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An inside look at lingerie in San Diego

By Yasmina Fine

January 9, 2006

San Diego--Having been a little bit of a nerd who wasn’t concerned with sexiness throughout my academic career, the issue of lingerie never crossed my mind. When I was, say, twenty-five years old, a male friend from college told me, “Romina, guys like things to match,…matching bra and panties.” I thought, “Why is he telling me this?”

I wasn’t having much luck with the guys back then. Could it have been my unmatching underwear?

For years I got away with wearing just tight tank tops, bathing suit tops, sport shirts and the like. I’m not large breasted, so what’s the big deal? Why bother with lingerie when you’re 24 years old, when your funds are practically non-existent, and when your body doesn’t need any help looking young and fit? Little did I know.

Here’s what I discovered:

Cheap Underwear

No excuses, we’ve got Marshall’s right? Well, I recently grabbed a matching bra and a panty set at Marshall’s, in a bright pink. The panty (I always thought “panty” was a funny word, so please appreciate the fact that I’m using it for this story) cost me about $3.99 and the bra $6.00. What a waste! That bra was so darn uncomfortable; it made my chest sweat and itch. And, to top it off, the cups made it look as though I had grown mini pine cones for breasts. Saran wrap would have been the better option.

To make up for the matching fiasco, I scored on an underwear deal at Marshall’s, albeit unmatching. I bought a half dozen pairs of panties for a $1.99 each. My favorite, a 100% cotton, light yellow brief with a chicken drawn on the front, and the caption “Chicks Gone Wild.” I wonder if my guy friend would have approved of those panties matched with a light yellow tank top. Heck, it would have been sexier than that bright pink pine cone bra!

Anyway, lingerie was always out of my league and considered unnecessary. I figured the curse of having small breasts would bring me great savings. My idea of lingerie was wearing my Dad’s old wife-beater tank tops tied at the waist and a pair of white Calvin Klein underwear. Like I already said, I could easily get by wearing a tight tank top.

Thinking deeply here, why does a woman (or a man for that matter) wear lingerie?

Does she do it to please her man, to activate his fantasies of Victoria's Secret catalogs or Playboy centerfolds? Or, does a woman wear it for herself? To make her feel sexier, to activate her inner temptress, to bring about her naughty and playful side?

I leave the answers to those questions to you.

San Diego lingerie options

San Diego isn’t the best place to find a lingerie specialty store. There aren’t a whole lot of options. In Paris, you can walk past three or four lingerie shops within two blocks of each other. Not in San Diego.

Nonetheless, I visited three different lingerie stores. The Crypt on Park for funky and erotic; Victoria’s Secret for popular and seductive; and Neroli in La Jolla for exquisite and sophisticated.

The funky and the erotic: the Crypt on Park (3847 Park Blvd. in Hillcrest)

The lingerie at the Crypt is kinky, racy and raunchy. There’s plenty of “erotic apparel” with accessories to go with it.

The women’s corner showcased leather, vinyl and lace bras and panties; exquisite $300 corsets; undergarments put together by chains; very large women’s shoes, and funky hosiery.

Jen, a knowledgeable and sassy saleswoman, happily showed me around and talked about a variety of the Crypt’s products. Because many of their customers are into “kink” and “play” where the lingerie might shred to pieces or end up soiled with one thing or another, they aren’t looking to spend a lot of money. The lingerie they buy will be used just once, or twice if it survives the first round.

I took a close look at the hosiery. Jen told me that “Leg Avenue” delivers a quality product for the money. For $8.99 I bought a faux garter corset teddy body stocking with a hole in the crotch area. (I’ll leave that to your imagination.) Made of 100% nylon, this item is surprisingly comfortable. It’s one size fits all and it fit just fine. I got a garter, a sheer corset, panties, and stockings all in one. I like it, but up close it isn’t all that flattering. It doesn’t hug my body in the right places. It might have looked better on me if I were 20 years old and a fashion model. Still, it can be sexy, depending on the imagination of the person(s) involved with it.

The popular and seductive: Victoria’s Secret (UTC mall)

I always thought that Victoria’s Secret products were of low quality. In college I bought their plain-Jane cotton undies with the thick elastic band. Remember those? Those things fell apart. And no, I wasn’t engaging in any Crypt on Park behavior.

Now Victoria’s Secret carries a wider variety of styles and brand names and the quality has improved. They’ve got their “Signature Cotton” line, their “Very Sexy” line made of nylon and Spandex for support and comfort, and the usual lace push-ups with details.

Most of Victoria’s fabrics are “imported.” Okay, nice selling point. Imported from where?

Secret carries additional designers, such as Betsy Johnson and Chantal Thomas. The Betsy Johnson line covers a spectrum of colorful, frilly, girly and lacey outfits. The Chantal Thomas line provides more of a super-sexual, high end and well-formed option. It’s probably the most expensive line at Victoria’s Secret. You can get an embroidered bustier with a silk chiffon trim on sale right now for $99 with matching panties for $25.

I bought one of the “Very Sexy” padded bras. It feels really nice and looks great under clothing. I notice guys checking me out when I wear it. It isn’t the most seductive of Secret’s products, though. When the clothes are coming off, I try to get that thing off as quickly as possible.

The exquisite and sophisticated: Neroli (7944 Girard Avenue in La Jolla)

Wow, this is some sweet lingerie. Someone, would you please open an account for me here?

After trying on a few pieces at Neroli, I then understood the fascination with lingerie. This store carries the products that gave lingerie its fame and its name.

French and Italian designs line Neroli’s walls. Slapped is a lover who attempts to tear any of these designs off a woman’s body. Gently remove, okay? But no thrashing, please.

From the sales bin I pulled out a black boy short by joelle intimate apparel. The boy short fits both loosely and snugly at the same time. It hugs my hips to accentuate the curves and fits loosely around the thighs for comfort. Made from 70% model, 23% pima cotton and 7% Lycra, the fabric soothes my skin. I have no idea what these fabrics are, but they feel good, so who cares? I got it on sale for $10.

I tried on a bra, a lacy half-cup by Aubade. Intricately designed, it caressed my skin, and put the skin in all the right places.

The most expensive bra and panty set I saw was priced at $550. Somebody had better experience a hot night wearing this bra and g-string entwined with Swarovsky crystal.

The saleswoman told me that some women are just into lingerie. They like to collect it. Wearing it under boring work clothing brings a bit of sexiness to a woman’s work day. The lingerie makes a woman feel sexy when she’s out on a date. Men like it as well. (No kidding!)

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Yasmina Fine is a San Diego based freelance writer.