Beyond the Wings: Victoria's Secret and the Changing Meaning of Beauty

From a small lingerie store in 1977 to one of the most recognisable runways in the world, Victoria's Secret has played a fascinating role in how generations of women have viewed beauty, confidence and femininity.

There's something about the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show that takes you straight back to another era.

The wings. The hair. The music. The supermodels.

For many of us who grew up in the '90s and early 2000s, Victoria's Secret wasn't just a lingerie brand. It was a cultural moment.

We watched women like Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum and Australia's own Miranda Kerr walk some of the most recognisable runways in fashion history.

The shows were glamorous, theatrical and larger than life.

But watching the brand return to the spotlight in 2026 raises a much bigger question.

What has Victoria's Secret taught us about beauty, and how has our understanding of being beautiful changed since it all began?

Because behind the angel wings is a story about more than lingerie.

It's a story about how beauty is marketed, how women see themselves and why our definition of confidence continues to change.

Where Did Victoria's Secret Begin?

It might surprise you to learn that Victoria's Secret wasn't originally created with the female shopper in mind.

The brand was founded in California in 1977 by Roy Raymond and his wife, Gaye Raymond.

The idea came from Roy's uncomfortable experience shopping for lingerie for his wife in traditional department stores.

At the time, he felt that buying lingerie was an awkward experience for men, so he imagined a different kind of store.

Something luxurious. Something intimate. Something that felt a little more special.

The first Victoria's Secret store opened at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California, with an atmosphere inspired by Victorian-era dressing rooms.

The name itself referenced the elegance and modesty associated with the Victorian period, with the idea of something more private hidden beneath the surface.

But the brand we recognise today didn't truly begin taking shape until 1982.

That year, businessman Les Wexner purchased Victoria's Secret and shifted its direction towards women buying lingerie for themselves.

Rather than simply selling lingerie as a gift, Victoria's Secret began selling an experience.

And that change became central to its success.

How Victoria's Secret Turned Beauty Into a Cultural Moment

By the 1990s, Victoria's Secret had become much more than a place to buy lingerie.

It was selling a feeling.

Glamour. Femininity. Confidence. Fantasy.

In 1995, the first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show took place at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

What started as a comparatively small runway presentation eventually became one of the biggest events on the international fashion calendar.

The introduction of the famous Angels, extravagant wings, elaborate costumes and performances from major musical artists helped turn the annual show into entertainment.

Victoria's Secret models became household names.

Their beauty routines, makeup, hair and personal styles were discussed and recreated around the world.

It wasn't simply about what the models were wearing.

It was about what they represented.

For many young women, walking that runway appeared to be the ultimate symbol of beauty and success.

But over time, the conversation began to change.

When Beauty Became Something We Felt We Had to Achieve

Looking back, the early Victoria's Secret era was undeniably glamorous.

But it also presented a very particular idea of what beauty should look like.

For much of its history, the runway celebrated a relatively narrow range of body types.

Tall. Slim. Conventionally beautiful.

The message wasn't necessarily spoken, but it was visible.

This was the image of beauty being presented to millions of women.

And when we see the same kind of beauty celebrated repeatedly, it can begin to influence what we believe is expected of us.

Perhaps you remember comparing yourself to the women in magazines.

Or wishing your hair looked a certain way.

Or wondering why your body didn't resemble the women you saw on television.

For a generation that grew up before social media, fashion shows, magazines and advertising had enormous influence over beauty ideals.

And then social media arrived, bringing even more images, more trends and more opportunities to compare ourselves.

Somewhere along the way, beauty could start feeling less like something to enjoy and more like something to achieve.

The Shift Towards a Different Definition of Beauty

As conversations around body image, representation and women's experiences became more prominent, people began questioning who the fashion and beauty industries were speaking to.

Why were certain bodies celebrated more than others?

Why were signs of ageing something we were constantly encouraged to hide?

And why did feeling beautiful sometimes seem dependent on looking like somebody else?

Victoria's Secret became part of this conversation.

Following criticism of its representation and brand messaging, the company cancelled its annual fashion show in 2019.

In the years that followed, it began changing its approach to marketing and representation.

When the runway returned in 2024, it featured a broader range of models, including women of different ages, body types and backgrounds.

The changes weren't universally praised. Some observers questioned whether the new representation went far enough.

But they reflected an important cultural conversation.

Beauty was no longer something brands could define without being questioned.

Women were becoming increasingly vocal about the way they wanted to be represented.

