Bad News Bathing Suits for V.S.

The Victoria’s Secret bathing suit catalog was mailed out this week, and I was so excited to see the new styles but so disappointed while flipping through and realizing that it’s the result of a realllly bad last quarter. If anyone is really into the industry - Yahoo finance by retail sector is a great resource for apparel biz news, which is where I’ll often read about wholesaler inventory being way down this year. That means retailers like Victoria’s Secret aren’t buying that forward 50’s pinup suit this year because they can’t bank on the consumer to show up for it – so the wholesaler (design team) essentially scales back their style production.

What’s even crazier, as I hope this is the explanation for it and the cute suits aren’t gone forever – is that they featured a $300 crystal encrusted swimsuit on the cover. In reality, this reads not a penny over $60 worth – but what could be cute, inexpensive beading is instead Swarovski. Limited Brands - get your stuff together and put a key item feature on the cover (mix & match suits) that will actually drive people to spend. It’s so saddening because Victoria’s Secret swimsuits are always so playful, colorful, something for not only every body type - but every personality, and I always end up having to edit down 10 choices to 2 because of the incredible offering.

So, because I couldn’t find anything worthwhile, I’ve hunted down some adorable looks elsewhere:

Betsey Johnson $200ish (expensive, sorry!)