Iris

I think this place closed down already. It’s a different store now.

I’d much rather hold out for cheaper and better fitting underwear in the mall than make another unproductive venture out to Iris. While they do carry some cute underwear and bra sets, they often have limited sizes for each selection, and what they do have out on display is pricey. Fourteen dollars for one pair of simple basic underwear — when you can get 3 or 4 for probably the same amount downtown — just doesn’t seem worth it to me. Especially when the service isn’t all that helpful. I have to say that I may be an official Victoria Secret convert. Their prices are right, the selection is right, and their customer service is on point.
Trust.

Two stars are for their cute items BUT service was horrible by the owner herself. She never made eye contact or even offered to help once. Ended up buying one thing out of desperation for a last minute gift but will never go back to this store.

Love, love this place! I will be eating Raman noodles for the next month, but so worth it. An adorable raspberry set, sexy demi black & white print bra and gorgeous underthings make a girl happy. So happy. ;)

I needed a backless bra for a couple of outfits and had no intention of hiking all the way downtown. They quickly offered me 2 options, gave me some instructions. They have Hanky Panky underwear for a little less than you find elsewhere — Yay! I may never have to go downtown for undie shopping again!

This place is fantastic.
I refuse to leave the house without matching bra and panties, and I spend more money on lingerie than I do on clothes or shoes. I live for lace and thigh-​highs, lust over corsets. And every night that I go home alone, I get to undress and think «damn, somebody missed out tonight.»
Iris has the best prices in the city, better than any of the department stores, not to mention other boutiques. Their Cosabella and Elle Macpherson pieces are actually priced lower than suggested retail.
The owner, Janelle, is super sweet and helpful. As are the other girls who work there. The shop is super cute, lots of purple and lace.
As much as I love the selection at Alla Prima (where I can spend hours lusting over Aubade and Eres), the service there is terrible. I spent nearly 3 years working in Lingerie Sales, and know from experience the sensitivity it requires to fit a bra and make a woman feel attractive wearing it. The last thing I want when I’m going to spend $ 200 on a bra is someone looking down their nose at me. The staff at Iris are exceptionally kind and their selection is less intimidating (see: smaller and less freakishly expensive).
This is a great place for women who don’t know a lot about lingerie and want to start someplace friendly and affordable, or for those women who do know a lot about lingerie and want to avoid the snooty attitude and obnoxious prices at other boutiques.
Oh, and I swear by the Cosabella Soire Molded Bra. I own three of them in black — simple, comfortable, but incredibly sexy. The little black dress of bras.

Iris is the lacy, floral, pastel girly-​patterned counterpoint to Dollhouse Bettie’s edgier pinup take on lingerie. It’s nice to have both within a couple blocks of each other.
As for Iris specifically, the items all do justice to the term «delicates.» The lovely stacks of underpants look both irresistible and (suspiciously) comfortable. The bras are equally enticing, though I didn’t look at those much (very few places have any in my small-​framed yet «blessed» size, Iris included). I did make one purchase: a lacy yet über-​soft thong. It somehow lives up to its «one size fits all» claim, which impresses me in itself.
Regarding the multiple claims of poor customer service, my experience was exactly the opposite. The woman working was very helpful, knew a lot about the merchandise, and managed to pay attention to me and to another person shopping — even though we were actively asking her questions at the same time. All this just before close on a Sunday night.

I love the lingerie here. I love their logo. I actually love the look of this place. Small and simple.
However, I’m not a fan of their service. They preen to each other, instead of having friendly service. Maybe they hire these girls for their looks, instead of their ability to sell items… Not a good business decision in the long run.
Prices run from expensive to moderate. I have yet to find anything cheap… and if it is on their sale rack, it’s just way too small for any ‘normal’ sized person.

Bright (but spare) lingerie shop on Haight. Cosabella is sold here. Some of their prices are good.
However, about the staff: 17 — 20 year-​old-​girls who cared more about preening and talking to each other than about serving customers. A woman came in and asked for «something special» for her boyfriend’s birthday: could they recommend anything? The girl she asked wasn’t just stumped; she looked embarrassed.
Talk about being in the wrong line of work.
While at cashwrap, I had to remind the other girl not to put the wrong size item in the bag. They’re not clueless: they just don’t care.
A word to both workers at Iris: you have take at least one hand OFF YOUR HAIR to operate the register. Not that you’re likely to get huge traffic, with an attitude like that.

