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If you're in the market for lingerie, you're in good company. The intimate apparel industry as a whole is on the rise, according to Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group. "Sales in the women's market started off slow in 2012 but started to gain momentum. All of a sudden, intimate apparel has become a very passionate category," Cohen says. "Women have gone so long without purchasing ... that it's time to update their wardrobes. " But selecting the right underpinnings can be a delicate matter.

Gregg Renfrew wants to change the way people live, starting with their cosmetics. Sitting in her light-filled office in Santa Monica, Renfrew rattles off the statistics she finds most alarming when it comes to some of the lotions, sprays and powders we apply to our bodies on a daily basis. "Did you know that there has not been a federal law passed since 1938 governing the cosmetics industry? And there are close to 12,000 ingredients used in all personal care products, from toothpaste to shampoo, lipstick to lotion, 80% of which have never been tested for safety on human health.

Rinconia Drive is one of those narrow, tree-shaded roads that snakes up the Hollywood Hills, lined with a mix of older bungalows and towering modern mansions. But when you get to Chris Brown's concrete-and-steel-and-glass Jay Vanos-designed home, the mood changes dramatically. A flashy Lamborghini is parked in front, blocking the sidewalk and part of the street. A creature in a silver spacesuit is perched on a ledge. And on the walls are massive paintings of monsters, standing 8 feet tall in bright neon colors.

RIO DE JANEIRO - After 2 1/2 years of renovations, Rio's legendary Maracana soccer stadium reopened to much fanfare in late April. Brazilian legends including Ronaldo played in a test match before an audience composed mostly of the workers who rebuilt the 78,000-capacity temple to futebol that will be the flagship venue for next year's World Cup. The launch was deemed a success - and allowed officials to breathe a sigh of relief before they...

Chances are by now you've seen " Real Beauty Sketches ," a video released a few weeks ago by the Dove soap people. It documents a social experiment: Women describe themselves to a forensic sketch artist, who draws them from behind a curtain. Then the artist draws the same women based on descriptions from people who've only just met them. The accounts don't exactly line up. "My mom told me I had a big jaw" turns into "she was thin, so you could see her cheekbones. " "I kind of have a fat, rounder face" turns into "she had nice eyes.

- Within 30 seconds in her airy, orchid-filled office three floors above Central Park, Betty Halbreich had zeroed in on one of my chief torments as a professional woman. "I know why you have a problem with pants," Halbreich said dryly, patting my hip. Halbreich, an 85-year-old personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, has dressed Joan Rivers, Meryl Streep and Candice Bergen, and helped costume designer Patricia Field adorn the women of "Sex and the City. " She's one of the supporting characters in "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's," a new documentary, which opens May 3 in New York and Los Angeles, about the aspirational fashion emporium, and she is writing a memoir that HBO recently optioned for Lena Dunham to adapt.

LAREDO, Texas - This border city is trying to clear its name. It is so conjoined with its Mexican sister city across the Rio Grande, Nuevo Laredo, that the two are often referred to as "Los Dos Laredos," or simply Laredo. That was great for tourism in happier days. But as drug cartel violence exploded in Nuevo Laredo in recent years, pictures broadcast around the world of gunfights, decapitated bodies piled in abandoned minivans, and severed heads dumped in coolers often bore the same headline: "Laredo.

There's magic afoot in Orange County that has nothing to do with a giant mouse or a legendary berry farm and everything to do with George Esquivel and his band of craftsmen who, for more than a decade, have been hand-cobbling high-end shoes for a who's who of the well-heeled, including rock stars, NBA players, politicians and Hollywood heavyweights of every stripe. In a nondescript building off I-5 in Buena Park, pieces of white leather destined to become booties for singer Janelle Monae are being meticulously hand-stitched at one table.

An empty Dodger Stadium lies in the foreground of this image, taken by Nancy Dushkin while on a helicopter tour of Los Angeles on Sunday. "Even with the door off, I felt completely safe," Dushkin said. The image was captured with a Nikon D800. Follow Armand Emamdjomeh on  Twitter  or  Google+ . Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our  Flickr page  or  reader submission gallery .  Follow us on Twitter  or visit  latimes.com/socalmoments  for more on this photo series.

A slew of Gatsby-related garb and gear is roaring into stores and onto websites. Besides the Brooks Bros. collection (see accompanying story), here are just a few other stylish options for the Daisy crazy - or anyone else feeling gung-ho for the new film: DRINKS Moët & Chandon is one of the movie's official partners, delving into its archives to ensure that all the bubbly being poured on the silver screen was from bottles bearing historically accurate...