Lingerie And Love

I can’t look at my closet. When I do, it’s almost too much for me to bear — I need to physically look away to save myself from the emotional intensity. No, this is not because I color-coordinate my closet so well that it causes a swelling of pride within me that I can’t quite withstand. Nor is it because my clothes are so expensive that the sight of them makes me want to snatch my credit card and stash it under lock and key. The reason I cannot look at my closet is because certain outfits — that skirt, that dress — hold too many memories.

I look at one particular black and gray dress and have to physically move it out of the way. Every time I see it I’m reminded of the last time I wore it. I was in Paris, out with a man who drew me in by discussing politics. I fell for him quickly, but while the discussion that night ended wonderfully, the same cannot be said for our relationship.

My closet is a visual representation of my dating history, but only a few items grab me in such a way. Clothes are not like photographs that you can simply discard or never look at again; you have to wear clothes every day, and they are physical reminders of a person you cannot ignore. I can’t help but wonder how other women who fall in and out of love deal with their closets afterwards: Do they sit and stare at the red dress from their one-year anniversary? Do they burn it instead? What about something truly intimate, like lingerie?

The lingerie market is a $2.6 billion a year industry. After spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on lace and silk, do women then just discard it? Is it a form of betrayal of an ex’s memory if a woman wears what she wore for one man with another? Can you wear the same lingerie with the next man you fall in love with and grow emotionally detached from the item? Is there something shallow about investing emotions in a piece of fabric? Do you just have to wait for the right amount of time to pass before wearing it again, or is it better to just get rid of it or send it to The Salvation Army accept it?

Upon further research, I’ve found many thrift store fashionistas who flock to Goodwill for their vintage slips, which can date all the way back to the 1940′s. Goodwill offers to take your undergarments — even your thongs — off your hands. Your bras, too, can be given away and the proceeds can go to breast cancer survivors and survivors of domestic violence. A service has also been created for women who can no longer look at their jewelry box, Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry, where women can sell and trade those earrings, bracelets and necklaces their boyfriends once gave them. As the website states, “you get it off your chest and out of your sight. Just because you don’t want it, doesn’t mean somebody else isn’t dying for it. Everyone’s a winner!”

The question becomes this: Would you rather donate items that remind you of your ex, swapping those emotion-tinged items for new memories? Or can your clothes take on the memories of new people, new experiences?

For now, I will have to settle for being uncomfortable around my closet until my heart and my brain come to a decision. It’s nice to know I have options.

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Victoria’s Secret pledges to investigate claims that its lingerie was made …

By
Victoria Wellman

Last updated at 8:55 PM on 16th December 2011

Victoria’s Secret has responded to allegations that child labour was used in the production of its underwear line.

An investigation by Bloomberg reported that children as young as ten had been working in the Burkina Faso cotton fields that supply fibres to factories used by the lingerie giant.

In a statement today Victoria’s Secret parent company Limited Brands Inc pledged to investigate the claims.

Clarisse Kambire, 13, holds a sack used for collecting fair trade organic cotton in Burkina Faso, the kind used to make Victoria’s Secret underwear

Tammy Roberts
Myers, Limited Brands Inc’s vice
president of external communications, said: ‘[The allegations] describe behaviour
contrary to our company’s values and the code of labour and sourcing
standards we require all of our suppliers to meet.

‘Our standards specifically
prohibit child labour. We are vigorously engaging with stakeholders to
fully investigate this matter.’

Bloomberg reporters spent several weeks in the West African land-locked country talking to impoverished children who have not only been working for free but have suffered gross mistreatment at the hands of their employers and families.

One child spoke of being whipped and denied food by the farmer for whom she works and another described the cousin who punished her for trying to sneak to school instead of going to work.

More than just cotton panties: A Victoria’s Secret advertisment

The accusations of child labour echo a 1996 scandal involving Nike. Even 16 years later, the sportswear brand is suffering the fallout, so Victoria’s Secret will surely move swiftly to resolve this issue.

Reactions among bloggers and fashion enthusiasts are divided though.

Many are frustrated and saddened by the news that children are still exploited at the hands of organisations serving large Third World corporations.

‘Very immoral of VS’, reads one comment on MailOnline’s original piece.

But others are quick to defend the
underwear brand opting to believe that Victoria’s Secret chiefs were
unaware of the brutal conditions and youth of the workforce.

Some even go so far as dismiss the claims as par for the course:

‘Educate yourself folks. This is nothing new. The exploitation of children is widespread. And it is all done to benefit you, the consumer. Happy holidays, everyone..’

In 2009 Victoria’s Secret launched their Valentine collection made from what was celebrated as ‘fair trade’ and organic cotton from Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso, where child labour is known to be endemic, recently ranked 181st out of 187 countries in the 2011 United Nations Human Development Index. 

In a description about the collection, this slogan appeared: ‘Good for women. Good for the children who depend on them.’

It’s no surprise that in the wake of these accusations reps are keen to investigate the claims and clear the lingerie goliath’s name.

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