjoyed Kylie wearing it. She looked great,” McGee said.
The clothes, meanwhile, were absolutely delicious: feathered wings, barely-there lace, glittering embellishments and lingerie styled for the most photographed girl in Los Angeles.
“Some moments and pieces leaned too heavily on nostalgia,” McGee said. “But the lace, the wings, the monochrome and satin pieces, it was all extremely chic.”
Not every outfit needs to reinvent fashion. The real magic of the shows was never just the pieces. It was the backstage photographs, the glossy hair, the larger-than-life personalities and the feeling that glamour existed somewhere just out of reach.
Victoria’s Secret can’t recreate the Tumblr of 2014. That year belongs to the archives. But it can create something worth remembering.
So let King Kylie have her diamonds. Let the OG Angels keep their crowns. Give us the wings, the bombshell blowouts and a runway worth staying up for.
Because somewhere, a Tumblr girl is still watching, dancing in an incredible amount of glitter.
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