Kate Upton, Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Is Not In Your Future

We're not sure when the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show came to represent the paragon of class. But apparently there is a certain level of refinement necessary to qualify for that sparkly spectacle of a runway -- and Sports Illustrated's latest swimsuit star, Kate Upton, doesn't have it.

"We would never use" Upton, Sophia Neophitou told the New York Times. Neophitou is a stylist, a fashion editor and the brains behind the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show lineup, making the casting decisions for the televised event.

Why doesn't Upton make the cut?

"She's like a Page 3 girl," Ms. Neophitou said, referring to the scantily clad voluptuous women featured in The Sun, a London tabloid. "She's like a footballer's wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy."

Apparently Sports Illustrated didn't think so, choosing her as 2011's Rookie of the Year and placing her on the 2012 cover unveiled on Monday. To be fair, Upton makes no pretense to being high fashion or elegant in any way. "What can I say?" she told the Times. "I'm relatable."

One reason to relate to the 19-year-old model is her figure. While presenting the Top Ten on "The Late Show With David Letterman" on Monday night, Upton stood out amongst her other Swimsuit Issue co-stars as the buxomest of the bunch. According to the Times, her measurements are a healthy 36-25-34. Yet she was the star of the night, the covergirl whose name everyone now knows.

We have a feeling Victoria's Secret might come around. And if they don't? We think Upton will fair just fine.

Read more about Upton's unlikely rise at NYTimes.com and see more about the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue here.

Comments

[softbombsalad]

10:03 PM on 03/01/2013

I can't believe there are spelling mistakes on a news outlet as high-profile as HP. Disappointing.

[nadyarousseau]

06:02 PM on 02/02/2013

For a company that is as mainstream as Victoria's Secret (the store is in every mall across America), to scoff at Kate Upton's purported tacky/easily acceptable look I find it very ironic. If VS is trying to stand out as being "one of a kind" and "high end" to the point that they need to publicly insult another model, perhaps they should pull their clothes from malls across the country and only show on Rodeo Dr. & Milan.

The crassness of the casting director's comment far outweighs any supposed crassness of Upton's looks. Very tacky Victoria's Secret. You've just lost a customer. Btw--maybe stop having your lingerie made in China. That's kind of mainstream/Page 3ish too.

[Chelsea Kacz]

03:50 AM on 12/24/2012

There is NO way that those numbers are her correct measurements........I have similar measurements but I'm at least 6 inches shorter than her and I don't have gigantic boobs! That's just not believable because she would look like a giant in every way standing next to me-- I've seen her unedited photos!!!! (or I would look like a dwarf....one of the two)

[Katherine Sayre]

03:08 AM on 12/07/2012

Kate upton has very nice boobs and a great healthy figure that would attract men. But she doesn't have the right qualities to be a good model. She is very cheap and tacky looking. Designers don't like her, nor do editors and photographers, and those people are the ones who really make a model's career. That is why she doesn't get a lot of work in the industry. She has no major campaigns, or major runway shows. If she doesn't get a vs contract which is currently the most lucrative contract a model can get, perhaps she should break into show business.

[Dede Eagleburger]

01:05 PM on 11/12/2012

how is that working out for her now Sophia??? huh??? she is killin it!!!

[Nerdiac]

09:19 PM on 06/19/2012

She's absolutely right. When people think of Kate Upton, they think of her naked. When people think of Victoria's Secret models, they think of people in Victoria's Secret lingerie. That's kinda the whole point. Maybe if Ms. Upton had kept her clothes on, lost a little weight, and aspired to be a fashion model instead of a pinup girl, she could get a job as a fashion model.

[Dede Eagleburger]

09:40 AM on 06/20/2012

umm, so, okay, maybe you have a point but, it kinda came across as just being catty really...and almost like 'well you might be the it girl right now but you'll never be good enough for us'...Kate hasn't let it bother her though!!!

[WhateverFloatsYerBoat]

02:19 AM on 12/19/2012

I am so sick and tired of the fashion industry's obsession with pimping skinny women with no boobs and stick arms (sorry, Gisele and the rest of the VS models are too skinny too - remember the camera ADDS 10lbs!). Kate looks like a healthy and beautiful girl to me. all those catty fashion editors...ugh.

[tko54321]

05:40 PM on 03/20/2012

I believe these model industry people (other models included) don't like Upton because she became a success in her own way, bypassing the NYC vampire system, developing her own following online--in her own shape & style--that SI had to respect, and keeping more of her own money. That's instead of the typical route of hoping an agency deems you are the right shape & style and hoping they get you with SI and hoping that makes you this kind of success, all the while having your earnings eaten out of your hand. Model wannabes, whatever you look like, do it Kate's way.

[SukiTheCat]

11:11 AM on 02/17/2012

Okay, so the VS lady doesn't want her for her show, did she have to go and give an interview about how 'cheap' the girl looks? Just really catty and stupid.

[Dede Eagleburger]

11:15 AM on 02/17/2012

I'm with you Suki...I don't get it at all, maybe she's just one of those people that has to find the negative in everything...:(

[jreeves1425]

09:18 AM on 02/17/2012

This reminds me of those pretentious, ignorant comments by Karl Lagerfeld about Adele. I didn't like the cover either, but footballers wife?

[leskataus]

01:49 AM on 02/17/2012

She's an attractive young woman but that swimsuit is just plain awful. It's way too small for her.

[bennett388]

01:40 PM on 02/22/2012

That's kinda the point!

[Sexy and I know it]

09:02 PM on 02/16/2012

Why are we soooo hard on women, too big, too small, too saggy, big bootie, no bootie, whatever she is what she is and proud of it. Wish it were true for all women:)

[jneal11254]

08:04 PM on 02/16/2012

VS, you are making a mistake. You have been dealing with scrawny girls with implants for so long you think a natural girl with great curves can't carry off your clothes. You are dead wrong. That girl walks just like Marilyn, and everythings sways just like God intended.

[Woodsie]

07:57 PM on 02/16/2012

Geezus. Did somebody give her a wedgie??

[Namaste MF]

07:47 PM on 02/16/2012

She' cute. Whatever. No one pleases everyone.

[wingin it]

07:29 PM on 02/16/2012

I never really noticed her face, since it wasn't the largest object in the photo.

[CunningStunts]

09:32 PM on 02/16/2012

Not the largest, or the most important, either.

[Dede Eagleburger]

12:23 PM on 02/17/2012

ok, i'll bite- what is the most important?