For decades, the lingerie industry has been controlled by a select few major lingerie brands. Victoria’s Secret alone controls more than 30% of annual lingerie sales. With that being said, the sales of major lingerie retailers like Victoria’s Secret have dropped off in recent years. The faltering success of big brand lingerie is not for nothing.
From exorbitant price tags to a lack of size inclusivity, there are several good reasons why many women are nixing big brand lingerie and looking toward smaller boutique lingerie brands for their intimates—and why you might consider doing the same.
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Overpriced Pieces
There is no question that much of the lingerie you find in department stores and from major lingerie chain retailers is insanely overpriced.
source:yandy.com
Brick-and-mortar lingerie stores have to pay a lot of money in overhead expenses just to keep their business afloat. Online-based lingerie retailers have to pay much less in overhead, so they are able to sell higher-end, top-quality styles at more affordable prices and still keep their head above water.
Static Styles
In addition to being overpriced, many of the lingerie styles you can buy from major lingerie brands are outdated and don’t change much from year to year.
source:m.shein.com
If you feel uninspired by your current lingerie collection, try turning away from big brand lingerie and try your luck with smaller boutique lingerie brands that offer more exciting styles that change with the times and trends.
Lack of Size-Inclusivity
The majority of modern women wear a dress size of 14 or higher and a bra cup size of at least 34DD. These simple statistics alone provide clear evidence for why it makes absolutely zero sense that the widely accepted standard size range that most big lingerie brands use does not include plus sizes.
source:redbookmag.com
The sizes you’ll find in department stores and major lingerie chain retailers rarely go above an L or XL for panties and one-piece lingerie and a D or DD. Curvy, plus size, and big-busted women deserve way more options than big brand lingerie retailers provide when it comes to lingerie styles that actually fit and flatter their figures just the way they are.
Refusal to Move Forward
Everyone deserves to feel beautiful and sexy. The body positivity movement and the rise of plus-size models on social media helped make progress for women of all shapes and sizes to feel confident and attractive just the way they are. As you might expect from the lack of size inclusivity that they tend to display, though, major chain lingerie retailers don’t seem too interested in being progressive or helping women outside their narrow size range feel sexy.
Victoria’s Secret, in particular, has shown an alarming refusal to move forward to be more progressive or support the body positivity movement in any way. In 2018, a higher-up rep at Victoria’s Secret even made backward comments that insinuated that VS would not support the casting of transgender or plus size models in their iconic runway shows.
source:redbookmag.com
More Options Elsewhere
The biggest reason why you should consider straying away from big brand lingerie is that major chain lingerie retailers like Victoria’s Secret no longer have an unshakeable monopoly over the lingerie industry.
The rise of online shopping has revolutionized the lingerie industry. Now, women can browse through an unlimited selection of affordable high-quality lingerie styles in a much wider range of sizes from smaller, size-inclusive and progressive online lingerie retailers including Savage X Fenty, HauteFlair, Cosabella, and many many others.
