merrimack valley magazine your bridal guide to community, culture and cuisine merrimack valley magazine your healthy guide to community, culture and cuisine january march march l l april 2014 february 2014 MVMag.net MVMag.net wbz’s danielle niles inside the umass lowell center for terrorism and security studies from the merrimack valley to music city essex county greenbelt vintage jewelry makes grammy-winning a comeback engineer adam ayan fasanella’s lawrence sled hockey players overcome disabilities how to wear nudes making your own wine Bridal Guide real wedding couples, bridal shoes, wedding cake alternatives, mistakes to avoid and more health& wellness healthy make-ahead meals, genetically modified organisms, alternative therapies, garden beds, palliative care and more merrimack valley magazine your holiday guide to community, culture and cuisine november l december 2013 MVMag.net holiday arts & gift guides local restaurateurs share traditional family recipes alaskan explorer c.b. bernard women’s ice hockey model ship building gourmet olive oils & vinegars merrimack valley magazine your fall guide to community, culture and cuisine september l october 2013 MVMag.net general advertising rates & information fall 2014 - 2015 fashion new england ghost project faces from the farm fall meal planners caring for aging parents microbrewery tour vocalist sandi bedrosian special section: health & wellness merrimack valley magazine merrimack valley magazine cast your vote! mvma reader’s choice awards ballot inside. your holiday guide to community, culture and cuisine your foxy guide to community, culture & cuisine november march march l april 2013 l december 2012 MVMag.net foxes MVMag.net of salisbury beach corporate support for the local arts hidden haunts 2: more scott grimes unexpected great tastes ER, Party of Five, Band noninvasive of Brothers, Robin Hood, cosmetic procedures American Dad... organ donation in the mv is there anything this Dracut native can’t do? holistic moms network local restaurateurs share traditional family appetizers model train maker steve lamb clothes for hope what women really want special section: holiday gift guide, decorating MVMag.net health & tips, wine pairings and more wellness merrimack valley magazine is your EXCLUSIVE guide to community, culture and cuisine in the greater Merrimack Valley region. In each issue, we bring you the stories behind the headlines - biographies of the famous and not-so-famous; history of the region; community and business organizations; artists, musicians, educators, business people and life throughout our region. We showcase nearby destinations and day-trips, the latest trends in fashion, the hottest places to shop, the best places to eat and the chefs that create the finest in local cuisine. mvm is your one-stop-shop for expert advice on home design, landscaping and backyard living. We know what Valley people are doing for fun, and uncover the hidden gems of this region steeped in history yet on the cutting edge of new technologies and ideas. merrimack valley home is our newest publication, produced twice a year in April and October. Focusing exclusively on home-related topics, it’s a great reference for your home with tips and info on home design, decor, entertaining essentials and real estate market trends - just to name a few. Our website, MVMag.net, contains exclusive content not found in the print editions, extensive restaurant listings, expanded calendars, terrific stories from the archives and much, much more! a little bit about us... style file Have you heard of the Double Divas? If you haven’t, you will soon. It’s a show on Lifetime that features The Divas proclaim that enough is enough. “It is our civic duty the sassy owners of LiviRae Lingerie, a shop in Kennesaw, Ga., a to fix their boobies,” Hopkins wrote via email. If you come to their suburb of Atlanta, that offers custom bra designs and fittings. store hoping to look sexy, or to reduce back pain, or to get the girls up The show is surprisingly heartwarming for such a sensational higher so you look younger, they’ll help you. They want you to feel topic. Shop owners Molly Hopkins and Cynthia Decker are full of like the best possible you. No secrets. Just a good bra with a good fit. Southern charm and wit, and the love they have for their customers is The show makes you think about the garment you have on now, obvious. They focus on extreme cases: One episode features someone and the batch of bras collecting lint in your underwear drawer. But in the process of changing genders; another on a bodybuilder with we can’t all fly to Georgia to get woman-handled by the Divas, so muscles so big they’d make your trainer jealous. In another show, what are Merrimack Valley ladies to do? Turns out we have options. a visit to a homeless shelter transforms Laura Hardiman, the owner