The Vintage & Handmade Market 
Jezebel bra from The Enchantress
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d do a roundup of super-femme lingerie stores—but male readers, beware: I don’t recommend that you purchase lingerie for your lady friends. Just so you know, we know it’s not really for us. Not to mention that you run the very plausible risk of offending us by buying the wrong size—or by buying us something that’s just plain tacky.
Now, ladies, if you are in the market for some lingerie as a Valentine’s Day gift for the two of you (or—heck—just for you), then, by all means, read on.
The Enchantress (1400 Camino de la Reina, www.getbras.com) is hilariously located next door to Hooters in Mission Valley. The specialty here is bridal lingerie, but what does that mean? The store has a great variety, and most of it seems purposeful—intended to either entice or enhance. Or both. If you were blessed with abundance, there are scores of choices, mostly from Elomi, a company that specializes in resplendent lingerie for the buxom. The Enchantress also boasts professional bra fittings. (And if you’ve never been fit before, let me take this moment to make a public service announcement: you are wearing the wrong size bra, and the right size one will instantly make you look slimmer, taller and smarter—done deal.) The service here is supremely attentive. I’ve heard from others that clerks can be a bit abrasive, but when you’re talking boobies, people are often a little sensitive.
Intimacy (Fashion Valley Mall, www.myintimacy.com) is a small national chain that’s all about boobs and making them look good. The staff is all well-trained at sizing them up. And, yes, they will sort of feel you up, but that’s what it takes, they say, to get you in the right bra. The only problem is, the right bra might run upwards of 100 bucks. Or more. But from what I’ve heard, these bras can change your life. They carry a lot of the same fine makers that the mom-and-pop stores do, but their line isn’t about the brand; it’s about the fit.
Head up the coast and you’ll find a hiccup of a store in Del Mar Plaza called Jolie Femme (1555 Camino Del Mar, www.joliefemmeboutique.com). They don’t have a ton of bras and panties because, frankly, they don’t have a lot of space, but what they carry is oh-so darling: brands like Le Mystere, Chantelle and Felina (seen recently on Oprah). They also carry cheesy accessories and gifts, the kind of stuff that’s flavored or edible or “sexy” (in quotations), the sort of thing you’d expect to see at a bridal shower. In a limo. But, hey, that stuff has its purpose, right?
Now, if you want a little Bible verse with your trash, you’ll have to keep on keeping on northward to Escondido. Right in the heart of the old downtown is X’s & O’s Lingerie and Gift Boutique (156 West Grand Ave., www.xsandoslingerie.com), whose motto is “Enhancing Loving Marriages.” I’m all for that. But there’s something wildly incongruous about citing Genesis (in the store window, on the website and by the cash register) while selling candy-floss-pink patent-leather stiletto thigh-high boots. And red-and-black polyester lace g-strings. And pole-dancing lessons.
I didn’t ask if the pole-dancing lessons were for couples. Can boys pole dance? But the imagined visual of my husband attempting such thing has made my Valentine’s Day this year enchanting.
Write to clea@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
