Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2017: Most Innovative Wings of the Year

You know, I do admire the designer and production team at Victoria’s Secret. Year after year, inventing new themes and new wings shape for the show couldn’t have been an easy task.

The outfits are of course matter a lot, but the wings usually got most of the attention. With the wings you really have to be very creative. People want to see something new, but they still want to see something attractive. The wings should sufficiently sized to make an impact, but I think there are certain limits, else, are you wearing wings or are you wearing a Christmas tree?

This one is beautiful, though, and has some most amazing details XD

In this post, I try to pick out the freshest looks, wings shapes that never been seen in previous Fashion Shows. I did ten years worth of tracing back, which is to 2007, but I do apologize in advance if I missed something, i.e. picking out a shape that had actually been used.

The Segments for this year are as below:
– Segment 1: Nomadic Adventure
– Segment 2: Porcelain Angel
– Segment 3: A Winter’s Tale
– Segment 4: Millennial Nation (Pink)
– Segment 5: Goddesses
– Segment 6: Punk Angels (VS x Balmain)

Most Innovative Wings 3rd Position: Sanne Vloet’s Birds Flock Wings

This look worn by Sanne Vloet appeared in “Goddesses” segment. Her wings, or back piece to be more exact, consists of several golden birds flying about her. I don’t know what goddesses that makes her be XD. But the wings are sure one of a kind.

Though if we want to dissect more, flying winged creatures being constructed into wings is not a truly new idea.
We have seen it in Miranda Kerr’s “Ballet de Fleurs” look from 2008, in form of butterflies.

And Adriana Lima’s “Exotic Butterfly” from 2015, also in form of buterflies (though you might mistake it as flowers and leaves. I know I did XD )

But still, Sanne’s wings are from entirely different material and fashioned differently enough to be note worthy.

Also making appearance in “Goddesses” are Romee Strijd and Sui He, whose costumes unfortunately weren’t so innovative.

Both are wearing a kind of structured sheer cape.

They looked pretty, and I’d say in motion the billowing of the capes probably look fantastic, but this kind of cape design had been used at least twice:
Karlie Kloss “Aquatic Angel” look from 2012,

And, more obvious in similarity, Taylor Hill’s “Dark Angel” look from 2015.

Most Innovative Wings 2nd Position: JoJa Punk Angels Wings

When I say “innovative”, I don’t necessarily think it’s beautiful.
This safety pins wings look from Jasmine Tookes’ “Punk Angels” exactly reflects that sentiment.

Admittedly, this is the first time for wings that created almost entirely from safety pins made an appearance in the show.

But, in the same bemusement as Ed Razek when he was against the idea of doing VSFS 2016 in daylight, I found my self frowning, “Why would you want Angel wings to be made of safety pins?”

Isn’t the whole Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show spirit to create a couture-y, fine, glamorous collection?

I think current generation young adult’s style is clean & simple; capsule wardrobe is getting new popularity and adopted everywhere. Accessories are kept minimal and to meet two purposes: to accentuate the whole look in stylish way, i.e. fine jewelry, and to be functional, like gadgets.

Safety pins is clearly nowhere in the picture.

Buuut, of course Olivier Rousteing is a mega successful designer—a Balmain Creative Director in such a young age!– and I suppose he knows about style much, much more extensively than I could ever wish for, so this is entirely a matter of taste XD

Although, what are these?

What are these wings supposed to mean?

Are they some kind of deconstructed materials that put safely back together by safety pins? A new kind of batman wings?

How is this supposed to represent “strong, sexy girl who knows what she wants?” (All I can comprehend from this piece is her sewing skill must be questionable).

I’m sorry, but I really don’t get the whole point. The wings are innovative, in term of “new”, but maybe I don’t want to see this kind of “breakthrough” in fashion XP

Though like I said, this is probably only a matter of taste.

My personal favorite looks are indeed some of the more frequently recurring, more conventionally beautiful shapes.

I call them “Flower Cluster Shape”.

My top 3 favorite looks from the entire show are exactly the ones with this “Flower Cluster” wings:

Karlie Kloss and Ming Xi, both in “A Winter’s Tale” segment:

And Vanessa Moody from “Goddesses” segment.

Don’t you think those looks are stunning?

Admittedly, flower cluster shape is not very original, they already appeared as recent as 2016 in “Mountain Romance” segment, worn by Sara Sampaio.

But I don’t mind XD. “Flower Cluster” can be diverse enough by size, shape of the cluster, color, and many other elements. As long as they make it lovely to look at, then it’s all good XD.

Most Innovative Wings Honorable Mention: Beaded Wings of Nomadic Angels Segment

Most of wings on “Nomadic Angels” segment are big, bold, colorful, and yes, first of their kind that made appearance in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
For example this Cindy Bruna’s look:

Or Leomie Anderson.