of a roomful of women there, as the duo The Ivory Corset in Andover, followed jokes and pokes and educates. Hopkins’ advice for lingerie shops The history of lingerie is filled with without ever hearing it: Pursue your wires and laces, snaps and gizmos. Women passion. The money will come through have been bound in linen and crushed by blood, sweat and tears. devices made from whale bone and steel, Hardiman is a certified professional all for the sake of modesty or fashion. bra fitter (bra fitter certification is The past 100 years are a story available through a few organizations of change. Early in the 20th century, and requires trainees to complete up New York socialite Mary Phelps Jacob to 100 fittings with the guidance of a invented the first modern brassier while mentor, among other things), trained preparing for a debutante ball. She was to help women with issues related to fed up with a tight corset cover that mastectomies, nursing, augmentations, shielded her décolletage but created the uneven breasts, plus sizes, and much dreaded “monoboob,” so she fashioned more. She says, “Women come in a substitute from two silk handkerchiefs unconsciously thinking, ‘Help me feel and a few pink ribbons. Her design was better, help me look good.’ ” They enter light, comfortable, and separated the the dressing room feeling vulnerable breasts. The female silhouette morphed and self-conscious, but Hardiman from the Gibson Girl’sthe pigeon-breasted multi-talented quickly changes that. “I like Molly,” curves into the straight lines of flappers. Hardiman says. “She reminds me of A few decades later, sweater girls me, because I use humor to make Opposite page: Kelly in a Simone Perele corset ($174) from the The Ivory were hot, and women sported dual “snow Corset. This page: A Simone Perele Caressence bra ($89), from the The people feel comfortable.” cones.” In the 1960s, we threatened to Ivory Corset, hiding under a man’s dress shirt. Hardiman says customers are long live abandon the contraptions, but gravity increasingly aware of bra-fitting issues. and propriety demanded otherwise. Then came push-up bras, The mirror tells them they are doing something wrong, but they don’t shapewear, and visible straps. Today we are inundated with images know how to fix it. Women can spend hours bumbling through acres the ladies of of photographically and surgically-altered women — and forced of lace in department stores hoping to find a comfy, beautiful bra, yet to compare our own scottshapes to their impossible curves. We buygrimes still go home with something that doesn’t really work. underclothes with hopesgrimes of being transformed returns into Hollywood’s to the merrimackSpecialty shops such asvalley The Ivory Corset typically have a smaller version of angels, and wonder what secret Victoria is actually hiding. selection, but when you leave, you are as thrilled as the customers lingerie Which brings me backin tosupport the Divas. During of an email local exchange, arts at LiviRae.and Hardiman’s community advice: “Be open-minded and try something I asked Hopkins what impact she’d like to have on the industry. She new. A style other than a molded-cup T-shirt bra may feel better and replied: “My hope is that women will stand up and embrace their look great.” You’ll also leave with information. “When you know your by Suzanne DeWitt curves, and who they are insideAll wasand darkout because behind it’sthe not stage a secret. at the Only Lowell Memorialtrue size andAuditorium the types on of August things 25th.you need to look for in a bra, you photos by Meghan Moore one in 100,000 women Itidentify was the with ideal the setting models for ofsnapping mega-marketing photos of locally-borncan find celebrity,options at Scott a price Grimes, that worksbefore for you,” she says. in the mainstream. In ourhe tookeyes, thewe stageare all with angels.” his guitar, alongside fellow musicianTop BobDrawer Guiney, in Exeter, in support N.H., of thea local lingerie chain, also has Dracut Performing Arts’ 2012 fundraiser. Grimes, a Merrimack Valley native and former 20 september l october 20 13 merrimack valley magazine merrimackmerrimack valleyvalley magazinemagazineDracut resident, graciously took time out of his busy schedule as an actor, musician septemberand l october 20 13 21 voiceover artist to help their cause. During the photo shoot, the house lights alerted the audience that the show was about to begin. The crowd applauded as Grimes was announced on the evening’s agenda. And when Grimes poked his head out from backstage to give the audience a playful wave, the applause swelled to a roar. “Still a kid at heart,” the announcer quipped. Being a kid is exactly what Grimes thinks about when he is back home in the Merrimack Valley. Scott Richard Grimes was born in Lowell on July 9, 1971 to Pamela and Richard by Beth Daigle Grimes.