Re: Fw: The latest accessory: beyond cleavage ~ Chicago Trib

[Guest guest]

I have one thing to say about this...HOW STUPID. Geeze

In @y..., " Patty " <faussettdp@m...> wrote:

> All I can say is, how frivilous, how stupid, how sleazy...

> Patty

> From: " Ilena Rose " <ilena@s...>

> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 11:14 PM

> Subject: The latest accessory: beyond cleavage ~ Chicago Trib

>

>

> > Latest News The latest accessory: beyond cleavage

> >

> >

>

http://www.chicagotribune.com/leisure/tempo/printedition/article/0,266

9,SAV-

> 0105

> > 080010,FF.html

> >

> > The latest accessory: beyond cleavage

> >

> > By Judy Hevrdejs

> > Tribune staff reporter

> > May 8, 2001

> >

> > Scan the magazine racks. You can't help noticing them. Charlize

Theron's

> > are revealed on Esquire. Aniston's tease from the cover

of May's

> > Vanity Fair.

> >

> > And they have been popping up on TV and in movies -

's, if

> > you recall, made a notable appearance at the s.

> >

> > What gives with all the nipples?

> >

> > " I think nipples are just there now as a part of fashion, " says

> > Steele, acting director of the museum at the Fashion Institute of

> > Technology in New York. " They have really become an acceptable

part of

> > fashion for at least the high-fashion and street-style worlds. "

> >

> > But will the trend reach the rest of America? Lori Barghini is

banking on

> it.

> >

> > Last summer, Barghini plus pals Cobbs, and Bill

Glaeser

> > launched a Web site (www.bodyperks.com) to sell bodyperks -

basically,

> > erect silicone nipples ($20 a set) that are meant to be tucked

inside a

> > bra.

> >

> > The quartet from Minneapolis-St. sought funding for their

endeavor

> > ( " A lot of people looked at us like we were nuts, " Barghini

recalls), then

> > sold more than 1,000 pairs at a South Dakota motorcycle rally.

> >

> > Next, they went to Vegas, where they did their own market

research. " We

> > had someone dressed really provocatively, with cleavage. And

someone else

> > in a short skirt, high heels. And then we put a girl in khakis

and a nice

> > little sweater with pearls. I mean real prim, but wearing the

'perks.

> > Guess who gets all the attention? " asks Barghini.

> >

> > The woman wearing the pearls and the bodyperks, according to

Barghini,

> > noting " for men, it's almost like a subliminal thing. They're

drawn to it

> > like bees to honey. "

> >

> > She wasn't talking about the pearls.

> >

> > Last month, the bodyperks team attended a lingerie industry show

in Las

> > Vegas and with at least one major retailer interested in the

product, says

> > Barghini, bodyperks could be available at a lingerie department

near you

> > soon.

> >

> > " Movie stars and all those in that area are a little more forward

in

> > that, " says Cyndi Salat, at Schwartz's Intimate Apparel in

Wilmette. " As

> > far as the general public? For every day [wear], they're looking

for a

> > little more coverage. "

> >

> > Barghini is quick to note that bodyperks are not meant for the

office or

> > boardroom, but instead as a fun accessory. " It's to go out and be

sexy and

> > flirt, " she says.

> >

> > Those who consider a funky faux diamond brooch from your granny a

fun

> > accessory might not feel the same way about these faux nipples.

As Steele

> > points out, the appearance of nipples in fashion can evoke strong

> > emotions.

> >

> > " Because of the way that they stand up like that, they can be a

little

> > embarrassing because they are showing that you are having some

kind of

> > physiological response, " Steele says. " So I think that in that

way, they

> > are more revealing and, therefore, maybe more taboo than

cleavage. . . .

> > The nipples are a like a blush on the breasts. I think most women

would be

> > more embarrassed or anxious about that than about other forms of

breast

> > exposure. "

> >

> > While Barghini calls bodyperks a fashion accouterment and puts

them in the

> > same category as a padded bra, she also thinks a woman who has

had a

> > mastectomy or is contemplating reconstruction could try them to

see if

> > they want that look.

> >

> > New Yorker Liz Carr has tried them.

> >

> > " I've worn them at work a couple times and about five times

clubbing, "

> > says Carr, a manager at Field, an eclectic New York

boutique --

> > yes, the same Field who is costume designer for HBO's

" Sex and

> > the City. "

> >

> > And the reaction?

> >

> > " I got a lot of looks from men and women and a lot of women

asking me

> > about them, " says Carr, who says the boutique has sold about 10

pairs in

> > the six months they've carried them. " When I was wearing them

out, I was

> > really happy about it. [You] just pop them inside your bra and

it's more

> > subtle or just right in your T-shirt and that's more of

statement. It's

> > like a toy thing. A fun way to slip out of yourself and be

something

> > different. "

> >

> >