Skimpy Underwear, Ample Commentary At Tysons Corner Shoppers Appalled, Transfixed By Racy Store Display at Mall

By Timothy Dwyer Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 5, 2005; Page B01

Tongues were wagging. E-mails were flying around PTA message groups and church listservs. People who heard about it came by to take a look for themselves. The issue was tiny underwear -- women's fine lingerie, to be exact-- and how it should be displayed on lifelike mannequins in the newest wing of one of America's biggest malls.

"Little Shop of Whores," huffed one woman standing outside the new Victoria's Secret in Tysons Corner Center. "Slut wear," declared the father of a teenage girl, looking at a feathery-thong-clad mannequin bent over as if she were adjusting her spike heels. "I love it," said another woman with a bag of fresh purchases.

The store was doing a brisk business yesterday as shoppers walked by, some nearly snapping their necks as they caught a glimpse of what the mannequins were wearing and their suggestive poses.

"Well," said Steina Rubin of Bethesda, "I find it just totally disgusting." And, no, she would not be shopping there. "I'm not entering a whorehouse," she said. "I come to the mall with my daughter. It's disgusting. And I'm from Europe !"

Last week, a 362,000-square-foot expansion opened at Tysons Corner with 24 stores, five restaurants and a 16-screen movie theater. The new wing is jammed with stores targeted at teenage customers, and among them, between Free People and Guess jeans, is the new Victoria's Secret. Yesterday, it was parents of teenagers who were flocking to the mall.

"I'm anxious to see for myself what the buzz is all about," John Zolldan wrote in an e-mail to the mall management, "and if it is really true that Victoria no longer has any secrets . . . maybe your intent is to provide consumers in Northern Virginia with our first erotic boutique."

Inside the store was a display of one scantily clad female mannequin crawling toward another who reclined on a left hip and leaned back on both hands.

A woman inside the store who said she was the manager declined to comment, referring questions to a corporate public relations person.

Anthony Hebron, a spokesman for Limited Brands Inc., said that the Tysons display is not a special design for the store opening but is part of a national marketing campaign in the chain's approximately 1,000 stores. He said that "a few" complaints have come in from Tysons and from one other market.

"What we do with all of our marketing is to display the products that we sell, which is lingerie, and that is done on a national basis," Hebron said.

"I've shopped here for 10 years, and I won't come back until they change the window," said Joe Cowden of Vienna.
    
The display at the Victoria's Secret store, which just opened in the expanded wing of Tysons Corner Center, draws lots of attention from passersby.

"I walk the mall. I've been walking the mall for nine years," said Jana Spencer, 53, of Vienna, who said she has three grown children. "This is shocking. This is semi-pornographic. This is insulting."

Some shoppers said they have an issue not with what the store was selling but with the proximity of the displays to the mall's public areas.

"I love it," Rosario said, "I like the dark side of Vicky's. Every woman has a little bit of the dark side in her. They can do this. The mannequins aren't real. I have a husband, and I know he would love this. This is what keeps you happily married."

Some parents said they would not allow their teenagers to go to the mall.

"My 13-year-old daughter is going to come here and shop for a bra?" said Mary Lynne Carraway, 40, of McLean. "Come on. I'm appalled. That's like sending her to a street with a strip joint. Is this the kind of message we want to send to our children, that this is what they should look like?"

My good friend is being shipped off to work for FEMA in efforts to restore parts of Louisiana. He Volunteered. This news saddened me yet I know it is an incredible deed.
He found out yesterday and is leaving the day of my birthday, Wednesday. Not too much time to prepare and say goodbye for what will be quite a while.

So a Night on the town can produce great fun and prizes!
1.5 hrs in the car.
Bethesda.
Crabcakes & Salsa Dancin'
renowned Redskins Football Legend
Forgot my snazzy new hat
easy come, easy go.
French Martini
I believe I lost my mind...
Braves won GT lost
coach
redbull & kisses

...20 drunk dialed messages later! (received not given)
am i lossing my diginity or stepping up to the game?

I woke up in a great mood today. It is October 1st. I adore fall and the feeling it wraps around me. Today is the taste of Bethesda. I will venture over that way to explore a little. Meanwhile, I tried to set some mental goals today: grasp hold of what I want and where I want to go before I allow time to swallow me whole; be more accepting of what I want vs trying to please every other body; Simutaneous to the prior two statements, I want to accept those around me for who they are and & what they bring to my life vs any type of ideal that I may have secretly impossed on their being; Furthermore, I wish not to fly off the handle and damn it all to hell as I tend to do as of late. That gets you nothing but a mind full of angst at any and everything around you.

I really need to find that which i seek but I need to seek more of that which I desire.

Life doesn't just show up @ everyone's doorstep. Sometimes you gotta get up and get out and LIVE!

Oh how I Love Fall!!!! It is my favorite season next to winter, then spring with the beautiful blossoms!

Bright days colored with gold, maroon and green leaves throughout; Slight chill whipping across your cheeks that cannot deny the world a smile; aahhhh...

A nice stroll down good ole' Elmwood Ave; greeting the passerby's, peering into the sidwalk boutiques, and don't forget to grab a flavored steamed milk @ (e:SPOT) (besides, you will be certain to bump into an (e:peep) or two while there!).

Bike riding through the Buffalo neighborhoods is always a treat! The sights, the sounds, the soothing beats of the streets.


Ahhhh, the Love of Buffalo!


a view from my old window on Elmwood Ave

The Onion and The Toilet - Just plain irony on the streets of NYC


Yellow Game Seats


Got Smokes?


Somewhere in the spokes of life


City Barn


beyond the boardwalk


Don't Look @ Me...

home late. missed my appt. drats.
day @ length. was everyone satisfied?
fundraisers galore. life changes for all. so many different paths shooting in every direction possible.
good girl vs. bad girl > what went wrong? Everyone is entitled to live a little. suppose you learn @ what cost...
time ticks. time tocks.
sadness persists through the surface. of happines.
parties, outings, wrong perceptions. who will ever know?
tiredness - extreme. boredom - continuous. happiness - still eternal.
time out!
what comes next?

i went to this sushi resturant the other night and they had purposely designed a unisex lavatory area. here is a photo shot:

Of course I did not take photos of the boys stall; I wanted to stay a little while longer and enjoy my dinner without being escorted off the premises...

anyway, it's boy girl boy girl stalls; and you wash hands together. this is why I love sushi soooo much. it brings together the senses and the sexes. I could just imagine saying, "well, we met in the bathroom 1 year ago and the rest is history..."

cute.

First off, Happy Belated Birthday Wishes to Mr. Mike Visco, himself!!!
Hope you had a blast last night!!!

Secondly, I am officially on vacation. FREEDOM!

Thirdly, Local News:

It was a little crazy down here in Atlanta yesterday. People were lined up down the roads waiting over an hour for car fuel.

Record prices were over $5 a gallon!!! <Choke>

Some still could not purchase gas because they had run out. We pulled into one station and they just shut the lights off and said we are close without any explicable reason. We asked, did you run out? the guy says "We are just closed"
Some places were rumored to shut down for an hour just to increase the prices.
There were hardly any places that had any regular unleaded left @ 11pm. Craziness - or more like Pandemonium!!! One guy said, "I am just following the crowd, I am not sure why we are rushing to get gas, but I don't want to be left behind"???

Fourth and last:
I need to find food. This may require an extended bike ride to the nearest Starbuckies! but alas, laziness has taken over or is it the mixture of cleaning products that I sprayed in a slightly ventilated area?

Over and out. Check.

"Procrastination"