Shopping Spree

Fashion > Forward

by Felicia D'Ambrosio

Michael Persico (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Though most straight men will vehemently disagree, big breasts are out of fashion. They're always in the way, ruining the lines of sleek clothes and requiring serious strappage that precludes going without engineered undergarments, ever.

Finding a bikini that could contain the monsters without evoking Auntie Pearl in her bathing cap has occupied my last five springs, with poor results. Everything was too matronly (all D-cup-specific lines), too expensive (Betsy Johnson's bra-kinis) or better suited for Rio or Nantucket than the Jersey Shore (Victoria's Secret, J. Crew). I vented my retail frustration to the ladies of Topstitch Boutique one day and was thrilled when designer Emily Geddes offered to construct me a custom suit.

A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, Geddes designs and produces her line Emma Luv for sale at Topstitch, as well as teaching at Belmont Charter School and offering private, project-based sewing lessons. Splashy prints on tech-y fabrics are tempered by Geddes' natural eye for proportion, like her catsuits with a forgiving camisole top to balance skinny legs. Our project began with my favorite bra, which became the model for the bikini top. "It's really important to work from an existing garment ... otherwise it's like reinventing the wheel," says Geddes. "It has to work, and serve a specific function."

Over a series of fittings in her studio above Topstitch, Geddes fashioned a bathing suit that married form — a black-and-white ikat print with mint green accents — and complete function. It fulfilled my necessary requirements (bra-like straps, underwires), as well as a desire to collaborate artistically with the open-minded Geddes. "Part of the reason we can do is this," she says, "is because you know what you want."

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