DH and I were watching Trinny and Susannah this evening and he said...

[Gillian76]

"... you are a lot like that woman. I think you look good but you never believe me"

He insists I go and but myself some 'decent clothes'. But I'm not sure where to start. I am size 18/20. I have an appalling midriff but quite good shoulders and boobs. Legs OK, thighs quite heavy, but I'm never sure how to wear skirts.

My usual 'uniform' is these in short and long sleeves, mostly black. And plain black trousers or jeans.

Oh god, what should I get???

And I have to shopping with a 3 year old...

Heels? For walking to school?

Has to be comfortable shoes, I'm afraid!

Even an inch makes me feel better.
I lived in flats when pregnant and before I went back to work, then I donned a small heal again and was like "oooh, height!!"
But that's just me!

If I could be sure the shoe would be comfortable I would give it a try

m&s limited collection do lovely spaghetti strap vests in good colours which you can wear under any v-neck/wrap dress that you are concerned about being too plunging. they are £8 each, which is quite pricey but they are chock-full of lycra and are long in the body so you can use them to poke out of the bottom of wrap tops for colour contrast/breaking up waist area and also general slinkiness. i guy them in a size smaller than i am, because they're never for wearing on top iykwim?
M&S also have very cheap £12 deep v-necks at the moment in lovely colours. sludgy green, bright kelly green, orange, red etc. i have a few of them. you can wear your jeans and a vest top with a jewel colour jumper and some jolly round beads or a scarf and you're ready for a school run. it's not the most inspired look in the world but with boots and a good jacket (something swingy from gap) and coloured gloves you're ready to rock for autumn everyday.
But i'd get the advice of a personal shopper as well (and head to Bravissimo for some Clyde-built but actually rather nice undies that will take a stone off straightaway.)

what about some brightly coloured runners for the walk to school? can you tell i like colour by the way? i used to hide away in black and one day just thought 'bollocks to this'. honestly, the right bit of colour in the right spot can take attention away from the wrong spots...

And will Gap go up to size 20?

Wouldn't have thought so...

gap have loads of sizes, really. when was the last time you went shopping, gillian? because if it's been a while i think you'd be surprised, a lot of shops have really improved their sizing. (and don't forget the monsoon sale...)

Hmmm, some time ago. Apart from my trusy M&S t-shirts!

gill i sound similar to you. 18/20-but my norks are normous and i'm nearly 6ft tall. i tend to wear jeans all the time with either shirt type tops or v-necked t-shirts. wish i'd seen trinny and susannah tonight. what did they reccommend?

i didn't think gap did a size 20 either...?

i tried on my friend's monsoon jeans and i also found them enormous at the bum. you sound like a typical toffee apple scot to me... snap!

The woman was a size 16. It was her attitude that DH thought was similar to mine.

toffee apple! yes indeed

i know for a fact they do an 18 as my pal got some recently. and they are generally big. m&S has decided to bring out LOADS of jeans as well this season. i got the skinny ones which are great but i do wish that they weren't so low hung, iykwim?

i've got a pair of jeans from mand s which are great on the ;egs but i think are very unflattering on the tummy.funny cut.

no way should you be wearing those t-shirts if you are a toffee apple.
you need good slim-cut jeans, a slight heel or springy runners, a short jacket (swingy is my pref), and layers of clothing. round-neck cardies over vest tops, unbuttoned at the top, v-neck everything, wrap tops with good long ties that you can fankle around your tricky waist area. if you tie your wraps on a diagonal and have a contrast colour vest pooking out the other side it tricks the eye.
but seriously, head to bravissimo on imgram st first to buy a great bra. you will be measured up by a lovely woman who weighs about 18 stone and has a terrific self image, so that's a good place to start, confidence-wise. Wrap dresses yes, but they must allow for fankling. other than that i think toffee apples are better off in separates. what about a jolly, bright coloured patterned a-line-ish skirt, knee-high boots and a vest and v-neck jumper. with beads, that's fun. and go find some coloured leather gloves and a yummy scarf for a tenner in tkmaxx, they always cheer me up in winter.

(and never forget there are personal shoppers if you lose your nerve. do it, or i'll kidnap you at the doors of the buchanan galleries and march you round the shops myself!)

i wonder if we've got the same jeans, alexsmummy?

v.excited. Off to Gap this morning as I have 2 kids in tow

You are tempting me to get to Bravissimo tomorrow...

i agree re the cahsmere jumpers
really good for everyday htings and easy to war so the colour will make a statement
do nto tyr and get empire line tops and tbh i think you have to be very careful with wrap tops i think they make boobs look HUGE

in gap be REALy pathetic find an older female assitant or a man and tellt hem fo your woes
smile a lot
tellt ehm they are greta at fiuding jeans etc

oh and hteir jeanes srhink a little int he length - do NOT Buy sones too short or youl look like yer mum
AND they GIVE a LOT int eh waist so they shoudl be vaccum pack first of all
alsot eh ones with strathc in ( long and lean stretch) you cna often be a smaller size)

fankling?
can anyone explainthat bit?

fankle. scottish for rumple.
SO true about the Gap jeans giving at the waist. i had to take a pair back as they were falling off me and i was furious as i hadn't lost any weight.
no empire line tops, i think, if you've got a tummy as can make you look pregnant. and yes, make sure you choose the right wrap tops and MAKE SURE that they actually are proper wraps with ties and everything for proper fanklage. the pre-wrapped ones save the shops a fortune in fabric but do nothing for tummies, imho. (and i actually don't like cheap cashmere either, the fibres get stuck at the back of my throat and make me cough. Now v expensive cashmere is a different matter... in the meantime, the super-cheapie £12 jumpers are a good place to start.) actually, if you aren't allergic to supermarket cashmere then F&F at tesco has a lovely shade of red twinsetty style cardie for £35 that i swithered over last week.