A sports bra with something extra

“Excuse me. . . My bra is ringing.”

That’s the tagline of Bosom Buddies, a new company that’s developed a sports bra with two pockets for carrying cell phones and other essentials.

The “buddie bra” was created by Renee Lewando, 50, of Patchogue, with an eye to giving women a new way to carry items, such as cash, identification, a key and cell phone – be the women jogging, gardening, shopping, working.

She said she filed for a patent last fall, just two days after the conviction of a man who had been accused of attacking her daughter, who had left her cell phone in her car. Lewando, also a part-time office and sales-marketing manager for a sports photographer, said she plans to donate $3 of each sale to a domestic violence cause.

It allows women to go about their business while keeping their hands free, said Lewando, who launched the company in December. “I want young women to be smart; I want them to be empowered; I want them to be prepared.”

Already the bra is being sold at Sayville Running Co. and three gyms on Long Island, she said. Plus, four friends and relatives are selling the buddie bra, which is being manufactured in New Jersey, in their schools or workplaces.

As for that tag line? Last summer Lewando was showing some girlfriends her new product, slipping her cell phone into the demo bra that her friends were examining. 

When the phone suddenly rang, she said, it just slipped out: “Excuse me. . . My bra is ringing.”

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