Victoria’s Secret spares Valentine blushes

Consultation room helps men through trial of buying lingerie
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It is the dreaded annual shopping ordeal most likely to reduce the average man to a quivering wreck.

But this Valentine’s Day the Mayfair bra and knicker store Victoria’s Secret claims it has found a “painless” solution to the lingerie-buying trial.

It has turned the top floor of its flagship Bond Street store into a discreet consultation area far away from the humiliations and furtive lurking of the public areas below.

Men are invited to talk over the lingerie preferences of their wife or girlfriend with a personal shopper in its “Angel Suite”.

Consultations take about 90 minutes but can last as long as four hours with no minimum spend.

The most expensive item in the store — a jewel encrusted bra costing £1.6 million — has been sold but it is not unusual for men to emerge with thousands of pounds worth of bras, knickers, nightwear and perfumes.

A complimentary bottle of champagne is included and food can be ordered from the Hush brasserie nearby. The Angel Suite is not just for men and most users, who include the singer Katherine Jenkins, are women. Wedding parties are frequent customers with bride and bridesmaids coming in for a mass consultation.

According to executive vice president Monica Mitro: “Angel Suite Consultants are trained to put men at ease and to provide options for the perfect gifts. They know exactly what questions to ask and are experts in fit and style.”

The Evening Standard was invited to road test the service ahead of the fourth biggest retail event of the year after Christmas, Easter and Halloween.

I was ushered into a room lined with fake bookshelves that could have been part of a five-star hotel’s penthouse with comfy sofas and “antique” wooden chests of drawers.

The drawers are full of bras — in sizes from 32C to 38DD — and the walls decorated by large prints of Victoria’s Secret models, wearing very little.

The consultation with my “personal shopper” — Victoria’s Secret do not want her named following an acid attack on a member of staff — took place in one of five cubicles lined with pink crushed velvet flock wallpaper.

For once I had come armed with the right sizes and my shopper navigated me confidently through the dangerous shoals of lingerie decision-making. The embarrassment factor was hugely reduced if not eliminated altogether.

If a customer is feeling brave the personal shopper will walk with him onto the floor to look at more options. But most, like me, decide it is much safer to hide in the cubicle.

At the end of the consultation a cab delivers the purchases to work or home to spare the buyer the awkward walk laden with bags of ladies’ underwear.

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