Comfort through fashion

At first glance, it looks like any other boutique on Philadelphia's Walnut Street or New York's Fifth Avenue. The customers, mainly women, check out the goods, trying on hats, ogling the jewelry and flipping through books. And then they linger beside the boxes of breast prostheses and specially designed bras that sit near the fitting rooms. Housed on the 14th Floor of Penn Tower Hotel, this boutique is part of the new Rena Rowan Breast Health Center, a wing of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. It caters specifically to patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer and other conditions in the examination and chemotherapy rooms down the hall. "This is a store where [patients] feel comfortable," Boutique Coordinator Karen Cozen said. "They come in and feel good" about shopping for themselves. The boutique provides a soothing environment for patients. Many enter simply for a sympathetic ear or a conversation to take their minds off the situation. "They come in here because they need to talk," Cozen said. "I think it helps in a lot of ways." The Center, which opened last November, is a full-service outpatient facility inspired by fashion designer and cancer survivor Rena Rowan. The boutique is part of the all-inclusive Center, offering personal items, services and apparel designed for victims of breast cancer and related conditions. "It makes shopping easier and makes you feel good," said Maxine Leibowitz, a patient undergoing treatment at the Center. Hats, scarves and wigs await chemotherapy patients. Women undergoing mastectomies suit themselves up in specially-fitted swimwear. At the bookshelves, cancer survivors of both sexes read up on the disease. For many women, it is particularly helpful to talk to somebody who has already been through it all. Cozen, a seven-year survivor of breast cancer, was rediagnosed shortly after the opening of the boutique. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Talking with someone who's been there "helps them understand what they're going through" and gives them hope, Cozen explained. In addition to calming customers, the boutique allows patients to purchase items without trekking to a separate store. Leibowitz, who has lived with cancer for more than 13 years, travels from Bryn Mawr every week to undergo chemotherapy at the Center. Although she does not wear a wig or a hat now, Leibowitz said that she had to wear one for a year. "This would have been wonderful for me," she said. Leibowitz added that when she went shopping, she just looked at the hats -- not daring to try them on and reveal her baldness to strangers. Now, she browses the shop before her therapy -- for fun and to relieve stress. "Here, you don't have to be embarrassed -- you can try on a hat and be comfortable," she explained. And hats, according to Cozen, are the boutique's top seller. Helping others feel good about themselves and deal with the strains of a serious illness drew Cozen to apply for the position. "I felt like I was giving something back... I wanted to do something extra" to help others, she explained. She is the store's sole employee. "These women that come in here are amazing and some of the husbands [and boyfriends] are too," she said, adding that she meets women of all ages and knows of at least one man undergoing treatment. "[Cancer has] no age... it affects everyone," she said. The boutique is one part in the larger movement towards greater patient care. In developing the Center, organizers sought to prioritize the patient. "What is it [that] will make you happy if being a patient is an unhappy position?" said Kevin Fox, medical director of the Center, referring to how the boutique nurtures patients. "It's a place for them to separate themselves -- if only for a moment -- from the unpleasantness of a medical environment," he said, adding that the ultimate goal is "to provide a better level of patient care." The boutique also adds cheer through makeovers. "It's an opportunity," Fox said, "for patients to optimize their appearance and regain and maintain a sense of beauty under circumstances where their appearance is threatened."