Career Journey
Where Lingerie Takes Center Stage
January 2025
January 2025
Store Entry
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray
By Carol Lippert Gray
Illisa (who, like Cher and Beyoncé, only goes by one name) is camera-shy and doesn’t want her photo in print; yet millions of people have seen her underwear. In magazines, on television, on Broadway, and in the movies, oops, there it is. And she has a vast inventory of it displayed for all to see (and buy) in her gallery at the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center in New York City.
Over a span of 35 years, she has built an international business selling vintage lingerie and accessories. But these aren’t your granny’s panties. Rather, it’s the stuff of 1930s to ’50s glamour and luxe, what you’d see Carole Lombard or Bette Davis swanning around a penthouse in.
Illisa (who, like Cher and Beyoncé, only goes by one name) is camera-shy and doesn’t want her photo in print; yet millions of people have seen her underwear. In magazines, on television, on Broadway, and in the movies, oops, there it is. And she has a vast inventory of it displayed for all to see (and buy) in her gallery at the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center in New York City.
Over a span of 35 years, she has built an international business selling vintage lingerie and accessories. But these aren’t your granny’s panties. Rather, it’s the stuff of 1930s to ’50s glamour and luxe, what you’d see Carole Lombard or Bette Davis swanning around a penthouse in.
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She sources the garments herself, and washes and irons every piece. In addition to selling items in their original state, she has a line of antique negligees hand-painted so they can be worn as dresses. And, she says, brides looking for unique wedding dresses find her.
Carol Lippert Gray, Sanctuary’s associate editor, recently spent some time with Illisa in her gallery. How did you start out in this business? My mother was a fashion designer. From the time I was young, I was making my own clothes. I learned to sew at eight years old. I grew up on Long Island, [New York], and I always said when I was older, I wanted to live in Manhattan, be in the fashion business, and have every designer know my name. I did not know how I was going to do that. My other bucket list item was that when I was older, I wanted to take my mother shopping in Paris. When she turned 70 and I was 50, I had a really good run with Victoria’s Secret, and I took her to London and Paris. What was Victoria’s Secret doing with vintage lingerie? They were given a million dollars to go around the world and find vintage lingerie and copy the designs and silhouettes. Then they sold what they bought. They found me kind of at the end. |
Storefront Window
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray |
How did you find your niche?
I love to shop. One day I was down in [Greenwich] Village with a friend, where there used to be some great vintage stores. I walked into one store and saw this 1930s silk charmeuse nightgown. I put it on, and nothing ever made me feel like that nightgown, which I still have at home. I felt glamorous and girly and pretty and feminine and everything you’re supposed to feel as a woman. I was hooked. It was my hobby that I turned into a business.
I love to shop. One day I was down in [Greenwich] Village with a friend, where there used to be some great vintage stores. I walked into one store and saw this 1930s silk charmeuse nightgown. I put it on, and nothing ever made me feel like that nightgown, which I still have at home. I felt glamorous and girly and pretty and feminine and everything you’re supposed to feel as a woman. I was hooked. It was my hobby that I turned into a business.
I got married very young in life. I have two boys and four grandkids. I worked in restaurants and worked as a makeup artist for a while. That’s where I started wearing vintage clothes, because I didn’t want to look like everybody else.
I had a booth at the flea market on 26th Street, and I was then on the [vintage clothing] show circuit doing six shows a year. Now I haven’t done a show in 20 years.
I had a booth at the flea market on 26th Street, and I was then on the [vintage clothing] show circuit doing six shows a year. Now I haven’t done a show in 20 years.
Large Corset (found in the Midwest) ~ Embroidered to Use as a Shop Sign at Flea Market Sales
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray
I always tell my kids if you can find something you love to do and get paid for it, and then find somebody to share it with, whether it’s man, woman or beast, then life is complete. I’m a happy girl. I love my job. I’m here four days a week after being in Chelsea 35 years, and I love it. I’ve been in this shop four and a half years.
Vintage Lingerie
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray |
Shop Display
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray |
It actually looks like a boudoir.
That’s exactly what it looks like — a French boudoir. I designed and built the store with a friend of mine who’s an architect. If you notice, no other gallery looks like mine.
Where do you find your inventory?
I buy in the U.S. I’m not saying any more than that. I used to go to Europe, but it wasn’t cost-effective. In England during [World War II], they weren’t allowed to make garments out of silk because it was used for parachutes. In France, hygiene was different, and they used this heavy perfume that ate through the fabric. There isn’t much left.
That’s exactly what it looks like — a French boudoir. I designed and built the store with a friend of mine who’s an architect. If you notice, no other gallery looks like mine.
Where do you find your inventory?
