Bodysuits

The bodysuit seems to have returned to stores after a twenty+ year absence and I'm hailing this as a good thing. I remember these with great fondness from the late 80's when I had a drawer full of them from Oasis, Next and I think one by DKNY.
They are excellent for providing a nice smooth line around the waist and accentuating the torso. For the past few years we seem not to have been tucking things in but just letting tops kind of fall around that area (or shudder, creating a muffin top). Even if you are layering cardis or jackets on top to me it makes sense to have some neater proportion underneath. I always thought they looked particularly nice worn with a printed a-line skirt.
I first saw these on sale at my local Sainsbury's of all places. They had quite a few colours plus a leopard-print and a striped version all for £8-£10 including their plus sized True range. A net search located a few more sellers including Henry Holland for Debenhams and Oasis but not yet any of the high street sellers with extended size  ranges. They will follow suit soon; just look at the current tragic situation with jeggings.
I think this time I'll be buying mine at American Apparel. Apologies for the cheesy photo but this is from their website

This version comes in four colours and has a high spandex content that will provide a nice bit of support and shaping. It goes up to size XL which should be OK for me as UK size 20. These things stretch trust me. I was also pleasantly surprised to find on the AA website that there are a fair number of styles in 2x and 3xl (not alas bodysuits as yet)

I cannot leave the subject without touching on the oft-commented on problems encountered in the ladies room whilst wearing these items. Again I take you back to the late 80's/early 90's which for me were my serious drinking days. Even through that haze I think I managed to avoid serious accidents and it was simply a matter of practice. Dungarees in my expeirence are far, far tricker to manage.

Bravissimo and Lingerie Shopping

Bravissimo has grown in just a few years from a specialist retailer to a familiar high street presence. Their USP is "Lingerie, swimwear and clothing for D-K cup women" which is a rather inelegant way of saying that they are not a plus-size retailer as such but that their target market is big-boosomed women who may otherwise be slim waisted and snake-hipped. I know women like this and can empathise with the difficulty they have finding clothes that don't snag and gap simultaneously on different parts of their body.
The bonus for bigger women is that we can at least benefit from the lingerie. Bravissimo in common with other specialist retailers fit women for bras based on the size of their back and shoulders rather than measuring round the bust area. That means that they measure me as a size 36ff whereas in Marks & Spencers when I was last measured I was told to wear a 40c.
The big difference here is that if you fit yourself as advised by leaning down and scooping your boobies into a bra as you put it on (don't fret this becomes automatic after a week or two) then your chest sits higher and more flesh including the soft underarm tissue is supported. The first time you see this effect in a changing room mirror you'll be amazed as it can appear as if you've lost a fair bit of weight and your waist is emphasised as never before.
There is a downside to this which is that the fastening of the bra will emphasise all that lovely back fat and will dig in a bit more than is always comfortable. So while it should not be cutting off circulation you'll probably sigh with relief when you get your pyjamas on at the end of the day.
Bravissimo have also increasingly started to feature clothing in their stores and catalogue. With the majority of items going up to a size 18 in either curvy, really curvy or super curvy. But again as the naming suggests is only in the bust area that there is extra ease and so a size 20 tummy may not button into one of their shirts.
In terms of style there is not much here to set the heather alight. For me the pick from their recent collection is a safari-ish shirt dress shown above, but there are a lot of jersey wrap dresses to pick from which still make reasonable wardrobe staples.
Specialist independent lingerie shops still seem to exist in most Scottish towns where other types of shopping have been superceded entirely by chain stores. Some of my favourites are The Personal Touch in King Street Stirling and Upfront Lingerie in Dunfermline. I've found a better level of stock and service in these places than in any city centre store and would recommend them to all aliens.