As any woman who has gained weight can tell you, shopping for clothes is depressing. There are few things I dread more than needing a new outfit, except perhaps having a root canal or another child.

See, women’s clothing — and by that I mean females over 35 who aren’t still trying to dress as if they aren’t — comes in two flavors: attractive and fashionable clothes for the slender, and hideous baggy things in polyester for those who are not. (As if polyester for people prone to sweating a lot makes sense, right?)

As someone who loves fashion, I find myself staring at the awful stuff for larger-sized women and shuddering. Ergo, I usually plead a migraine rather than put myself through buying the kind of clothes most stores sell for women whose hips attest to too much time spent at a computer (and fridge).

Then again, until now I hadn’t seen the plus-size clothing at Bodacious Boutique. Founded in Dallas-Ft. Worth back in 2004 by Paula Guthrie, the boutique offers many of the same styles the skinny girls get to wear but cut to flatter a larger figure.

Take their plus-size swimsuits, for instance. Oh, sure, there are the standard bathing suits with a “who’re you trying to fool” skirt attached. But they also offer many attractive, flattering styles that come sans skirts (and some caftans for those of you who can’t stand being that bare).

There’s a surprisingly large assortment of designers, including Vikki Vi whose wrinkle-free clothes are indispensable for travel, and even selections of wearable art and flax clothing. Although prices aren’t always easy to locate when you click on an item (look in the right corner of the pink bar above the photo), you’ll find they’re surprisingly reasonable.

And you know what that means, don’t you? That’s right: skinny girls don’t get to have all of the fashion fun anymore!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!