Sat, Jul 04, 2009
Owner Katrina Anderson shares a laugh with a customer during the grand opening celebration for her new Bravo Boutique at the southwest corner of North Campbell Avenue and East Skyline Drive.
Greg Bryan / Arizona Daily Star

Foothills

Lingerie boutique strives for unique

By Alexis Blue
Special to the Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.11.2007
Katrina Anderson said she was watching a rerun of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" about a year ago when she got an idea for a new business.
The episode, which was all about helping women find the right bra size, helped inspire her to open Bravo Boutique, a new upscale lingerie store in the Foothills.
Stocked with designer brands such as La Perla, Eres, Cosabella, Nicole Miller and many others, the boutique opened Sunday at Plaza Colonial, at the southwest corner of North Campbell Avenue and East Skyline Drive.
Bravo is different from the French boudoir-style lingerie shops women may have encountered, Anderson said. And that's on purpose.
Instead, Anderson aimed to create a spa-type atmosphere with cool green glass and leather armchairs where husbands or other shopping partners can wait and relax.
The fitting rooms even come equipped with ceiling fans, clothes hampers for unwanted garments and robes that allow shoppers to cover up if they want to go in and out without re-dressing.
"A lot of lingerie shops are very much that kind of bedroom, French-boudoir kind of thing, but that can be off-putting to some people," said Anderson, 38. "I thought to have a more conducive environment, like a spa, because everybody likes that."
The store carries a range of intimate apparel from lingerie to loungewear, but its primary focus is bras, Anderson said, and custom fittings are available to help women find the right size.
"The whole buzz is that we're all wearing the wrong size, and I think a lot of us are," Anderson said.
After researching the industry and attending lingerie shows in major cities, Anderson said she wanted to create the kind of boutique you might see in New York and Los Angeles.
The store is a welcome addition to the Tucson shopping scene for locals who used to have to drive to Scottsdale to find high-end brands, Anderson said.
"This is cutting edge in Tucson," said Tish Eaton, the store's manager.
"Bra shopping can often be embarrassing and overwhelming and that's what we're here to prevent," Eaton said.
Anderson said the idea was to create a comfortable atmosphere for women of all ages, shapes and sizes while offering personalized service, like expert fittings and custom-ordering products for shoppers.
Elaine Gossman, 39, made a special trip to Bravo from her home in Yuma on the boutique's opening day.
She said she'd been anticipating the store's opening and bought around $1,000 worth of merchandise.
"You have to wear lingerie every day, so I like to find some special pieces and really prefer shopping in boutiques rather than department stores," Gossman said. "They have such a nice selection and a great selection as far as sizes."
Gossman said she likes higher-end lingerie brands because they offer a better fit and comfort in addition to looking good.
The right undergarments can also make your clothes look better, Anderson said.
"So many women are realizing that wearing the right bra and feeling good makes you stand straighter, and you have a better profile," Anderson said. Women walk out of here standing up straighter and saying, 'I just look really good.' "
● Alexis Blue is a Tucson freelance writer.