Nights in pink satin...

Ruth Addicott meets the boutique's owner Nic Ramsey to find out what's hot for a sexy break by the seaside and just how some new weekenders manage to spend £3,000 in one go

Brighton has long held the accolade of being the place to head for a dirty weekend.

There was a time when the promise of a cheap B&B, polyester sheets and wood-chip wallpaper would suffice - but not any more.

With a growing number of people prepared to pay up to £3,000 a night for whirring love balls and crystalencrusted bras and corsets, the dirty weekend in Brighton has turned into a full-on glamorous affair.

Central to all the excitement is posh boutique She Said, tucked discreetly down a narrow little alley in the heart of The Lanes. Manager Nic Ramsey had an inkling there was a gap in the market when she opened the shop in 2002, but she had no idea then just how adventurous her customers would become.

"I wanted to have my own business and travelled the streets of Brighton to find something that was missing," she says. "Brighton has always had a reputation for being a fun place to visit with the dirty weekend' crowd and someone said Why don't you open a sex shop?' "

The idea immediately conjured up images of a dingy shop with a telly in the corner watched by a man in a string vest and Nic was horrified to have her fears confirmed when she did her research.

Determined to do something rather different, she resolved to open an erotic boutique for women - where they could feel good about themselves and be empowered to spice up their love life.

She Said has moved on since the early days when it sold corsets made of metal and lots of latex.

While there are still enough leather contraptions to make your eyes water, the shop has now ventured into more glamorous territory, attracting couples for whom money is no object when it comes to seducing a loved one.

There is no multi-coloured curtain in the doorway to keep flies out, the decor in this sex shop is sassy, chic and upmarket.

The latest collection has everything from bejewelled bras and nipple tassles to a £1,000 crystal-encrusted corset with peacock feathers at the back.

"Someone could wear it down the aisle for an alternative wedding or wear it with a pencil skirt," suggests Nic. "We like to sell one-off or limitededitions so customers can buy a dress safe in the knowledge they can turn up to a party and there'll be no one there in anything similar."

While the price, let alone accessories, might be a bit too steep for some, Nic insists the demand is there.

As she points out: "If I'd opened a nice ordinary lingerie shop we would have closed down by now."

Boosted by the trend for burlesque, Nic now plans to expand and open a new boutique next door in the new year. In addition to the cobra whips, crystal dildos and "beautifully crafted"

hand-made floggers, she says there is growing demand for cocktail dresses.

The new year is expected to bring a host of new gowns by designers such as Betsey Johnson and Australian brand Wheels & Doll Baby - a favourite of Dita von Teese.

Aiming to create an "emporium", Nic says customers will be able to live out their fantasies and create an entire outfit, props and all.

Apart from a neon pink Penelope Pitstop uniform, the strangest request Nic has had to date was from a bride-tobe.

"One lady wanted lime green and lilac knickers to wear on her wedding night," she recalls. "She was very specific about the colour, it had to be the exact shade of lime and the exact shade of lilac and they had to be made from handmade silk. I think she paid about £70 for them. People have some very unusual ideas."

Customer confidentiality is crucial in this business - as is a 24/7 approach.

A lot of the regular customers have her mobile on speed dial and phone the minute they're in town to place their order. Even Nic has been surprised by some of the lengths men will go to seduce their girlfriends.

"Quite a few customers have my mobile," she says. "They'll say something like I want three amazing underwear sets for my girlfriend' and I'll often have things delivered to their room. We've taken £1,000-worth of clothes to hotel rooms before, laid out candles and scattered petals over the bed."

One guy went to the trouble of organising a treasure hunt for his girlfriend. She spent several days trying to track down the clues before ending up at She Said, where he'd set aside £800 in cash. "They'd passed the shop a long time ago when it was closed and she said she'd love to have a corset so he'd decided to treat her," says Nic.

Another couple splashed out a staggering £3,000 in one afternoon.

"Ironically it was the day it snowed,"

Nic recalls. "It was freezing cold.

I thought absolutely nobody is going to buy anything, I might as well close the shop. I popped out for a minute and there was a note on the door when I got back from two of our regular customers saying We're in the Coach House'. I went to find them and they came back to the shop and spent £3,000."

