- Victoria's Secret is one of the most glamorous brands in the world, but working there is a completely different story.
- From horrific fitting rooms to irritating prank calls, a lot more goes on at the famous lingerie shop that just bra fittings.
- Below, five former employees reveal the good and the bad of working at Victoria's Secret.
Most people know Victoria's Secret for employing some of the most beautiful women on the planet in pursuit of getting the rest of the women on the planet (and the men awkwardly shopping for them) to purchase various sexy underthings. However, most people don't know what it's like to work there.
As a three-year veteran Victoria's Secret sales associate, my retail job involved mundane tasks like folding clothes and ringing at the register. But friends, boyfriends, and family members bombarded me with other inquires: how many boobs do you see a day? Do you think it's creepy when men come in? What's it like working there?
To offer some insight that goes beyond my personal experiences, I enlisted the help of four former VS sales associates who worked alongside me (and equally despised using the word "panty"): Julie (three years at two different stores), Jane (five years), Caitlyn (two years), and Cassandra* (two years). Behold: behind-the-scenes shocks, perks, and "secrets" of the most famous lingerie shop around.
SEE ALSO: Here's what it's really like working as a princess at Disney World
1. Working the fitting rooms is a nightmare
Brooke: "Some very weird stuff went down in those seemingly glamorous fitting rooms. We're talking girls conducting lingerie photo shoots. Men trying on bras and… simultaneously touching certain body parts. Couples attempting to have sex on the velour benches. There's no way that would happen at The Gap — Victoria's Secret's innate sex appeal makes people extra frisky. There's a reason you have to be 18 to work there." Cassandra: "It was too close for comfort at times — some women had NO shame. They'd be ass naked and call you into their 2x4 rooms, ask for a bra measurement with their boobs out (something that's supposed to be done clothed), then have you watch as they tried on 10 different styles of lingerie. Such experiences left me with a vehement fear of being touched by strangers." Julie: "It was unbelievable how much expensive merchandise was just carelessly left in piles on the fitting-room floors. The closing shift associate zoned there had to put every last lacy corset back on a hanger and would often have to work late. Cleaning up after adults isn't in the job description and it felt degrading. I'm now overly conscious as a shopper to re-hang anything I ever try on."
2. VS workers absolutely play favorites
Julie: "Victoria's Secret is a high-end store, so it does attract some elitist clientele. But the clients who treated me with respect — that's who I would scour the stock room for in search of that lime-green demi bra in a 34C. If you're rude, I'll tell you everything we have is already out so I don't have to walk back there in heels."
Brooke: "We weren’t allowed to gift wrap at the register — it holds up the lines — but if a client was chatty with me, sometimes I'd do it anyway. I remember one mom was shopping for Pink sweats to surprise her daughter because she had just gotten into college — coincidentally, the school I went to. So I happily wrapped her gift with a big bow. Connect with us and keep our jobs interesting — putting sensors on bras all day gets mind-numbing!"
3. If you're not nice, they'll use their headsets to warn each other
Brooke: "We used our headsets to do merchandise checks in the stockroom, as well as to let an associate in another zone know if we were sending a client her way. But if said client was testy, we'd give comical warning. Like, 'Julie, there is a woman who both looks and barks like a Pomeranian looking for a black Angels bra in a 36D.' We'd do it for laughs because every employee on headset could hear it."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider