Truly French: from D to K - and beyond
How one woman is “serving the overdeveloped and underserved” and rocking the City of Angels
We've heard it before: French lingerie only fits petite women whose breasts can fit into the rim of a champagne glass. News flash: Nothing could be farther from the truth. For the last few centuries, the French have been engineering and crafting lingerie specifically for full-busted women. The question is: where to find it?
We’re putting the spotlight on one woman in Los Angeles who is catering to the needs of women “big on bosom” with fantastic French lingerie. And these needs are pretty specific. “Let’s face it,” it says on her web site. “We have a knockout rack. And it has to be managed.”
Jenette Goldstein is the proprietress of Jenette Bras and, like many well-endowed women, she has a story. “Most women are wearing the wrong bra size,” says Jenette. “ Chances are that right now half of your boob is bulging out somewhere. I call it the Mall Bra Syndrome. It’s a low inventory, low wage, low skill business model that just about works for gals up to a C-cup, if they’re not too picky. But where is a store for us? Well, I come from a long line of women who are big on bosom and short on patience. So, enough already.”
Enough, indeed. Jenette’s exasperation became the city’s secret treasure trove. In 2006, she opened her first boutique in Los Angeles carrying only the very best European lingerie starting at a “D » cup for 'those gals who skipped the training bra and went straight to the major leagues.” Those major leaguers flocked to Jenette Bras in such numbers that she’s now opening her third store in this vast metropolis.
We recently caught up with Jenette to find out what’s behind her success and how American women are slowly shifting their perceptions about lingerie.
LF: Tell us about the growth of Jenette Bras. Are American women starting to turn away from department stores and seek out the more personalized savoir-faire of lingerie aficionados like yourself? If so, why?
JG: Absolutely. American women, thanks to the education they are getting on the lingerie blogs and from independent boutiques, are discovering that lingerie is an area that demands attention, almost like going to tailor or a hair stylist. Just as we value slow food, or the independent hair salon, women are learning that lingerie shouldn’t be an afterthought. It’s for you, it's a pleasure, it’s going to take an hour, and it’s going to be fun.
LF: What motivated you to open Jenette Bras in the first place?
JG: I had a horrifying moment in my mid-forties. Someone took a picture of me at my son’s graduation and my bosom was so ill-managed that I somehow looked slutty and matronly at the same time. My husband asked me, “How can it be that you are an ACTRESS in HOLLYWOOD*, boob capital of the WORLD and we can’t find you a bra that fits?” That started me on an odyssey of lingerie discovery. I was taking a break from signing autographs at an Alien’s reunion in England when I stumbled into the glorious world of European lingerie. E-cups, and F-cups, and G-cups, oh my!
*Jenette is also an actress who has had roles in some of our most epic films, including The Titanic, Alien, and Terminator.
LF: What are the primary differences you perceive between American and French women when it comes to lingerie?
JG: American women have got the peculiar idea that a bra should stay totally invisible, while making your breasts look like nipple-less mannequin globes. This means we buy dull beige bras and regard them as having no relation to our panty choice. I intend to see this attitude consigned to the junk-heap of history before I die. European women generally, and French women especially, demand to be stylish in every layer of their outfit. I believe the Puritanical streak in American culture has inhibited us from taking full enjoyment of our underthings. It’s the last fashion frontier.
FL: If you could say anything to American women about lingerie, their bras, bodies, breasts, or anything in that bosomy arena, what would it be?
JG: What I’ve learned from the European lingerie industry and particularly French women, is that lingerie and bras in particular are neither a necessary evil, nor a frivolous luxury. Beautiful underwear is part of the dance of life. In the US we tend to divide lingerie on the virgin/ whore scale: it’s either totally unsexy or it’s trashy. Come to my shop and grow up, ladies!
We’re putting the spotlight on one woman in Los Angeles who is catering to the needs of women “big on bosom” with fantastic French lingerie. And these needs are pretty specific. “Let’s face it,” it says on her web site. “We have a knockout rack. And it has to be managed.”
Jenette Goldstein is the proprietress of Jenette Bras and, like many well-endowed women, she has a story. “Most women are wearing the wrong bra size,” says Jenette. “ Chances are that right now half of your boob is bulging out somewhere. I call it the Mall Bra Syndrome. It’s a low inventory, low wage, low skill business model that just about works for gals up to a C-cup, if they’re not too picky. But where is a store for us? Well, I come from a long line of women who are big on bosom and short on patience. So, enough already.”
" BEAUTIFUL UNDERWEAR IS PART OF THE DANCE OF LIFE "
Enough, indeed. Jenette’s exasperation became the city’s secret treasure trove. In 2006, she opened her first boutique in Los Angeles carrying only the very best European lingerie starting at a “D » cup for 'those gals who skipped the training bra and went straight to the major leagues.” Those major leaguers flocked to Jenette Bras in such numbers that she’s now opening her third store in this vast metropolis.
We recently caught up with Jenette to find out what’s behind her success and how American women are slowly shifting their perceptions about lingerie.
LF: Tell us about the growth of Jenette Bras. Are American women starting to turn away from department stores and seek out the more personalized savoir-faire of lingerie aficionados like yourself? If so, why?
JG: Absolutely. American women, thanks to the education they are getting on the lingerie blogs and from independent boutiques, are discovering that lingerie is an area that demands attention, almost like going to tailor or a hair stylist. Just as we value slow food, or the independent hair salon, women are learning that lingerie shouldn’t be an afterthought. It’s for you, it's a pleasure, it’s going to take an hour, and it’s going to be fun.
“I believe the Puritanical streak in American culture has inhibited us from taking full enjoyment of our underthings. It’s the last fashion frontier.”
LF: What motivated you to open Jenette Bras in the first place?
JG: I had a horrifying moment in my mid-forties. Someone took a picture of me at my son’s graduation and my bosom was so ill-managed that I somehow looked slutty and matronly at the same time. My husband asked me, “How can it be that you are an ACTRESS in HOLLYWOOD*, boob capital of the WORLD and we can’t find you a bra that fits?” That started me on an odyssey of lingerie discovery. I was taking a break from signing autographs at an Alien’s reunion in England when I stumbled into the glorious world of European lingerie. E-cups, and F-cups, and G-cups, oh my!
*Jenette is also an actress who has had roles in some of our most epic films, including The Titanic, Alien, and Terminator.
LF: What are the primary differences you perceive between American and French women when it comes to lingerie?JG: American women have got the peculiar idea that a bra should stay totally invisible, while making your breasts look like nipple-less mannequin globes. This means we buy dull beige bras and regard them as having no relation to our panty choice. I intend to see this attitude consigned to the junk-heap of history before I die. European women generally, and French women especially, demand to be stylish in every layer of their outfit. I believe the Puritanical streak in American culture has inhibited us from taking full enjoyment of our underthings. It’s the last fashion frontier.
FL: If you could say anything to American women about lingerie, their bras, bodies, breasts, or anything in that bosomy arena, what would it be?
JG: What I’ve learned from the European lingerie industry and particularly French women, is that lingerie and bras in particular are neither a necessary evil, nor a frivolous luxury. Beautiful underwear is part of the dance of life. In the US we tend to divide lingerie on the virgin/ whore scale: it’s either totally unsexy or it’s trashy. Come to my shop and grow up, ladies!
July 17, 2015
