AUGUSTA, Me. - Felicia Stockford thought the lure of "naughty office girl" costumes, $2 thong underwear and X-rated gadgets probably was not enough to draw customers into her lingerie store, Spellbound.
Ms. Manns, 20, and the other Spellbound models all started as customers. Now they get recognized in town even when not on the job.
The promise of live models, however, was a different story.
Women clad in bustiers, garters and itty-bitty pieces of metallic fabric have appeared in the store window since September. Ms. Stockford recently added a dose of masculinity with live men in tuxedos, and she says she hopes to add construction workers in the future.
Teenagers leave their games of Dungeons and Dragons at a card shop down the street to come to ogle - and, in some cases, to videotape - the models. Wide-eyed men nearly slip on ice as they walk by.
To some, the store is this city's one cheeky novelty, a creative way to create a buzz. But to others here, Spellbound has become the centerpiece of a debate over what is appropriate to put in a store window and just how far business owners should go to attract customers to a downtown that most residents have abandoned.
"I think it's terrible. Where do you draw the line?" said Tim Russell, a spokesman for the Christian Civic League of Maine, which is encouraging opposition to the store.
"The goal is to stop the obscenity in the store window," Mr. Russell said. "You don't advertise with soft porn. Clearly that's violating community standards."
It is not, however, violating the law. The city's police chief and corporation counsel determined that the display did not violate any state or local nudity or indecency ordinances.
"It doesn't come close to nudity," Mayor William E. Dowling said. "I talked to the police chief and others, and they basically said no laws are being violated."
"Consider a bathing suit," the mayor said. "It's a similar activity, and they're probably clad more in lingerie than they would be with some of the swimsuits."
Ms. Stockford, 44, a former high school English teacher, opened the shop last spring in this central Maine city of 24,500, the state capital. She got the live model idea from her package deliveryman, who mentioned he used to deal with a lingerie store that had fashion shows in the back.
"I just took it a step further," said Ms. Stockford, who was wearing a "Ms. Claus" outfit: a long-sleeved, floor-length red velour dress with white fur on the scoop neckline, cuffs and bottom. (A similar outfit with a lot less fabric is also available.) "Who notices mannequins? Get some real breasts and bottoms out there and you'll get some attention."
Ms. Stockford said that business had increased only about 10 percent since September but that the models had given her store instant name recognition. Even the five models are recognized when they are out and about, and one has been a guest on a local country music station.
"I feel like I have five adopted children," Ms. Stockford said. She plans to sell a 2006 calendar featuring the models, for $24.95, on the store's Web site.
All the models were customers whom she recruited because she liked their looks. She is no longer accepting applicants but will take down contact information in case a slot opens up.
The models volunteered their services until the attorney general heard about their work; under the law, they had to be paid employees. Now they are technically self-employed and receive pay, though Ms. Stockford would not say how much. She said she planned to continue the display - which appears on afternoons from Thursday through Saturday - indefinitely.
Nikki Hunt, 20, one of the models and an aspiring actress from China, Me., said, "I've always had a fascination with lingerie, and I thought, 'What an awesome idea.' "
On a recent chilly Saturday afternoon, Ms. Hunt wore a red bustier, red garters and a white thong, with a plastic candy cane hooked around her neck. She ran her hand down the candy cane as Brian Greg, sitting in the passenger's seat of a Nissan Pathfinder stopped at a traffic light, stuck his torso out the window to get a better look.
"This is awesome," Mr. Greg said while dragging on a cigarette.
Donna E. Lerman, a City Council member, hopes the display will help bring business back downtown. But she also says it is degrading to women and sends the wrong message to young girls.
"This is not something that can be answered simply," Ms. Lerman said. "There's a struggle in the community between big-box development and the downtown. On the one hand, I think she's really quite creative. But on the other hand, I'm one that gives to organizations that fight the exploitation of women. My feminist leanings conflict with First Amendment rights."
Ms. Hunt and two other models - Tara Manns, 20, of Readfield, Me., and Ginny Jarvi of Melrose, Mass., who described herself as "forty-something" - said the modeling was nothing more than a good time that they hoped would drum up business.
"It's really for the fun of it," said Ms. Jarvi, who stood in the window wearing a figure-hugging purple dress with a side slit that extended to her hip. "It's been a blast, seeing everyone's different reactions."
The models said most feedback had been positive, though people sometimes came in to complain.
Ms. Stockford said she toned down the display when people asked nicely, and she was not surprised by the controversy.
"Maine is a conservative place," she said. "We have that whole lobster and lighthouse thing going, so I guess it's not people's perception of the state."
People shopping downtown fell on both sides of the issue.
"I don't think it belongs here; it's distasteful," said Karen Farmer, 64, of Augusta, who was shopping at Stacy's Cards on Water Street, a block from the store.
But Diana Patterson, 45, of Waterville, was persuaded to buy a dress after seeing Ms. Jarvi wearing it.
"I was walking down the street and saw that purple dress and said, 'I have to have it,' " Ms. Patterson said. "I guess that's their job."