And that conversation continues today.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2026

This October, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show returns to Los Angeles with a combination of familiar runway icons and newer faces.

Models including Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, Gigi Hadid, Anok Yai, Ashley Graham and Paloma Elsesser are among the announced lineup.

There's nostalgia in seeing familiar names return.

For those of us who remember the height of the Angels era, it's a reminder of how much fashion and beauty have changed.

But perhaps the most interesting part of the show's return isn't the wings or the performances.

It's the conversation surrounding it.

What does glamour look like today?

Can we celebrate the fantasy of a runway while recognising that it doesn't represent every woman's reality?

And can fashion move forward without losing the creativity that made it exciting in the first place?

These are bigger questions than any single fashion show can answer.

But they're worth asking.

Beauty Was Never Meant to Look the Same on Everyone

One of the most interesting changes in modern beauty is the growing emphasis on individuality.

For years, beauty trends often encouraged us to recreate a particular look.

The perfect eyebrows.

The perfect skin.

The perfect body.

The perfect morning routine.

But real beauty has always been more complicated and more interesting than that.

Some women love a full face of makeup.

Others feel most comfortable bare-faced.

Some love dramatic brows, false lashes and a perfectly styled outfit.

Others prefer brushed-up eyebrows and five minutes in front of the mirror.

Neither approach makes someone more or less beautiful.

And that's the point.

Beauty becomes much more enjoyable when we stop treating it as a set of rules.

It's not about rejecting glamour, makeup or the things we enjoy.

It's about understanding that we get to decide what makes us feel good.

What Confidence Really Looks Like

We often associate confidence with the way somebody looks.

The woman walking into a room in a beautiful outfit.

The model on the runway.

The person who always seems perfectly put together.

But confidence isn't always that visible.

Sometimes it's a woman wearing something she loves without worrying whether it's fashionable.

Sometimes it's embracing the way her body has changed after having children.

Sometimes it's choosing to wear makeup because she enjoys it.

And sometimes it's leaving the house without any.

Confidence doesn't have one appearance.

It changes with our experiences, our relationships, our age and the different stages of our lives.

And perhaps the most freeing part of growing older is beginning to recognise that.

We don't have to look the same as we did ten years ago.

We don't have to love every beauty trend.

We don't have to fit into someone else's idea of what being beautiful should mean.

We can simply enjoy becoming more comfortable with who we are.

Beauty Should Be Something We Enjoy, Not Something We Measure Ourselves Against

There is absolutely nothing wrong with loving the glamour of Victoria's Secret.

The hair, the makeup, the styling and the creativity can still be inspiring.

We can appreciate a beautiful runway without believing that we need to resemble the women walking on it.

We can admire someone's appearance without turning it into a criticism of our own.

And we can enjoy beauty products without feeling that our natural features need fixing.

Perhaps that's one of the most meaningful shifts in beauty today.

Learning to appreciate beauty without constantly comparing ourselves to it.

Not every image needs to become a goal.

Not every trend needs to become part of our routine.

And not every version of beauty needs to become our own.

A New Generation, A Different Conversation

The women watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show today aren't necessarily having the same experience as the women watching it twenty years ago.

We have access to more perspectives, more conversations and more examples of what beauty can look like.

We also have a greater opportunity to question what we see.

That doesn't mean unrealistic beauty standards have disappeared.

Far from it.

Social media, filters and constantly changing trends can still create enormous pressure.

But there is something powerful about recognising that beauty ideals are created, influenced and changed over time.

They aren't permanent.

And they don't have to define us.

The next generation deserves to grow up knowing that beauty isn't limited to a particular size, age, face or body.

That femininity can be expressed in countless different ways.

And that feeling confident doesn't require becoming somebody else.

Beyond the Wings

From its beginning in a California shopping centre to the return of its famous runway in 2026, Victoria's Secret tells us a fascinating story about the evolution of beauty.

It's a story of glamour, aspiration, cultural influence, criticism and change.

But perhaps the most important part of that story isn't what Victoria's Secret has become.

It's how our understanding of beauty continues to develop.

We can celebrate the creativity of fashion.

We can enjoy getting dressed up, doing our makeup and feeling beautiful.

We can admire the women on the runway.

And we can still recognise that beauty extends far beyond what we see on a screen.

Because the real beauty movement isn't about replacing one perfect image with another.

It's about making room for more than one definition of beautiful.

And that's a movement worth celebrating.

With love,

The Complete Beauty Haus Team 🤎

Simple and Effective Beauty.