People collect a lot of different things in this world. I have known several people to collect vintage lingerie to wear now almost as daywear. So, when I stepped into The Show Place, and gallery that holds several independent dealers, and came across Illisa’s Vintage Lingerie boutique I was blown away. I had never seen such a large supply of lingerie in one place and with such variety of styles. ---MSB

Starting at the flea…
I started my business 22 years ago. I was a collector. I just turned my hobby into a business. I used to be a make-up artist and I used to go out marketing and shopping and people used to ask me, "Where did you get that?” You know because my clothes were different than other peoples. Then I started to do the flea market 22 years ago.

Wearing things inside out…
Lingerie as outerwear?  I think it's fabulous. I think you get a better buy for your money because the lingerie they show now it's just crap! I mean the way it's made. A lot of my pieces are made by hand, and you can’t get handmade pieces anymore.  There is just one store left that sells them and they are very expensive.

Oh I just think [lingerie] is the most glamorous, girliest, makes-you-feel-good thing that you could put on your back! When you put it on, it just makes you feel pretty. No matter if you are 90 pounds or you are 500 pounds, you just feel pretty, like a girl.

Oh, one of the most famous designers is Cadollé. I mean God if I find! I mean I don’t have anything now, but I have had in the past. Cadollé is still in existence now, but it's not the same. A lot of the famous designers back then made lingerie and had their own lingerie lines.

Mixing things up…
Myself?  My whole apartment is antiques. And I have a collection of vintage motorcycle jackets. I also collect vintage clothes. I wear them with my lingerie. I like any clothing from turn of the century up to the '40s. I don’t really like the '50s, '60s or '70s because I grew up then and I wore those things, and to me '80s and '90s is not “vintage."

3 Big hits…
I have had three big hits in my life. Once, I was going up to where I go shopping and somebody called me. They got into a house, another dealer, because I usually buy from dealers. And this lady was a clotheshorse and I bought 300 pieces of slips that were never worn. It took me three hours to go through it all and then when other people started coming to the show, because I got there early, they started to pick it up and I just threw my body on it and I said, "I am buying it all!" And I did. I bought it all. The woman who owned these, oh my God, she was a compulsive buyer! Who has 300 pieces of lingerie that they never wore? With tags on it! No, no, it was fabulous and I mean what came out of that estate the woman told me was unbelievable and she called me specifically because she knew I buy lingerie.

Another time I got a call, and this was through somebody I paid a commission to, and I got about 100 pieces of silk chiffon lingerie that put me on the map really. It was all Italian handmade up in somebody's attic. They had brought it over and I bought it. It was pretty amazing.

Caring for lingerie…
Well, you don’t wash them in the washing machine, that’s for sure.  I wash everything by hand and certain black things, or I dry clean them. There are times that I buy something and I will pay a lot of money for it and watch it dissolve in the sink as I am washing it myself, but usually if it holds up to my washing it, ironing it, tagging it, bringing it into the store, the threads are pretty strong because they are pure. Pure threads; there is no synthetic in it.

I like All. All concentrate, three tier concentrate, and some things I use Oxy Clean on, but because I usually buy things in really good condition. But even if it's never been worn, I still wash it because they have what they call "sizing" in it and you just got to get that sizing out.  It's not a dye.  It's something they put in the fabrics to keep it fresh or stiff like a starch kind of thing.

Dressing the stars…
I do that all.  Even though it's not a period piece, they just bought a robe for Angelina Jolie for Salt. I just did Blithe Spirit, I just did Gypsy. Anything cabaret kept me in business for I can’t tell you how long. Anytime they need underwear they usually come in. The Story of Bettie Page comes to mind. The Aviator or. I work with big time people like Sandy Powell.

Inspirational people…
I can tell you my mentor in this business was a man named Paul Kucera and he was the biggest and the best in the vintage business. I met him at a flea market on 76th Street.  He used to do the flea market. We established a really nice relationship and he became my best friend. He passed away in 1986. So, that was my inspiration and who inspires me.

Who inspired me in fashion was my mother. She was a graduate of Pratt and she taught me how to sew and knit. I made my own clothes since I was eight years old. So, my mother was my biggest inspiration in the fashion business.

Since I was eight years old, I knew I wanted to be in the fashion business. I grew up in the Highland Park, and I wanted to come to New York and have my own apartment and be in the fashion business and have every designer know my name; that was my dream and I kind of got it. Yeah, I got my dream because every designer does know my name and I live here in New York and now I have my own store, which I am just like over the moon about. I am just going to keep on always finding fabulous things.

***We hope you have enjoyed reading about Illisa and her wonderful store. Illisa"s Vintage Lingerie is located inside The Show Place gallery #206, 40 West 25th Street, New York, NY. 10010.