That and the Kipling apple pies.

Did they ever restock the pies near you ita?

That and the Kipling apple pies.

This. Again and again!

:::::::::zooms over to farecompare.com:::::::::::::::

what made us laugh was that it was Marks and Spencers--when we lived in England in the 80s, it was where your grandmother (we were teenagers, for perspective) would get her clothes, or so you felt in your resistance to your parents, and your urge to go to Top Shop instead.

Now it's all sexy and pretty and shit.

nods

My mother commented on this at Christmas, echoing my own impressions - that until a few years ago there was no way she'd have considered owning M & S clothes - that she wouldn't have known what to do with a $1000 gift certificate there because it all looked like something a style-challenged maiden aunt would have worn. Now they've got some really nice lines of clothes. Damn them. (Mind you, I've always been pro their undies, because they do make pretty bras for large knockers. (Granted they also have a line of Minimizer Bras which I find offensive as a concept, subscribing as I do to the "Look! Boobies!" philosophy of cleavage, but I realise that I am not their sole customer, so...fair enough. I suppose.)

Speaking of bras, I tried to buy new bras at the VS sale, but none of them fit. I'm used to having a hard time finding bras, but this was redic. I was kinda expecting the 34Bs to not fit, but was amused when they were simultaneously too large AND too small. And then of course to confuse matters the 34Cs fit my breasts better because they were more shallow (!!!) than the Bs, but they were still a bit too small to properly contain them. WTF?

And THEN the bra lady, when I told her none of them fit, pretended to fit me, but really she held the measuring tape about three inches beyond my chest, and proceeded to tell me I was in fact a 34D. !!!!! Maybe when I was nursing, yes, but not anymore. egad.

I'm annoyed. I OWN an Ipex bra that fits well. Maybe I should just order another one online in the same size and avoid entering VS again.

Burrell, once I found a bra that fit, I only ordered "refills" online and have never regreted it.

Well, it doesn't fit well enough to be my one true bra, I'm afraid. I can't wear it with low cut tops, for instance. But right now I'm down to that one, an old Calvin Klein 34C, and an random bra from Europe, maker and size unknown. 3 bras. That's not right.

That's not right.

No, that's not. You're right.

I've been reduced to One True Bra and many, many International Concepts tanks in different colors.

Speaking of M&S, I was sooooo upset when I returned home from London and found that they don't ship overseas.

This. Oh dear lord in heaven, this is me. My One True Bra came from M&S (er, about six years ago, but I've now lost enough weight that I fit back into them). One of my saved searches for eBay is for M&S bras in my size.

I'm also kinda miffed that TopShop doesn't ship to the States, because I keep seeing cute things from them in issues of UK Vogue.

Jilli, does M&S still carry the exact bra? My friends there could certainly pick some up and ship them no problemo. They've offered the same for me, but what I want/need aren't staple items - I need to shop, shop and drop.