Bottom Line : Bawdy and Soul

Playmates is just a garter belt’s snap from Frederick’s of Hollywood on the Walk of Fame, but more than geography separates these two giants of Spandex and lace; they were on opposite sides of the karmic divide, at least during the L.A. riots. Frederick’s was looted, but Playmates, home to corsets and teddies and Buddhist shrines, was untouched.

This “lingerie temple” is run by devout Buddhist and onetime monk Michael Attie. It’s filled with eye-popping merchandise and glitzy shrines to various Buddhist and Hindu deities. Shoppers are encouraged to light some incense and pray as they browse among the Merry Widows and easy-access underthings.

Attie offers a 10% discount to people who attend his free meditation workshops, which he holds every week above his store. “There’s no better place to seek enlightenment than a lingerie store like Playmates, Attie says. “It can be a place to help people work out their sexual karma. A person stops by the store and their sexual energy is aroused, so they won’t fall asleep when they meditate. Their mind is already focused on one thing, sex, so it’s a short journey to refocus their mind on the formless heart of everything, the source.”

Attie traveled throughout Asia for years on his journey to enlightenment, living in ashrams, shaving his head and even enduring scourgings-beatings with a stick to help him focus on his path toward purification. When his father left him the family business more than a decade ago, he began to transform it into a celebration of his faith.

“Whatever you do is your worship,” says Attie. “Whatever happens in life is your perfect lesson; it’s your karma unfolding, and that’s what Playmates has been for me.”