Letter from the Editor: Flirt Issue 2012

I'd heard it said, countless times, that Bostonians can be prudish. Maybe this was slightly naïve, but I had always suspected that was the sort of supposedly conventional wisdom people spout without regard for whether it's actually true. You know, New Yorkers are rude, Southerners are hospitable, and Bostonians are cold, sexless Puritans. One of those old chestnuts.

Then we started planning our Flirt issue's fashion spread, and I began gauging interest from prospective locations and participants. As always, the spread was intended to spotlight lingerie. People got that. But I was startled by the occasionally incredulous reactions to other details: "Multiple models? And they're all in a hotel room together? And there are men?" You'd think I had told everyone we were doing a feature on gimp masks - or that this would be the first issue of STUFF to be wrapped in plastic and sold behind gas station counters.

"Will it be tasteful?" "Will the styling be high-end?" There were a lot of questions to answer (and concerns to placate), some of which seemed mighty presumptuous. Have we really become so accustomed to neutered lingerie spreads that feature a single doe-eyed girl looking lonely in lace? It felt like the moment you hint at eroticism, include a dude (gasp!) in a similarly disrobed state, or imply that all this sexy attire might be employed by its purchaser in the interest of, you know, actually having sex, kneejerk conservatism kicks in. Suddenly, everyone thinks you're trying to restage Caligula.

Obviously, we wound up working with partners who understood that you can stage a coed slumber party with style and sophistication - from our amazing photographer, Eric Levin, to the fantastic folks at the Omni Parker House, ironically a longstanding bastion of the Boston Brahmin sensibility. Check out the results in "Bedtime Stories". Of course, if you're going to model such lingerie fashions in private, you'll want to find someone deserving of your peepshow. So turn to "Erogenous Zones," a playful guide to location-based love-hunting led by our own STUFF cupid, Miles Howard. You never know where you'll find romance. Just look at the local Bachelorette contestant interviewed here: he's about to marry another reality-TV alum he actually met off-screen.

Loosen up that top button and enjoy, Boston.