Photographs by Ashlea Halpern

We popped ’round to Shag Brooklyn today, where co-owners Samantha Bard and Ashley Montgomery-Pulido were busy putting the finishing touches on their darling tin-walled boutique. The hybrid space (It’s a sex shop! It’s a gallery! It’s the only place in NYC that’ll make a plaster replica of your boyfriend’s schlong!) doesn’t officially open until Tuesday 24, but the founders are hosting an advance-look gathering on Friday 20.

We snuck in a few days early to scope the goods, which focus on the locally made, handcrafted and sublimely sexual. A 1940s vanity is loaded with tiny tubs of Lee-lai body butter in delish flavors like Fig and Violet, and kissable dusting powders that smell as good as they sound (Bavarian cream? Yes, please). There’s a well-curated selection of sex toys (WeVibes, Rabbits, etc.), with more on the way: The shopkeepers are especially psyched about the eco-friendly wood and marble dildos, made from scrap materials. The shop also sells frisky cards, explicit hankies, felt condom holders, glitzy pasties, glammy feather hair clips, upcycled lingerie and boxers, oodles of art (by Jess Levey, Chris Smith, Sandra Mack-Valencia, etc.), and vagina doorknobs, cast from real vajayjas by artist Rebecca Loyche. Coming soon: Cock knockers!

Which brings us to the other brilliant thing about Shag Brooklyn: It’s not just another jerk-off shop; it’s a community space. Upcoming workshops will teach New Yorkers how to write erotica and make plaster castings of their partner’s bodies. They’re aiming to host five art exhibits a year, and they’ll eventually unveil photographic services, so you can enjoy a fantasy shoot in their studio, and then have that image fired onto a ceramic plate. Brooklyn, for real: You never had it so good.

108 Roebling St at North 6th St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (347-721-3302, weloveshag.com). Opening reception Fri 20 6–10pm, free. Regular store hours: Tue–Thu, Sun noon–8pm; Fri, Sat noon–10pm.