I buy in the U.S. I’m not saying any more than that. I used to go to Europe, but it wasn’t cost-effective. In England during [World War II], they weren’t allowed to make garments out of silk because it was used for parachutes. In France, hygiene was different, and they used this heavy perfume that ate through the fabric. There isn’t much left.
Feathered French Pajama Bag/Pillow
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray
Why buy vintage?
The way it’s made. The way it fits. It’s all bias cut, so it fits the body. Bias cut means you need twice as much fabric, and even the luxe companies today are cutting back. And who wants to wear big, oversized clothes? All women want, whether you’re this big [she holds hands close together] or this big [hands wider apart] is to feel pretty.
Illisa walks to the front of the shop to take down an exquisite Liberty of London shawl dating to early in the last century that hangs from the ceiling.
Put that on with a little black dress, and it’s like wearing a piece of jewelry. They don’t make fabric like this anymore. All these things, the fabrics are pure. That’s why they’ve lasted. They don’t have nylon, they don’t have polyester, and they last.
The way it’s made. The way it fits. It’s all bias cut, so it fits the body. Bias cut means you need twice as much fabric, and even the luxe companies today are cutting back. And who wants to wear big, oversized clothes? All women want, whether you’re this big [she holds hands close together] or this big [hands wider apart] is to feel pretty.
Illisa walks to the front of the shop to take down an exquisite Liberty of London shawl dating to early in the last century that hangs from the ceiling.
Put that on with a little black dress, and it’s like wearing a piece of jewelry. They don’t make fabric like this anymore. All these things, the fabrics are pure. That’s why they’ve lasted. They don’t have nylon, they don’t have polyester, and they last.
But for you, it’s more than just the clothes themselves.
The people I get to work with are so much fun. Working with a designer and doing a color board. I worked with every major designer you could think of.
The people I get to work with are so much fun. Working with a designer and doing a color board. I worked with every major designer you could think of.
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I’m in the shop four days a week, or I’ll come in if someone makes an appointment. I’m on Google and my assistant is on Instagram. I don’t own a computer; I don’t buy or sell that way. Illisa’s Vintage Lingerie Instagram account has 17.7 K people following [the brand]. I’m it. I specialize in it.
I never know who’s gonna walk in that door. I get young girls and older women. A client used to come into my other store with her maid, and her maid used to wash [the clothes]. It’s a lot of fun. What’s your favorite piece? My favorite piece in this store is a French stocking hanger from the 1920s. I paid a small fortune for her, and I love her. She goes to her back room and brings out a beautiful, pristine box. This is a trousseau. Never used. When I say the word trousseau, people look at me like what is that. It’s from the 1920s. She [the bride] probably put it away and never got married. That’s completely made by hand: lingerie bag, makeup bag, sewing bag, probably stockings, and then a hankie bag. They don’t do things like that today. There are still people that know how, but how do you pay them by the hour? |
French Stocking Hanger (c. 1920s)
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray |
Vintage Trousseau
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray |
Vintage Trousseau
Photo Credit: Carol Lippert Gray |
Where might people have seen your lingerie?
On Boardwalk Empire on television. The End of the Affair was my first movie. I was working at the flea market and the Pier Show, and since then I’ve done 14 movies with the costume designer. I’ve done Broadway. Whenever they need underwear, they give me a call. Sometimes you don’t see the underwear, because if it’s a period piece, they need the right underwear. I did both Cabarets with Alan Cummings. Sometimes magazines will use a piece in editorial. I’ve been in every major magazine.
I’m like New York’s best kept secret, but the secret is out because of social media.
On Boardwalk Empire on television. The End of the Affair was my first movie. I was working at the flea market and the Pier Show, and since then I’ve done 14 movies with the costume designer. I’ve done Broadway. Whenever they need underwear, they give me a call. Sometimes you don’t see the underwear, because if it’s a period piece, they need the right underwear. I did both Cabarets with Alan Cummings. Sometimes magazines will use a piece in editorial. I’ve been in every major magazine.
I’m like New York’s best kept secret, but the secret is out because of social media.
Where do you find sanctuary?
The beach. I was born in the summer and go to the beach on Friday. In the winter, I shop. I have a son in Florida; I go down there. Once or twice a year, we try to get my sons and grandkids all together.
The beach. I was born in the summer and go to the beach on Friday. In the winter, I shop. I have a son in Florida; I go down there. Once or twice a year, we try to get my sons and grandkids all together.
Follow Illisa's Vintage Lingerie on:
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Carol Lippert Gray is an award-winning public relations professional and longtime freelance writer and editor. Her career has spanned books, newspapers, magazines, broadcast, and online media in fields as diverse as crafts and corporate finance, parenting and philanthropy. She is Sanctuary's associate editor.
