The spotter’s guide to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

Let’s be clear about one thing: The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is not really about fashion. But we knew that, and anyway, it doesn’t really matter. Not to the hordes of young women that appear out of nowhere, pink shopping bags in hand, within a 500-metre radius of any of the lingerie titan’s locations. (There are eleven stores in Canada–four Victoria’s Secret and seven for their younger Pink line.) Not to the crowd that piled into the Armory on Lexington Avenue on November 10 to see the show–a group that included Gerard Butler, Adrien Grenier, Russell Simmons, Malin Akerman and Paris Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld. Not to every person who we’ve spoken to in the two weeks since who want to know how the Angels look up close (gorgeous, obviously), how much they have to exercise (Adriana Lima trains six days a week leading up to the show) and whether the wings are heavy (Candice Swanepoel‘s trainer give her extra shoulder exercises to prepare).

No, no, it’s not about fashion, but outright spectacle (and selling bras, of course. See above re: hordes). Put another way: At what other fashion show would you see Chanel Iman in massive feather wings that trail through the 100 pounds of glitter that covered the runway? Or spot Behati Prinsloo in a Punky Brewster–style getup singing along to Katy Perry, who’s belting out “Teenage Dream” while standing atop a giant, shimmering pink puppy.

To see the fun-filled, Swarovski-encrusted, over-the-top action, you can catch the full televised show, which reportedly draws more viewers than all the major fashion shows combined, tomorrow, November 30, at 10 p.m EST on CBS. We’ve compiled a field guide for spotting some of the most over-the-top looks, gobsmacking wings, biker chicks, milkmaids and more.

View our gallery of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show»

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