Do contemporary women really want to squeeze all of the air out of their lungs just to be skinnier and sexier? Yes -- and no: Corset-maker Jane Campbell gives them the hourglass look without all the pain of lacing up a corset. Campbell fashions her modern, steel-boned waist-cinchers from gorgeous brocades and fake-snake fabrics, so they feel as good as they look. A student of Victorian undergarb, she strives to make every woman an aficionado by offering occasional corset evenings that include a history lesson along with a fitting tutorial. You can breathe now.

SOL should be a rite of passage, a secret world that aunts open up for their nieces. It would prevent long-term scarring from harsh department-store lights and help end the unfortunate phenomenon of ill-fitting bras. Owners Jeanie Peterson and Cindy Johnson have been running SOL in Cherry Creek since 1997, and almost every woman who goes in comes out a convert. That's because these two -- and their staff -- can size up a customer at a glance and know exactly what she needs. Slipping straps, punishing underwires, ugly bra lines? They've got you covered. Plus, their line of "date bras," as they call them, are fun, flirty and show off your assets to best effect. Yes, SOL's bras are pricey, but when you exit the dressing room, it's like you've had a boob job -- without the risk of finding yourself in a nasty Pam Anderson situation.

Metrosexuals, you no longer need skulk into women-oriented salons to get groomed. Jung Park, an MBA candidate at the University of Denver, has come to your rescue with MetroBoom, a place where you can get a real salon haircut as well as upscale grooming products, titanium cuff links, button-down shirts and trendy designer jeans and tees. Park makes men out of boys -- stylish men, that is.

She's gazing intently at the nutrition label on a box of Melba Rounds. She's slender, with short hair, and wears her pants rolled up around her calves like she doesn't even care. If she were at a Safeway, she'd be the most beautiful girl in the store -- hell, in the zip code -- but at Whole Foods in Cherry Creek, she's just one of the many beautiful people. Wait! Look at that guy standing near the olive bar shaking an Odwalla. His forearms are so muscular -- a rock climber, perhaps? He grips a basket that contains organic grapes, Tom's of Maine toothpaste and goat cheese. Over there, by the juice bar, the gal with the long brown hair; the tall guy in the checkout must be a vegan. And Terra Chips are on sale! That is so hot.

The inhabitants of the Apple Store -- a Mac user's Zion -- are just as sexy as those shoppers at Whole Foods across the street, but here there's a good chance that they're hot and smart. Maybe it's just their proximity to the Apple "geniuses" -- those geeks-in-a-good-way trouble-shooting Powerbooks in the back of the store -- that makes them seem so. Whatever, it's working. Want a graphic designer in Diesel jeans and Puma zip-ups? Go hang with the serious hardware. Love high school students with sticker-covered iBooks and wise-beyond-their-years looks? Visit the iPods. Everyday Mac lovers? They're at the back of the store wearing the smug looks on their faces; they always knew Apple would rise again.

Owners and life partners Louise Knapp and Spider Kornblith have womanned Word Is Out for nearly twelve years, and at their place, you find obscure books on any famous or semi-famous woman, from H.D. to H. Clinton. The sunny shop also carries music, jewelry, T-shirts and posters by feminist artists, LBGT pride paraphernalia, and libby/pro-peace bumperstickers. There's even a personal shopper on staff to assist with those gift-giving dilemmas: Reggie, the very butch female toy poodle. Word to your mother.

Category Six was a Denver institution for more than twenty years, and now the bookseller is ready to start on its next twenty as Relatively Wilde, renamed in honor of Oscar Wilde by life partners Ron Metz and Marc Crouch. Bringing in their quilts, crocheted hearth rugs, Roman busts and two dogs, Bob and Tucker, Metz and Crouch gave the shop a homey makeover that makes it feel welcoming for everyone from lesbian grandmas to old sweater queens. They're also packing in more literary and women's titles, so Relatively Wilde is the perfect place to grab a copy of Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain. Go Wilde.

Videotique celebrated its twentieth anniversary last year, and the independent renter is still going strong. The compact shop may be shoehorned into a tiny strip-mall corridor, but it's also packed wall-to-wall with more than 10,000 rentals. Though LBGT titles are the house specialty, you'll find everything from art-house cinema to big-budget Hollywood fluff. And the "black-book" section of adult films for all genders and orientations is quite impressive.

Carlos Larranaga is a master tailor and designer who's been creating hot custom leather garments for the LBGT/BDSM community for 35 years. He first fashioned his cutting-edge kinky couture at storied San Francisco leather shop Image, then moved his material to Denver in 1997, where he's been hard at the 5helm ever since. Whether you're a fierce leather-contest competitor who needs a spiked chest harness or just an old cowpoke looking to get back in the saddle again, call Larranaga. But be sure to call him "Sir"!

Denver's newest sex-toy store also happens to be its classiest. The husband-and-wife team of Elizabeth Hauptman and Pete Yribia opened the bodacious boutique last April to give this town some sex-positive vibes. Modeled after the feminist sex shops Good Vibrations in San Francisco and Toys in Babeland in Seattle and New York, Hysteria sells high-quality erotic toys, books, videos and gifts in a clean, beautiful, woman- and queer-friendly space. From buttery-soft leather and sparkly vinyl harnesses to safe-yet-sexy silicone, glass and metal dildos and vibrators, Hysteria has the toys to make everyone feel like Wonder Woman or Superman. Even Freud would approve -- and he'd probably recommend the German-made Fun Factory Flexi Felix silicone beads, in baby blue, for those with anal tendencies.