It’s Friday and I’m bagged. Week 8: Lee Lee’s Valise

Author: Jacqueline

Grab a coffee or tea and join us each Friday, to learn how these Soak worthy bags came to be. Are you bagged? Send us your favorite bag. If we feature it here, we’ll send you a Soak gift pack, in a pretty bag, of course!

We did it. We ventured out of New York City to Brooklyn to visit Lisa, founder of Lee Lee’s Valise. Located in beautiful Carroll Gardens, Lee Lee’s is the perfect shopping experience catering to women sizes 10-28. Lisa not only stocks a nice selection of lingerie (and Soak), but also designs exceptionally stylish and well fitting dresses. We spent hours drinking coffee and trying on dresses. Brianna, LuLu, Shantung Shift, they were as lovely as their names.

I settled on a mid-length black wrap dress, knowing my 35th birthday was coming the next week and I had special plans. Every woman needs a little black dress, especially one so comfortable that can go from day to evening in a flash.

Lisa showed us her secret mini-soak stash under the front counter; she gives a treat to every customer! We also met Opera singer Claudia Waite who was in shopping for a dress for an upcoming event. How cool is that?

Lisa wrapped up my lovely new dress in a chocolate brown Lee Lee’s Valise bag (toile and all!). I like nothing more than buying myself a gift, having it wrapped to perfection and taking it home. Sure, I knot what is inside before I open it, yet the excitement of opening a present is always there. I kept the bag and not surprisingly, the toile.

We visited the local bakery for treats, strolled over the highway to Brooklyn General (a lovely yarn/ quilt/ craft shop) and worked our way to Park Slope for dinner with friends. We rounded out the evening with Lisa and her husband at their favorite local wine bar. What a great way to finish a day and get us excited for the Curve Lingerie show that followed. We spent a great day in Brooklyn and look forward to many more.

It is worth noting that Lisa, in addition to maintaining her exceptional store, sells her dresses online, and has had her shop featured on TLC’s “What not to Wear”. She was featured in InStyle magazine in 2009 under Best of the Web. Go Lisa!