Pompadour's comments on sexy underwear and lack of appreciative audience reminded me of this piece I'd written as part of short story.

Cheryl is imaginary and more inhibited than I am. We do however share a body shape and some underwear And since writing this I am desperately searching for the underwear I invented and don't own!

Cheryl is a born-again virgin as she's been single so long and is plucking up courage to attend a reunion having put on lots of weight.

She felt something a little more daring and less safe was called for but she'd not bought anything like that since her size 12 days... It should have been fun but it was beginning to feel like a chore and she'd not even entered a shop yet! Cheryl decided to shop for her new underwear wardrobe to get her in the mood. "Shame it's not Christmas", she thought. She'd noticed that that was the time Evans's went mad with 'gift' type underwear - overtly sexy stuff in reds and purples. "After all", she mused, "I've got a lot more to fill a basque than when I was a subtle 34 inches." To her delight they did have some daring underwear. She fell for a black basque with red ribbons. It had hooks and eyes down the front so looked fairly manageable. Liberation was one thing she thought, but having to get in the neighbours to help you into your underwear was quite another! She noticed a much more subtle range of silk separates in cream with coffee lace. They were gorgeous and down to half price in the sale. She wasn't sure if it was end of season, mid season, stock clearance or a celebration of the fact that there was no 'r' in the month. It seemed that all times were sale times nowadays. She decided to go mad with the cream silk. She bought a more discreet basque than the black number. She also bought a rather sweet camisole with ribbon ties up the front. There was also a rather nice bra that she thought would be a shame not to have... The camisole had its own suspenders, as did the basque. She took a suspender belt to go with the bra and of course she had to have knickers didn't she? She drew a line at the thongs - She knew her limits! They had some French knickers but they looked rather unflattering. The alternative were similar to the French knickers but were quite full and fluted with a higher scalloped edge at the hip. She decided on six pairs to match the other items. They were, after all a bargain. She found similar shaped knickers in both white and red cotton and though they'd be a nice everyday treat and would look well with the stockings she favoured, and bought several pairs. She'd known nice underwear always cheered her up, it was a shame she'd left it so long. She'd always felt more confident in her 'best' undies. She remembered the College Careers Officer suggesting you wear your best underwear to interviews for that very reason. When she went to pay the assistant gave her a conspiratorial smile and said that somebody was in for a treat. Cheryl smiled sweetly and kept her thoughts to herself.