Game, set and no match

Lingerie woes

You all know the feeling. You spot that oh so fabulous bra in hot pink, and you fall desperately, achingly in love with it.

It's in the section for big girls in the department store, usually with a twee name like ‘voluptuous' and you grab it in your size, confident that this bra will change your life. Well, your sex life, maybe. They have one in your size. Oh Bingo! Imagining yourself feeling amazing, strutting around the bedroom in this fabulous bra with the matching sexy knickers, you reach down to find them in a 22, 24 or a 26, maybe. But what's this? They only go up to a 16?

Dejected, you put the bra back and turn to the big pants section. Another pair of apple carriers?

It's rubbish, isn't it? It's a frustrating exercise, trying to get any kind of sexy lingerie, and it's not much better online. Although in some cases, specialist plus size lingerie stores simply sell out of the popular sizes as soon as they are put on sale (probably because there are hordes of grateful girls snapping them up) in many cases getting a matching set is incredibly frustrating and sometimes impossible.

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Shapewear? For what shape?

Shape wear is another bugbear. Does anyone wish they wouldn't sell it based on bra size? I tried on a selection of utterly gorgeous Gok Wan shape wear recently but my delight in receiving this sophisticated 1940s inspired underwear soon turned to indignation as the basque, body and cincher all turned out to be more suitable for girls of average size who just happened to be a bit well endowed in the bustage. It's just NOT fair.

Why shouldn't big girls flaunt their gorgeousness in fabulous sexy undies, though? Undies that actually match?

I thought it was about time I asked a few questions about why retailers seem to think that all women who have big boobs automatically have tiny pert bums. You might be surprised, but on the other hand....maybe not.

First the good news

I contacted Freya, who were only too pleased to let me see their autumn 2009 collection, and it's gorgeous. I asked about the sizing policy for Freya lingerie, and encouragingly, Freya caters for slightly larger sizes in the basic Freya range, but makes a special effort to cater for those of us blessed with a bigger booty with their lovely Elomi range. The Elomi lingerie collection is available in sizes up to a 4XL – which is a size 22/24.

The Freya Autumn 2009 collection is anything but dull, featuring a fabulous colour palette of neon orange and pink, along with sexy shades of purple, red and black. The sizes go up to XL, which I guess must be an 18. Don't you just wish they would actually tell you what size the knickers were before you order them?

For one of the better selections of pretty knickers, Simply Yours is a good bet. They stock panties up to a size 38 and there are some really cute frillies in there. As far as cute sets go – well, not always so good, and it can be a bit hit and miss trying to find a matching set on the site. Admittedly it's not the site's fault – they feature brands like Freya which as we know only stretch to an XL which is about an 18. If you have a bit of time though, you can probably find something to fit the bill, and the bottom.

Another fun and funky place for young and funky underwear is the new No Rock and Roll website. They feature bras for busty girls but unapologetically aim at the younger end of the market – assuming that all teenage and young women are a standard dress size!

Although she says that she sympathises, Trina Lamacq, the founder of the site says that none of the suppliers she uses caters for women of a larger size. I asked why, and she replied;

"It's really down to the suppliers who mostly aim for the mass market. They are very slow to recognise and act upon the trends. None of the suppliers I use go up to a size 22. Mostly the suppliers that do are aimed firmly at the older market. So combining sexy or funky underwear and larger sizes is pretty difficult. 

"As regards bra sizes many suppliers still say that the average is a D cup but in fact in my experience so far it seems to be F as I have talked to countless women, I have spoken to several who were wearing a D cup and were clearly wearing the wrong size, I measured them up and fitted them into an F cup. 

"I have talked to suppliers who have funky products but they only go up to a D cup and asked if they will be expanding into bigger sizes, the feedback is that they will tentatively introduce bigger sizes over a long period.

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"The suppliers that I use say that there is a strong trend for small back sizes and larger cup sizes and not such a strong trend for larger back sizes teamed with larger cup sizes. Therefore I think it is assumed that as the bestselling sizes are small backs then they will 
also be small on the bottom."

It's the old chestnut though isn't it – how do they know that bigger back sizes and bum sizes won't sell – they don't make them?

Marks and Spencer has always been a stalwart of the underwear scene, but I've noticed that as my undercarriage has expanded, my choices have not widened with it. The Ceriso range does cater for large cup sizes and in some styles the matching sets go up to a size 22. But you have to look carefully as some stop at an 18 and there seems to be little rhyme or reason to it. Ceriso offers a DD-G range, and there's also the Autograph and Adored ranges which cater for bigger busts. Some of the Autograph sets are available up to a 22, and the Adored DD-G sets also seem to be available in 22.

The bad news

When I asked some lingerie retailers about their sizing policy, I was met with a wall of silence – or a dignified sniff. One very surprising response was from Bravissimo. As you may or may not know, Bravissimo sell their brand on the premise that"Bravissimo is a company that provides a wide choice of lingerie and swimwear in D-K cup, as well as clothing designed especially for big boobed women so that they can celebrate their curves and feel good about themselves!"

All very fine, but it would seem that you are only allowed to celebrate curves if you have them in one place, because as far as Bravissimo is concerned, "we are for women who are sizes 8 to 18 in the body with bigger boobs, we are not a plus size retailer. We stock lingerie and swimwear in 28 to 40 back sizes in D to K cup, as well as clothes in sizes 8 to 18 cut especially for women with bigger boobs. We have no plans to expand our back or dress sizes at the moment as plus size is not our core target market."

So it's fine to be a size eight with massive boobs but not a size 20 and in proportion?

Lingerieplease.co.uk sounded promising – but a search in their website revealed two very depressing facts. Not only did they have nothing whatsoever in XXL (what is XXL anyway?) but when I happened upon the ‘plus size lingerie' range and happily clicked hoping for some sexy sets, I was confronted with just seven bras for bigger cup sizes. No pants in sight. They introduced themselves with,

"Lingerieplease offer beautiful handpicked lingerie and cater for all sizes up to cup size KK. We stock top brands including Panache, Fantasie and Freya who all specialise in larger sizes."

But the thing is, they don't. They specialise in larger bra sizes. Do lingerie manufacturers want big girls to walk around commando, because I'm starting to prefer that option to another pair of granny pants!

So, ladies, what are we going to do about it? How can we get underwear retailers to cater for big bums as well as big boobs? We're not all glamour model proportions and a lot of us with a cleavage to be proud of have a matching rubenesque rear. Is it fair that we have to be restricted to wearing mis-matched underwear? I don't think so.

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