Cyla Weiner (right), owner of Sylene of Washington, hangs lingerie with her younger sister Helen Kestler. Photo by Marilyn Campbell.
Dressed in a baggy t-shirt and jeans, a middle-aged woman opens the door of a lingerie boutique in Chevy Chase and take a few steps inside before come to an abrupt halt. She appeared bewildered; her eyes widened and she absorbed the vast sea of lacy bras and panties, satin nightgowns and smoothing shape wear.
“Come in. I think we’ve been expecting you,” a warm voice called and two well-manicured hands extend to welcome her into the store. “Your doctor called and said you were coming over.”
It is this warm spirit, finely tuned knowledge of the industry and personalized service that characterize upscale lingerie boutique Sylene of Washington. The owner, Cyla Weiner of Potomac, recently celebrated 40 years of business.
Among Weiner’s specialties are fitting women who have undergone breast surgery. She was the first in the area to do mastectomy fashion shows, using as models real customers undergoing cancer treatment. In fact, she made a trek to the White House in the 1980s to fit then-first lady, Nancy Reagan after her mastectomy.
Weiner, who was born in Germany to Holocaust survivors, opened the boutique after stints as a French teacher and an assistant buyer at the now-defunct department store Woodward & Lothrop. Five years after opening her store, she hired her younger sister, Helen Kestler, as her business partner. The women, who grew up in New Jersey working in their parents’ lingerie business, say the business is in their DNA.
“We were brought up working together,” said Kestler. “As children, we worked with our parents and we were all part of the team. We did everything together as a family and everybody’s input mattered, even when I was eight years old.”
Weiner, who has been married for 43 years and has two adult children, says she’s managed to stay ahead of trends while remaining true to her core values.
“I’m always honest with customers and I try to give customers what they want.”
— Cyla Weiner, Sylene of Washington
“I’m always honest with customers and I try to give customers what they want,” said Weiner. “We can kind of look at a customer and know what will fit and what will look great on them.”
From beaded Badgley Mischka swimwear to lacey La Perla thongs and nightgowns, Sylene is stocked with foundation pieces by a list of designers that reads like a New York Fashion week schedule. Weiner prides herself in being able to serve a clientele of all shapes sizes and ages that runs the gamut from transgender shoppers to movie stars, politicians and news journalists.
“There’s no reason for a woman to be wearing a bra with straps that are falling down or a back that is riding up,” she said. “That’s not necessary. It doesn’t matter what size you are, there is something that can accommodate your figure.”
Beneath her well-coiffed, chestnut hair and cupid’s-bow red lips, Weiner appears warm, sincere and hard-working. Polished and petite and wearing black slacks and a fitted top she flitters around the store, simultaneously bringing bras to a client in fitting room and hanging night gowns on a rack, with an energy that belies her age.
“Cyla is driven, motivated and on target as far as knowing what clients want,” said Kestler. “She knows which things are going to sell and what is going to work. Vendors come to her to ask her opinion on what new merchandise should be coming to market.”
Throughout her four-decade career, as she has doled out lingerie advice to her clients, she has learned from them as well.
“I've learned never to judge anybody by what they look like and to never anticipate how somebody will see herself,” she said. “I think I've taught my clients that underwear is really important because it makes a huge difference in how you look and how you feel. When you're self confident and you have on flirty and sexy underwear that fits well, you feel really good underneath and that comes through.”
Weiner says eight of ten women wear the wrong bra size, and women should be fitted periodically for new bras. “Your bra size changes just like you change,” she said. “Weight gain or loss, birth control pills, pregnancy, nursing – all those things change your bra size. What fit you when you were 20 doesn’t fit you when you’re 50.”
There are six bra types that she recommends every woman own: seamless bras that can be worn under sheer tops; a sexy bra; a sports bra; a strapless bra; specialty bra, such as a backless or low cut bra, and a spa bra for comfort.
Weiner believes in giving back to the community and has supported such causes at Interfaith Works and the cancer centers of local hospitals. Later this month, she is hosting a bra trade-in and encouraging women to bring in their old lingerie to be donated to women in need. For more information: http://www.sylenedc.com/