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[Urban Buy]

Uplifting experience
An unmentionables shop worth mention

BY SARA HOUGHTELING

BENEATH A FADED eggplant-colored awning and behind a few headless mannequins in various states of undress, the doyennes of Boston’s lingerie world reign at Lady Grace in Brookline. No one tries to convey that certain je ne sais quoi, but somehow they just have it. These are practical women with magical skills.

Audrey Rosenberg can determine a woman’s bra size from across the room, although it’s more difficult if the woman’s wearing a winter coat. “But once the snow starts to melt and the coats come off,” she says, “Lady Grace gets real busy.” A buxom mother and daughter buy several bras apiece, and the store files the daughter’s address in Washington so she can order additional Warner’s New Dimension Bras for the Fuller Figure ($26) when her current ones wear out. A mother with a baby carriage for four explains to the cashier that she’s worn her nursing bras to shreds. An elfin blonde, standing on one leg like a flamingo, buys a gel-padded bra with black lace and pink embroidered flowers, the Gelina by Felina ($39). As necklines plunge for prom, the shelf of pasties ($8.99) dwindles. And a desperate sales clerk from the lingerie department at Saks calls begging Audrey to produce a strapless bra for a difficult customer. “Of course I have it, sweetheart,” she says. “Send her over.” Even men have discovered the shop’s hidden graces. “I’m happy to help them,” Audrey says, “but I fit them in my office. I can’t have men roaming around in the dressing rooms.”

For women seeking the perfect bra, the fitting process determines the correct size. The magic formula: measure underneath the breasts and add five inches (or three inches if the measurement is over 33 inches) to ascertain back size; then determine cup size by measuring the bosom at its fullest point, and subtract the back size from that number. A difference of one inch is an A, two inches is a B, and so on. One customer wails to her attendant, “No, you’re wrong, I can’t possibly wear a DDD!”

“Dahrrling,” a Russian-accented voice purrs, “I know it is scary, but I suggest you accept it. So let’s find you a good one, eh?”

What makes a good one? “The center of the bra must come up flush against your chest,” says Audrey. “And if it’s an underwire bra, the wire needs to rest against your body. The woman shouldn’t be overflowing in the bra; the lines need to be smooth. The mission of the bra is to lift and separate.” With a tap on the dressing-room door, Audrey and her employees ask to see the customer in the bra to make sure it fulfills its mission.

Mass-market lingerie companies promise to turn all customers into everyday versions of Laetitia Casta with the wave of a Wonderbra. But respect for each customer’s body and wishes rules at Lady Grace. The Lady knows we all need a little support from time to time.

Lady Grace is located at 1364 Beacon Street in Brookline. Call (617) 566-8194 or visit www.ladygrace.com.

Issue Date: June 14-21, 2001






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