By Alex Christodoulides
“We sell everything you need, besides the gown,” said Rosemarie Iacovone, who is co-owner of the shop with her sister Lucia Zaccaria. The sisters opened Roxanne, which is named for Iacovone's parents, Rocky and Anne, in 1983. “I figured I'd take a chance and do this,” and lingerie led naturally into bridal items, she said.”When we first opened, we were going to sell basic bras and lingerie. Then we got a few white peignoir sets, and it went from there,” Iacovone said. “It's not something you see much in department stores. We keep everything under tulle so it doesn't get dirty, and take it out when we're asked.”The bridal corner at the back of the shop floats in a cloud of tulle. Framed family wedding photos, some of which date back to the 1920s, hang on the walls above the rack of peignoirs.Bridal underpinnings can be very costly if the bride's taste leans toward the champagne end of the financial spectrum, but Iacovone says that does not need to be the case. “We don't take advantage of anyone,” she said. Roxanne carries merchandise in all price ranges, even items that are wedding-related but are not lingerie.”There really isn't any store that has as much bridal stuff as we do. We have peignoir sets, foundations, slippers, garment bags, money bags, guest books, garters, toasting glasses, stockings,” she said.Iacovone takes a personal approach to quality control.”Everything we sell we try on to see if it fits, if it's a good item. We can fit anyone, from a [bra] size 32 to size 48. We try to encompass everybody and we try to have something for everybody,” she said.Valentine's Day was a big sales day for the store, featuring, among other things, packages of heart-adorned boxer shorts that Iacovone ironed for display.”We can't do Valentine's Day and [bridal] at the same time” because both take plenty of space, she said, so the store shifts into hearts and lace mode for a few weeks in February and then turns its attention back to brides.”There's no real [wedding] season anymore,” Iacovone said. Though June is the month lingerie purveyors target, brides get married all through the year. “Even after June, we comb the manufacturers to find items.”And what works for brides also goes for any other big event in a woman's life.”We do a big prom and Sweet 16 business,” Iacovone said. For strapless and backless dresses, her store has bras that will work, including self-adhesive styles.They also carry maternity bras and panties, mastectomy bras and prostheses, she said.Their biggest sellers is a German line of bras called Anita, Iacovone said. “They're the best. They fit everybody,” she said. “They're a little more expensive but they last.”The right bra will flatter the wearer, she said. “We can make you look smaller; we can make you look bigger.”Roxanne Lingerie is located at 105-11 Metropolitan Ave. at 72nd Avenue in Forest Hills. Hours are 10 a.m. to-6 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 718-263-2526.
