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.

Next

Next is a source of never ending frustration for me. It is one of the most ubiquitous shops on the British High Street, and one of the most inviting looking. Better yet it claims to offer mainstream sizing up to 22 and most stores now have a least a small petite section. I think it is a shop that attracts tremendous loyalty from devotees. In a hangover from their 80's origins it offers a co-ordinated "lifestyle" in a way which no other mass market store can compete with. In their adverts often you find a male and female model literally matched up clotheswise which is something no other store does. I know of one person -married, with a small son who rarely buys clothes or homewares anywhere else. Commendably their "Directory" has always prominently featured models from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, if not sizes.

However the designs it does sell are dreadfully pedestrian. Fashion led items are generally a season behind where everyone else has cottoned on to something. Witness this seasons emphasis on folky smocks. Next also has a touching devotion to cargo pants (they call them boarding trousers) which it features without fail year round. I think of these as their emblematic item these are essentially clothes made for wandering around shopping malls.

Where Next should score better is in office wear. They have the highest concentration of affordable business suits in the mass market. But for aliens like me there is a fundamental problem in their persistent failure to display any stock over a size 18. When you are an awkward size one of the last things you want to do is ask the (generally clueless) sales assistant for help checking the stock room and this has never gotten me anywhere in the past anyway and I'm told that I should just order from the catalogue. So much for impulse buying.

I do find this lip service to larger sizes really insulting. Next have recently introduced a small selection of clothes in a size 24-28 for sale only in their catalogue. But the items are not shown on a model and there is no business wear. Probably the best of the selection is a belted black jersey dress, but this is precisely the kind of thing that a buyer should try on before buying to get an idea of how it suits their body. (I tried on my first wrap dress in the wonderful Curvy Girl in Edinburgh after being persuaded by the assistant and immediately felt sexier)

Suit Shopping

As mentioned above I spent today shopping for a new trouser suit. Never a pleasant task when you are wide of hip and short of leg. Nonetheless I'm happy with my final purchase from the very reliable Betty Jackson Black range from Debenhams. I got a very plain black jacket with a Peter Pan collar and matching trousers in hallelujah! Shorter leg length. The range goes up to a generously cut size 20. The Quality and finish of this range for the price (£120 for the suit) is exceptional) Its a healthy sign that there is hardly ever anything from this range on sale. I think it fills a real gap in the market for women looking for a design led range that is not too flimsy and wearable for formal occassions.
Other places searched included Marks & Spencer where there were a few choices in somewhat garish looking stripes. There seemed to be a more promising Autograph Essentials range but not in any larger sizes in the branch I was in.
Then there is Next. I'll probably have a full rant in a future post on the size range there but suffice to say today there were plenty of good looking suits but not available on the racks in size 20-22.