But, as I mentioned in my 2015 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show review about ”Exotic Traveller, over-clash of colors is not very appealing for me.

So, for me, this segment is a giant mess.

The feathery and beaded wings, intricate though they are, remind me of traditional woven mat.

Not to mention this Candice look, with which you can seem to give your mattress/carpet a good beat =P

Though this segment presents some of The Most Innovative Wings, it also has its share of The Most Overused Wings of all time, namely, “Feather Duster”.

This time, Adriana and Taylor are the lucky ones to have them on.

As recent as 2016 on “Road Ahead”, the dusters were on Maria Borges and Ming Xi.

And Leomie and Isabel on “Mountain Romance”.

Even Abbey Lee has worn it on 2009.

If you really, REALLY want to bring in the feather dusters, instead of bunching them together into a single or double clusters, I suppose there are several examples where the feathers were shaped more creatively, such as in 2016 “Firework” with Adriana and Cindy.

The Most Innovative Wings 1st Position: Lais Riberio’s Twister Wings with Fantasy Bra

So, here it is, what I crown THE Most Innovative Wings of the Year.

Ooohh, look at it, isn’t it the most stunning shape?

It looks simple enough that you might think a similar shape must have appeared some time, but no, they are really fresh and original.

When they revealed to Lais that she’s going to wear the fantasy bra, I already thought what a gorgeous wings she had on, fantasy bra or not.

I also like the Champagne Fantasy Bra a lot, in fact, it is my favorite fantasy bra so far.

Sometimes, when an Angel got a fantasy bra, VS doesn’t give her wings, so the bra can get full attention. Lais is lucky that the wings compliment the bra so much.

Though if I can let my fussy mouth running wild, the shoes are ugly and kind of ruin the whole thing. I imagine the look would be much better if they pair it with shoes from 2014 Fairy Tale Segment, like the ones below. Wahahahahahahaha never really satisfied, am I.

So, that was it! The most innovative wings of year 2017.

I hope you enjoy the post, and please remember all are my personal opinions and means no harm XD

Were I to do this post back in 2015, Behati Prinsloo and Martha Hunt’s light up wings in “Fireworks” segment will take the crown hands down, because those WERE some kind of wings that were never seen before, incorporating new technology they can, to make it something completely new and different.

So, which do YOU think is the most innovative wings? Which is your favorite wings on this show? On the previous shows? Which do you think are gorgeous, and which are over the top or absurd? XD Let’s talk all about it while we’re looking forward to VSFS 2017 broadcast!

You Tube Channels I Like

Heyyyy, so how was your October? I hope you all had a great autumn season before we finally enter that time of the year again.

I am certainly celebrating, because… so many good movies! XD

First, “Happy Death Day” like I mentioned in my last post.

For a movie I only watched because I accidentally saw the trailer and felt intrigued, I ended up liking it a lot more than “Kingsman 2”, the main movie I had been so looking forward to and in which I happened to see the said trailer.

“Happy Death Day” packed so much good elements in one movie: lovable characters, exciting plot, nifty comedy, heartfelt message, and even fluffy romance.

Tree and Carter are so cute, and the actor who played Carter is such an eye candy. It is a great misfortune that he is only 23, really XD

Audience even got a chance to be a sleuth in this movie, and guess who the real murderer was. Did you guess correctly, and when did you guess it? Let me know in the comment section!

Then… I was going to watch “Geostorm” because my coworker raved about it. I wasn’t into disaster movie—everyone talked what a disaster “2012” was—I wouldn’t even know since I never interested in one of those. But my coworker talked about how “Geostorm” was different from other disaster movies, so I decided to give it a chance. I changed my mind in the very last minute because “Geostorm” reviews are so bad and went for “Thor: Ragnarok” (which reviews are goood) instead. And I’m glad I changed my mind!

I have to say that first 30 minutes or so weren’t that great. I especially found the appearance of Doctor Strange as a big “Huh? Why is this necessary again?” moment, but then the movie got better and better as it went forward.

I especially love the scene when Hela announced herself to the Asgard Army, and the reaction she got from the Army Leader was “I don’t know who you are, but we won’t let you take over Asgard” sort of thing, and Hela hilariously shot back “You don’t know who I am? Did you not listen to the WORDS I just said?”

It was one of many the-supposedly-serious-turned-comedic-scenes in “Thor”, the ingredient which made this movie so refreshing and brilliant, but, I don’t know, I just feel that this scene especially resonates more with us ladies. Because we are more prone to get into such a situation, when we just explained something but the person we talked to (usually men XD), (a) said something totally ignorant, (b) said something exactly the same in different wording, (c) continue to push through with previous topic/ideas as if we had said nothing.

Is it just me? Mansplaining, anyone? XD

In times like that, I really would love to have Hela’s superpower and roar, “Did you not LISTEN to the WORDS I said????” And KABOOM!!!

Wahahahahahaha.

