This one comes from my second day on the job at Victoria’s Secret, which was my second day of training. There are really two lessons to take away here: the 3 types of customers that shop in the PINK section, and why women have so many types of bras to choose from.
Enjoy.
Journal Entry. April 6, 2010.
This afternoon I went in for my second day of training. I was told to be in uniform because I would be observing associates work on the floor. The only problem is: I don’t own anything black, so I showed up in seersucker pants and a pink Burberry polo. This sent the store manager into near hysterics until she shrugged her shoulders and said, “I guess it’s fine for now, but if you’re not wearing black next time, don’t bother coming in.” I told her I’d make sure to buy something black.
Janice, the hiring manager, handed me a large packet of information, then led me to a secluded corner of the stockroom where they had a TV set up.
“Read the packet, watch the DVD then come find me,” she said. “I’ll give you a tour of the store when you’re finished.”
I didn’t bother reading the packet, as I was too enticed by what lay in store on the DVD.
The DVD, however, was as mindlessly boring as most retail training videos are. It began with a look at the brand (“ONLY AT VICTORIA’S SECRET”) and what words to use to describe it. Honestly, the only one I remember is “glamorous.”
“You don’t hassle the PINK girl,” the voiceover said. “She is her own woman.”
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The one part I did find semi-enjoyable was the brief section on working in PINK. While associates are encouraged to employ ESP—a selling strategy that stands for Engage, Show, Provide—we are instructed to modify this when helping customers in PINK. The video referred to this as “PINKified ESP,” which sounds less like a selling strategy and more like psychic that specializes in telepathic mammograms.
The PINK girl is apparently more independent than the normal bra shopper. While she still needs to be Engaged, she does not need to be Shown, and should only be Provided for when asked. “You don’t hassle the PINK girl,” the voiceover said. “She is her own woman.”
The DVD outlined three types of customers that shop in PINK. The first are “PINK Packs,” or large groups of teenage girls that move through the store like plagues of neon-sweatpant-devouring locusts. They are notorious for ruining perfectly-folded panty tables and spraying enough body mist to put Coco Chanel into anaphylactic shock. You engage these groups differently than you would normal PINK shoppers. Victoria’s Secret wants PINK to feel like a party for them—like somebody’s mom bought them a six pack of Smirnoff Ice. Instead of the normal “What can I help you find today?” you simply say, “Hey! What’s up?” as if you’ve been friends with these people for years, and you’re not actually a strange 23-year-old male standing in the entrance of Victoria’s Secret.
The second type is the “Mother and Daughter.” The video advised not engaging the daughter as she probably doesn’t want to speak to you, nor be with her mother. Instead, engage the mother. Don’t bother saying hello or anything, just let her know about the deals. That’s all they said. “Just let her know about the deals.”
The third was my favorite: “The Clueless Dad.” Clueless Dad is sent into PINK by his wife to buy something for their daughter —whether it be sweatpants, a swimsuit, a bra, etc. According to Victoria’s Secret (and the actor they hired), Clueless Dad is about 5’6”; he is overweight, balding, and near-sighted, and gets his name from the fact that, no matter how much instruction he’s been given, he has no idea what he’s looking for. This is where we come in. It is our job to guide him through PINK and tell him, “Your daughter will LOVE this. Every 16-year-old girl does! And if it’s not that, then definitely get her one of these. We can barely keep them in the store!”
In the end, our mission is simple: Make him feel like a hero. Like a man who, even though he has no idea what it’s like to be a 16-year-old girl, somehow instinctively, and creepily, knows what she wants.
When the video ended, I turned to the packet and began answering questions regarding selling practices. This was interrupted, however, by Janice, who wanted to give me a tour of the store before she went on her lunch break.
She led me to the front and informed me we were now standing in a room called “Provocative.”
“All the rooms have names,” she said. “This helps us when we’re calling over the headsets. We might say, ‘There’s a customer who needs help in Effortless.’ Or ‘Someone needs to be sized in Cottons’. You’ll see what I mean.”
I was floored. Women match their bras and panties? Why the hell would they do that?
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Provocative is the room that houses all of the lingerie, as well as two of the most popular pushup bras in the store: the Very Sexy Pushup and the Miraculous Pushup. The walls are lined with racks of colorful teddies and their corresponding bottoms, and in the center of the room there are three large, plastic tables that hold various sizes and colors of both the Very Sexy and Miraculous bras.
Here, Janice paused. She pulled a Very Sexy Pushup from a drawer and handed it to me, pulling one for herself then proceeding to explain the qualities of the bra. I don’t really remember what she said. All I remember is that she referred to it as their “cleavage classic” and that I really liked this title. It just rolls off the tongue: Cleavage Classic.
Janice also showed me where I could find the matching panties to the Very Sexy Pushup.
“Most of the time,” she said, “women will want to buy the matching panties to go with the bra. Sometimes they don’t; it’s rare, but sometimes they just get the bra. Most of the time, though, they get the matching panties.
I was floored. Women match their bras and panties? Why the hell would they do that? Men don’t do this. We don’t stand in front of our dressers each morning and pick out a pair of boxers, then scour the drawer for some matching socks. Who would do such a thing? It seemed absurd.
We moved on from Provocative and entered what she called “The Nakeds Room.” The Nakeds Room is named after the new bra line that resides within it: The Nakeds. The room used to be called “Romantic,” Janice said, but they weren’t calling it by this name anymore.
The Nakeds bra gets its name from the weight of the fabric it uses, which is said to be the lightest in the world. So light, in fact, that it leaves the wearer feeling as if they’re not even wearing a bra—as if they’re naked.
“Does that mean they refer to the matching panty as ‘The Commando’?” I asked.
Janice laughed.
“The Commando—oh, that’s a good one,” she said. But I could tell by her laugh that it really wasn’t a good one.
We worked our way through “PINK 1” and “PINK 2”, then through “Cottons,” where everything is made of (you guessed it) cotton. Panties, pajamas, bras: it’s all there. The last room she showed me was “Effortless.” This one is almost entirely dedicated to bras. It houses the Body By Victoria collection, the Dream Angels collection, and the T-Shirt bra, all of which left me to feel a bit overwhelmed. I always knew women had a variety of bras to choose from–push up, regular, etc.–but never did I imagine they had this many. Janice must have sensed this, and asked, “So, do you have any questions?”
“Actually, I do,” I said. “Why do women have so many bras to choose from?”
“That’s a good question. There’s two reasons.”
The first, she explained, is that all women are different and have different preferences. Some may be a little more conservative, so they wear a perfect, or full coverage bra. Others may be more comfortable with a little cleavage, so they go with a demi bra, which offers about half the coverage of a perfect.
The second reason had to do with outfit choice. Some dresses or tops call for a strapless bra, or some, what she called, “a sticky bra.” Something that won’t show when the shoulders are exposed.
“Does this make a little more sense? I know it’s a lot.”
I lied and told her it did.
“Ok. Well, it’s time for me to go eat,” she said, “but, here, read this.”
She handed me the book the Bra Specialists consult when they have questions.
“It’ll give you a better idea of what you’re working with.”
I flipped through the pages, scanning the descriptions and looking at the pictures, but didn’t absorb any of it. Here I was, a grown man not in associate dress code, standing in the middle of a room of bras, reading a book about bras, surrounded by women shopping for bras. It was overwhelming. So I put it down and made my way to the back of the store, where hopefully, just hopefully, they had something else for me to do.
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