In addition to bridal corsets (not everyone wants to get married in a white dress, as Nic points out), there are customers prepared to pay £250 on a crystal-encrusted bra or crystalencrusted crop with barbed-wire strands.

Asked who would have a need for a barbed-wire crop, she says: "You'd be surprised. We have all kinds of customers. We've had local people, couples who come down to Brighton on a romantic weekend, stylists, celebrities and loads of politicians."

Nic is understandably cagey but claims there are plenty of "straight"

men in Brighton with a penchant for wearing frilly knickers.

"It is almost always the type of guy you'd be more than happy to chat to at a party," she says. "Men often come in and say, It's not fair. Women get all the lovely silk and lace underwear and what do we get?"

A posing pouch or Y-fronts.

"I've had men come in and pay £40 for a silk negligee to impress their girlfriend and more often than not, it's baby pink."

Nic is highly protective of these customers. What she will say is they're usually well spoken, well presented and range in age from 18 to 60. She is also keen to stress they are in the minority, in case the more blokey clients are scared to be seen with a carrier bag.

Due to the sensitive nature of choosing a pair of pants (particularly if they're sporting peacock feathers), Nic also opens after hours so customers can browse in private.

"A lot of people have strange quirks," she says. "I'm sure there are people out there who get off on Sellotape so why should it be considered strange for a man to like wearing some lovely silk knickers?"

As popular as the shop is with men, the best-selling items by far are the "sexy date" knickers for women. They cost £29 a pair and come in every shade imaginable from hot pink to lime green.

"They are the best sexy knickers you can show on a first date because they look normal at the front and are slightly racy at the back," says Nic.

Other big sellers are the nipple tassles (the shop sells 20 pairs a week, ranging in price from £20 to £120) and corsets - a firm favourite because they are a miracle cure for the tummy.

"Women love the corsets because they know they look good in them and they get an amazing response from their partners," says Nic. "There's something about tinkering with the hip-to-waist ratio. Men have this caveman attitude. They can't cope when they see a woman in a corset, it drives them wild."

Having been exposed to all sorts of bizarre gadgets (including a device which enables women to pee in public whilst retaining their dignity), there is little that embarrasses Nic. One or two of her customers however, haven't been so lucky. Nic recalls one episode quite clearly.

"We used to have a leather love swing in the basement and one customer went down to sit in it and try it out with her husband. She was fully clothed but had her legs akimbo in the two stirrups when down the stairs walked her daughter's teacher. That was quite embarrassing."

Although she is bombarded with freebies on a daily basis, Nic is quite selective about what she takes home.

Apart from a crystal-encrusted flogger, her most treasured item is a beautiful red silk corset trimmed with black silk chiffon, flowers, beads and antique lace. It's worth about £500 and took pride of place in the shop window when it first opened.

"I loved that corset so much, I couldn't bear to part with it," she says.

"It didn't fit me until very recently. I have it on a mannequin in my bedroom and I lend it out to friends on very special occasions. Someone has been married in it."

Confidence plays a big part in relationships, according to Nic, and she is forever seeing women who are so obsessed with their own body image, they forget about their man.

"Quite often it's the ones who have near perfect bodies who are the worst,"

she says. "Women who are big and voluptuous don't care, they're happy and they look good because they feel good.

"A lot of customers think they're not enough for their partners and that they have to do what women in porn films do - but that's rubbish. That's not what men want at all. In my opinion men really appreciate a confident woman - whether it's a naughty dance or putting on some amazing underwear."

Given the nature of the business, Nic often finds herself taking on a double role of agony aunt and listening to the minutiae of people's sex lives.

One of her most heartwarming moments to date was when a lady came in with her baby. "She put her newborn baby in my arms and said, Thank you.

You have made this baby possible'. It turned out she'd been on the verge of splitting up with her husband - they weren't speaking and their sex life was non-existent.

"I encouraged her to wear nice underwear and feel good about herself and eventually she started taking an interest in her partner again.

Meeting that baby was one of the best moments of my life."

• She Said is at 11 Ship Street Gardens, The Lanes, Brighton.

Call 01273 777811.