Nickel City Gritty: Lace & Day
So I have a confession to make.
I’ve always hated wearing bras. Sure, I’ve owned plenty of them, but none of my bras have ever fit me correctly, despite being sized a few times. Underwires have always just seemed so uncomfortable, so that’s why I currently just stick to bralettes and anything stretchy.
I have to say, at 36 years old, I finally found a bra that fits me properly, thanks to Emily Constantine Doren, co-owner of Lace & Day.
Emily and her sister Holly are the owners of this beautiful lingerie shop in Allentown. When you walk in, you don’t feel like you are in Buffalo. You are instantly transported to somewhere in New York or Toronto. Not only do they sell bras and underwear, they also specialize in sleepwear, loungewear, and swimwear. They are masters at bra fittings, and have changed so many women’s lives for the better. I have learned that proper fitting undergarments are the foundation for a beautiful outfit and an even better mood.
Please take the time to listen to Emily’s playlist while you read her interview.
When she sent me an email with her playlist songs, she wrote this, and I loved it so much that I wanted to include it in this post:
“These are the songs that make me crank up the speaker and dance around the kitchen with my kids, peddle harder on my bike, get the dancefloor at a wedding going, and groove out at the store. I also included two songs at the end that are really resonating with me during this time of uncertainty and social distancing.”
This is Nickel City Gritty, and this is Emily of Lace & Day.
Tell me why you opened up Lace & Day.
Years ago I had a two year stint working as a bra fitter in Denver. I was looking for a short term job after having wrapped up a couple of years working in the Antarctic. I initially stumbled into that store desperately looking for something to wear under my wedding dress, thinking I couldn’t wear a strapless dress because I hated strapless bras. Sure enough, in two seconds the bra fitter there had me in a strapless bra that fit me perfectly, and I chatted with them a couple of times and ended up taking a position. It was supposed to be three months and it turned into about two years, and then I went on my merry way. For the next seven years I worked in environmental consulting, but the whole time I would go back to bra fitting. I would be at a social gathering or a girl’s night and someone would eventually say, “Ugh I hate my bras, can you help me?” I would do a bra fitting in the bathroom and tell them, “Go to this store in this city.” But there weren’t any stores locally that carried the brands that I really preferred. My sister and I were both really looking to make a career change, and we really wanted to work together. We loved the concept of bra fitting as a mechanism to help women feel better about themselves. The number of women who walk around saying, “I hate my bras.” and that very quickly becomes, “I hate my boobs.” and that becomes, “I hate my body.” so we thought that if we could make this little pivotal switch on how you feel about your bras, then you stand up taller, throw your shoulders back and approach your day with more confidence. That has a sort of trickle effect on your whole life. In winter of 2015, we finally said that we were all in and we were doing this. We opened up then in the end of September 2015. I always tell people, on your hardest day, the day you have a meeting that you’re scared about or a job interview or it’s grey and you’re feeling down in the dumps, put on something gorgeous and fancy underneath. Only you know about it, and it will change the way you carry yourself.
If you could describe your personal style, how would you do it?
I think my style is definitely more classic and borderline preppy, but really with a focus on fit. I found as I’ve gotten older, I really tend not to go towards whatever is trendy, but really focus on what flatters my figure, and look for things that are going to have a longer life span. I find myself focusing on things that look nice and put together while still being very comfortable. I’m a business owner and a mom and I’m over wearing shoes that hurt my feet! I’m done.
If you could only eat three foods for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Oh, ummm…tacos, pizza, GOOD pizza, and…does my health come into play?
No!
Some sort of salted caramel chocolate covered situation.
When do you feel the most confident?
In the fitting room helping women feel better about themselves. I feel that there’s so many other aspects of life that I can easily question myself…it’s easy to question myself as a business owner, as a supervisor, as a boss, as a mother, and all of these other roles that I play, but when it comes to figuring out what bra is going to make a woman feel great and what’s going to work with her life, I feel very confident in doing that and I love the feedback that I get. When you put something on someone’s body and suddenly you see the corners of their mouth turn up and they see themselves in a way that they typically don’t. They suddenly say, “Wow, I look good in that!” and that just fuels my soul.
You probably change so many women’s lives!
One boob at a time!
Where do you go when you need to relax?
Exercise. I have found that working out is so key for my sanity and it has the ability, after a half hour or an hour of focusing on that one particular task, to really alter my mindset. I also love that it’s the only time of day that someone else tells me what to do *laughs* I love Lauren at Power Yoga Buffalo, she’s like my spirit animal. I actually also just got a Peloton and drank the Peloton kool aid. I love it.
What is on your playlist?
I’m a big podcast listener, actually. I live in East Aurora so I have about a 35 minute commute, and now I listen to a lot of podcasts. I try really hard to not to listen to the news, I find in general that the 24 hour news cycle is emotionally draining. I love Rachel Hollis…bring it all to me! I also love How I Built This, I think it’s such a cool concept to talk to people about their stories. I also really like this podcast called Good to be Home. I am not at all an organized person, but I aspire to be an organized person! *laughs* So far, the osmosis is not working, but I have faith. They are really cool. The concept that organization that alleviates stress because you know where to find things is genius. The rational part of my brain knows this, but I’m not organized at all. For music, at home, right not, we have a really cool blue grassy type of mix on. When I need to really chill out I find a jazz station. And sometimes I’ll throw Lizzo on and dance around the kitchen!
What is the best vacation you’ve ever been on?
So I LOVE to travel, it’s one of my passions, but that is a loaded question. I could say multiple “best" vacations that I’ve been on. So we’ll just say what is the most recent one. In honor of a friend’s 40th birthday, we went to Switzerland. We spent a week in the Swiss Alps skiing and sledging, which is down hill sledding on a course on what looks like a one person toboggan with no breaks and no steering. It would never exist in America and it was amazing! We made a list on the way home of how many ways we tried to kill ourselves in Switzerland *laughs* We had a blast and it was so beautiful. I’m really inspired and fueled by the outdoors and natural beauty.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Opening the store. I think it’s so easy in our world to dream big dreams but not act on them, there’s so many obstacles that get in the way and there’s so many naysayers, whether it’s in real life, but mostly it’s in our own heads. It’s all of the “what if’s” and the fact that Holly and I committed to it and buckled down and just did it, I am so incredibly proud of. We’ve created a place and a community that we really feel like we’ve contributed to people in a meaningful way. We’ve also created a workplace for a wonderful group of women. We have people who we help support their families through their jobs here, and I’m very very proud of that.
What are some of your favorite restaurants in Buffalo?
Ooohhh. So I love the farm to table movement, it just speaks to my soul in so many ways. I love The Grange, it’s my total favorite. My heart lives in Mexico, I love Mexico, so Casa Azul is amazing. We just recently went to Dapper Goose. My favorite “white tablecloth” refined place is Baccus. It’s fabulous! Baccus and Olivers are wonderful. Also, I’m so excited for Fresh Catch’s new location right by us. Their food is awesome and it’s so fresh and healthy.
The last question I always ask is, what do you want to be when you grow up?
So, I don’t feel like I am grown up and I don’t feel like I ever want to grow up. It feels very finite, ya know? It feels like an endpoint. I feel like I want to stay young and dynamic. If I could be someone who travels around the world and talk to people about it, that sounds dreamy to me.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have closed their doors to shoppers, but you are still able to shop online! Please visit this link to browse their selections and to place an order: SHOP