Barely Surviving Frederick's of Hollywood Goes Full Monty with Online Sales

Frederick's of Hollywood
(Image: usatoday.com)

Once upon a time, Frederick's of Hollywood defined campy lingerie taste. The brand usually had its tongue firmly in its cheek, with its suggestive outfits and hilarious poses. Alas, Victoria's Secret, with its supermodels dressed in nothing much, seized the boudoir couture market niche. VS's surge, not so coincidentally, paralleled the popularity of contemporary cheesecake magazines as well as the desire of horny hedge fund managers to chase trophy blondes.

Honest, but downmarket Frederick's finally threw in the towel. All of its 94 stores have been shuttered, according to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times. The once-proud brand may now be found on the web, along with a cast of millions of URL-based enterprises. It's a depressing development. Frederick's once served as a refreshing antidote to inoffensive mall merchandisers and pointless prudery. That's now been banished to the Internet and the doubtful "benefits" of data-driven sales.