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to alienate my men reader, I’m sure you are all real gentlemen who always listen carefully to people around you XD

I’d say both movies got 7.5 out 10: satisfactorily entertaining and you got the value for your time and money, but I won’t get into a full review this time.

Instead, in this blog post I want to do something a bit different than usual, and share some Youtube Channels I enjoy.

So random, I know, but why the hell not? XD

Mostly, I just stumbled upon the channels by chance, and found that the Youtubers present their contents in appealing way. I do subscribe, but I don’t always watch every video. I just check them out every now and then to see if there are new materials that I’m interested in.

1. Lily Koi Hawaii

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZkWBYAAMKgcl1eMjCt3jQ

Lily’s channel talks mainly about holistic health, healthy lifestyle, and veganism/plant based eating.

I’m not a vegan and I don’t promote veganism, but I do think that we have to eat waaay more vegetables than our current standard diet.

Lily is informative, persuasive and engaging about the benefits of eating plant based. She’s got a fantastic sense of humor, and she tones down her criticism to non vegan lately in order to appeal to wider audience. Wise move, I think, because if we approach someone who already has a different opinion to us with righteousness and accusation, it will only drive them away instead of drawing them to our side, right?

She made me laughed out loud in this video.

I don’t believe that eating solely plant based food is the healthiest option for your body in long term, but I do think she has a very healthy approach to her way of eating. If you need extra motivation to eat and live healthier, check her channel out.

2. Simon and Martina

https://www.youtube.com/user/simonandmartina

Simon and Martina are a married couple who made a big name initially from vlogging about k-pop and Korean culture. I knew their name since their Korean days, but I never really checked their videos. Now that they moved to Japan, I enjoy them a lot more since I can relate to many things they talk about.

I know Japan is a very fascinating place, especially for new comers. I found Simon & Martina’s videos stand out among many Japan vloggers because their genuineness and outstanding editing. Simple sound effect or captions could really go a long way in making videos a lot more attractive. What’s more, when I watch their videos, I feel they are trully invested in whatever they’re presenting and are eager to share with the audience.

I also admire how Martina talks openly about her depression and share videos about how she deals with them.

If you only watch their regular videos, you won’t have any ideas that Martina has an illness that makes her have to deal with a lot of pain, and a depression because of that, because they always seem like a very happy go lucky couple.

She is so brave in sharing about her struggles, and I think she’s helping so many people by it.

Other Japan vloggers I also like are Rachel and Jun.

They are also a married couple, and since Jun is Japanese while Rachel is American, I find their take to Japanese culture is rather refreshing.

3. Romee Strijd

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOXFVINC6GCo86LBy0NQCIg

If you happened to be a long time acquaintance of my blog, you’d know that I’m quite a Victoria’s Secret fan. I think their marketing concept is genius and as far as I know there is no other brand who is quite as successful in utilizing their brand ambassador.

Of all current Angels, I always think that Martha Hunt and Taylor Hill are particularly attractive. I didn’t especially care about other Angels, but I do understand that each has unique appeal which attract different type of people. Among them though, I thought Romee Strijd was just pretty in a very basic way and in fact a bit boring. I didn’t understand why VS chose her to be Angel among hundred others.

Then, recently Romee has taken to post regular vlog and I watched it by chance. Before, I only ever saw her photos or watched her in runway, so never really saw her interacting with others.

After I watched her vlog, I suddenly get her appeal and now I totally understand why she was chosen as angel!

In her vlogs, Romee seems to be very genuinely nice, always smiling, and in general giving very positive vibes. She’s fun to watch and her smile is contagious. If i have a product, I, too, would like a Romee’s brightness to be associated with that.

In this video, she and her boyfriend Laurens do Q&A, and I’m so impressed with how much they seem to support each other.

At one point Laurens was asked to described Romee in three words, and I was not surprised that the first was “positive”. Other two are “hardworking” and “sweet”, which I also agree, though I could only judge from her vlogs XD. Meanwhile Romee described Laurens as “ambitious”, “thoughtful”, and “funny”.

I was like, dang, they describe most pleasant qualities in each other!!
So, major swoon <33333

Romee’s vlogs have really revived my excitement for VSFS. This year’s fantasy bra looks very beautiful. I was hoping Romee would wear it but it suits Lais really well XD

There are couple of other youtube channels I enjoy, and maybe I will share it again some other time. Meanwhile, I’m preparing for upcoming blog post since there are so many exciting things I would like to share. So, see you then!

Got a Long List of To-Dos, You’d Tell Me I’m So Vain…

Okay girls, it’s the end of November, and in a couple of days, we’ll get to see Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2014!

WHO’S EXCITED???

Not me XP

But, no kidding, the fantasy bras look okay–look Bollywood-ish to me–and VS steps up their game by giving double fantasy bras this year, meaning, instead the usual one model, TWO models will get to wear the fantasy bra(s).