Absolutely love this place. Not only is the staff knowledgeable they have a great selection of panties
coot

A friend gave me a couple of cute pairs of panties from here for my bachelorette/​bridal shower, and unfortunately I’m not a size S, so I had to go back and try to exchange them for something I could fit into.
The salesperson was pleasant enough, not overly friendly. They would not give me merchandise credit for one pair because they were a sale item (WHAT?), so I guess I’ll wait and see if my ass gets smaller anytime soon. So I had $ 18 to work with ($ 18 for a pair of tiny thong panties — Thorny Rose, Blush, size S — expensive for me!). She offered to help me find my size in the same pair of panties, but I told her I wanted to browse around.
I looked all through their little shop, browsing all 4 walls of racks and shelves, through all their bras, panties, nighties, etc. They have all their merchandise hung on racks or folded neatly on shelves, and their backstock is in drawers below, so it’s nicely organized, bonus points for that. I probably spent 20 minutes total there. Most bras were $ 48+, and most panties were $ 28+, and some waaaaay expensive.
I tried on a couple of pairs of ruffly panties which looked super cute on the hangers but NOT on me. They let you try on non-​thong panties over your own panties, which is much appreciated. Finally I noticed the sale section right in the center of the shop on the low table, 3 pairs of panties for $ 18, perfect! So I grabbed 3 pairs of fun printed cotton thongs, thanked the salesperson for her patience, and was on my way.
I doubt I’ll be back since expensive underwear is not really my thing. I’d rather go to Ross and get cute thongs for $ 3 a pair, and bras for $ 10 – 12.

Friendly helpful staff (ahem, eve).
Great selection of lingerie at prices slightly above the Gap but well worth it.
Totally recommend the Elle Macpherson line.

Very cute, reasonably affordable. Customer service, not my fav.
As a petite lady with 32 A’s or on a really bad day, AA’s, selecting lingerie is a bit of delicate process. Being the somewhat mature grown up that I am, I have ceased to care about the intricacies of trying to find the teeniest bras and when some sales woman at Victoria’s starts tittering (hee hee pun intended), it just makes me glad that I am not stuck hawking cheap lingerie at the mall.
The ladies at this shop were pretty rude, doing more eye-​sweeping than a 7^th grader and giggling when asking for my ‘photo ID,’ instead of my ‘driver’s license’. Call me overly-​sensitive, but I felt like a 12 year-​old buying a training bra at Walmart. I don’t care if I look like an teenager, if you want a good chunk of my money, you should be nice to me. Not sure if I feel comfortable coming back here, as I care to avoid feeling like a middle schooler again, but they do have some very nice, sexy goods.

I haven’t bought this sort of thing in quite some time… and I was amazed to get out of there with a full ensemble, tittie to toe, for $ 84. Wide selection, cute & conservative-​ish (not the sort of thing you might pair with a crop :)
the salesgirl was a little quiet but helpful when asked for additional sizes. I was looking pretty shabby and in a super-​rush, so I don’t totally blame her for thinking I might just be «browsing.» working on haight is hard… but still… one star off for not having fun with it.
ps…I like that they carry a local designer as well!

For the last day of 2007 I went and visited Haight-​Ashbury for the first time since I moved to the bay area. :) I know, better late than never! Will have to go lots more times in 2008 for sure!
This store is so cute. Prices seemed ok as well. My girlfriend found an adorable panty and bra set which she treated herself to for the new year. I definitely will go back when I am ready to update my under clothing collection.

Beautiful things in a full price range from biatta panties (very reasonable) to Aubade bra & panty sets (more of an investment).
It’s true, it appears that they don’t have your size – but they keep only one of each bra out and about, and you have to ask for the size you need as they’re stocked away to save space. This also ensures awesome customer service.
Personally, when I drop larger amounts on lingerie I prefer to have the full service of someone hunting down the sizes for me, and tossing them into my dressing room, but I can understand how it might be confusing to a newcomer. It’s a very european style – crunched for square footage, this is how things have to work.
That said, I picked up an adorable but sophisticated Betsey Johnson set and my date’s jaw is going to drop (again).

