They’re Boston’s best-kept secrets — retail experts so good at what they do their customers call them “whisperers,” and then keep these savants to themselves.
We found a quartet of the Hub’s savviest pros and got them to share some of their know-how. Just don’t pass it on.
The Butt Whisperer
Alison Barnard knows jeans, and then some. But Barnard’s skill — she can eyeball a derriere and produce the most flattering style with only a couple of questions — also extends to guys, many of whom she helps out on the side.
“I don’t do men’s, but I help a lot of them. I take them shopping to Barneys or I order them,” said Barnard, who opened her shop seven years ago.
The Butt Whisperer as Barnard’s friends call her, said the men she helps complain just as much as women.
“I find it hilarious. They say, ‘I have problems, too. I have a small waist. I can’t get jeans to fit over my butt’ or ‘I need a belt’ or ‘I have chicken legs, but a huge belly.’”
Eric Papachristos sought out Barnard after she hooked up his -female waitstaff at Trade with denim to wear while serving. “I can’t really find truly good-fit jeans. I’m more athletic, and they’re either loose on the waist and tight in the thigh, or skinny jeans,” he said.
Barnard sized him up, then dropped off four pairs of AGs, which Papachristos wears “pretty much every day.”
“I’m out of my house at 7:30 a.m. and not back until midnight. I’m changing in and out of them, going to the gym,” he said. “They’re comfortable and have good form.”
