Can Victoria's Secret Be Too Sexy?

(AP)  Victoria's Secret, the lingerie company that introduced the Very Sexy bra, the Fantasy Bra, and the Internet server-crashing fashion show, has become "too sexy" for its own good, its top executive said.

"We've so much gotten off our heritage ... too sexy, and we use the word sexy a lot and really have forgotten the ultra feminine," said Sharen Turney, Victoria's Secret's chief executive, in a call with industry analysts.

Victoria's Secret was launched with the idea that Victoria was manor-born and lived in London, Turney said.

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Photos: What Is Sexy?

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"I feel so strongly about us getting back to our heritage and really thinking in terms of ultra feminine and not just the word sexy and becoming much more relevant to our customer," Turney said Thursday.

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Photos: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

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Turney said Victoria's Secret has gotten younger with a strong focus on its successful Pink line of lingerie and loungewear created for college-age women, and has tried to chase those customers

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Photos: Secret Preparations

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Turney said Victoria's Secret wants to increase its level of sophistication.

"We will also reinvent the sleepwear business and focus on product quality," she said. "Our assortment will return to an ultra feminine lingerie brand to meet her needs and expectation."

Sales at Victoria's Secret, like many clothing retailers, have been slipping.

Victoria Secret's parent, Limited Brands, said Wednesday that its fourth quarter profits fell 12 percent and that its first quarter earnings would come in below Wall Street expectations.

Same-store sales at Victoria's Secret fell 2 percent in 2007, with sales in the fourth quarter dropping 8 percent.

The chain was started in San Francisco in 1977 by Roy Raymond, who said he was embarrassed trying to buy lingerie for his wife and hoped to provide a comfortable place for men to shop.

[kkwmsotrl]

No, they don''t have plus sizes. It''s even hard to find a 40 bra in their store. Obviously, VS doesn''t think that plus size women CAN be ***.

[keithle1]

Do they carry plus-size lingerie? Most American women don''t look like Paris Hilton. Something that makes a pear look s e x y?

[hypnotoad72]

"***" = "***" = most of what''s in the media these days. Natural and more feminine is vastly preferred, I''ll agree.

[erasmus6]

"Holy hell... you can''''t say s e x y?" posted by matveil107

Nope, but you can say prick.:)

It is funny that they can use the word s-e-x in their articles but we can''t use it in the posts.

[keithle1]

SharnCedar refers to "lack of morals."

They''re models. They''re paid to model lingerie. To boost Victoria''s Secret clothes. Where do you get this "lack of morals"?

You can''t say "s e x y" or "p e n i s". Those are dirty words here. Lots of 9-year-old kids spend hours & hours on the CBS News site & the powers-that-be don''t want to offend them by using such foul language.

Go through their catalogue. If you can''t find at least one model that you find attractive then you''re not a heterosexual man.

[scottyusa]

That is all we need. Victoria''s secret going modest. This is worse than global warming. Are we all losing it? Please say it ain''t so!

[sharncedar]

Oddly, these agressive, pushy career women showing their steriod and surgery faked bodies in public is not at all se-xy to me. They look like ugly animals, fake faces, fake bodies, fake smiles, fake enthusiasm, the only thing real is their greed and ambition and lack of morals in a boring way.

[samthetvcat]

$40 for a bra is way too expensive - the stuff is supercute, but not too indulgent unless it''s on sale imo . . .

[keithle1]

"a comfortable place for men to shop." Yeah, right. Sure. Dream on.

Kids never go to the beach where they see bikinis & less than bikinis? Kids never see Mommy naked or in bra & panties?

Tyra Banks could really fill out a bar & panties. Nice curves. Excellent figure for modelling lingerie. Everything shaking & bouncing.

Don''t be a jealous hater, girls. Work on your bodies!

[denn034]

It definitely doesn''t belong on television where kids can see it that''s for sure.