This place is getting three stars instead of two, simply because they had some really cute CosaBella bathing suits that I hadn’t seen anywhere else.
I’ll preface this review by saying that I’ve only been here once, and it was a few months ago. Onward:
When I went in here I thought it was rather poorly laid-​out and felt a little empty. I looked through virtually ALL of the bras in their store, and they didn’t have a single thing in my size. I’m a 32D and I know a lot of the lines they carry MAKE stuff in my size. It was really disappointing.
They do carry cute panties by Honeydew, among other brands… but they also carry the same stuff at Candy Kitchen, which is walking distance from my house… so that’s no reason to ever come back to this place.
I also noticed that the girl behind the counter was totally apathetic to anything going on in the shop. I might have asked her if they had something in my size in the back if she hadn’t looked so unfriendly. I mean, I was the only one in the store, and I don’t begrudge employees at all for getting bored or whatever – I’ve been there myself – but don’t take it out on the customers you DO get, you know?
After I left Iris I went into Dollhouse Bettie down the street and it was a much better experience all around.

One word: dishonest. IF YOU ARE A GUY AND WANT TO BUY SOMETHING NICE FOR YOUR MISSUS … YOU BETTER MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT THING. My story below.
I purchased a bunch of items (total: $ 143) on Aug 22 for my wife’s birthday. I wasn’t 100% sure about a bra, but the sales person confirmed twice that I could return the particular item of concern for cash (their normal policy is credit if returned same week). We further discussed a return earliest during the week of Sep 3 (as I gave the present to my wife that weekend). The sales person re-​confirmed (third time now) that there would not be a problem for a cash return. Based on those commitments, I bough the bra (doing otherwise would have been silly).
Fast forward to Sep 8, when indeed I have to return the bra. The owner says «NO» to a cash return, despite the promise made 2 weeks earlier. Guess what: the sales person had been fired and that was just my bad luck. I tried to explain to the owner that a «deal is a deal» but she simply stated that she believes her sacked employee more than the customer. She also said that it’s my job to question the sales person and find out what authority s/​he has to make those exceptions. Go figure!
During our conversation there was a lame attempt to give cash after all. However, the owner switched it around on the basis of ‘no cash in the till’ and the return should have been made within a week after purchase (yet again, I had cleared this back in Aug). End of the story: she gave store credit and that was that.
I made the mistake of accepting the credit. It would have been better to leave the bra behind and take it on with VISA on the basis of incomplete service rendered. I spend about $ 400 a year at this store. It’s needless to say that the $ 70 store credit will be the last.
Businesses make mistakes and I generally believe it is never intentional. However, integrity and honesty is directly in anyone’s control. If you can’t get that right, there shouldn’t be room for a balanced review: 1 star.
Note to the owner: the sales person you fired was probably the friendliest and most helpful of all I had ever dealt with.
Note 2 to the owner (added ⁹⁄₂₅): you accidentally admitted to me on the phone (call ⁹⁄₂₄) that Tamika B (who happened to respond to this review) is your friend. Tamika B was not even in the store … It is incredibly sad to see how you try to influence your review/​rating by plugging Unilocal.Desperation?

This place is girly and fru fru and feminine and has everything that makes me feel that way.
It reminds me that i need to stop walking like a truck driver.

Super duper cute underwear, and I tried on a bra once that was the most comfortable thing that has ever crossed my boobs. We all know how I feel about retail workers in the Haight (read my review of Crossroads). UNLESS you are at Ambiance where they will offer to be a surrogate mother for you and your lesbian partner just to get you to buy a $ 380 Trina Turk dress you didnt ask to try on, but once they suggested it you cant resist and it just looks so much better than what I can afford…
Getting back to the point.
Ive never actually bought anything here because I either cant get into the dressing room because someone is taking their sweet time, or the sales people leave when I want to check out. Seriously. I have been there twice, ready to purchase, and they arent in the store, theyre outside smoking or on the phone.
UPDATE:
I went last week to browse around and though there were dog hairs all over from the adorable pup, I got some adorable and inexpensive thongs. $ 22 for 5 pairs of underwear??? YES!