Guide to Plus Size Lingerie
Plus Sizing Explained
There are some lingerie sites out there that start their plus size ranges at size 14. We think that's ridiculous, so Bigsmalls only stocks plus size lingerie for sizes 18 and up (that's UK dress size 18 as well, not US). We have a great range of flattering underwear for all women in sizes 18-24, and then we have also managed to extend the range to include some lingerie for sizes 26-26. That's our definition of plus size then - size 18 and over lingerie.
Understanding that, we must then explain that we source our lingerie from lots of different suppliers so that we can offer so much choice. As with all clothes, the size between one manufacturer and another can change, so on every product page on Bigsmalls, you'll find that there's sizing information for that particular lingerie item. You can also get an overview of all manufacturers in our sizing guide, which includes details on how to measure yourself.
There's also some new words used, if you're looking at plus size underwear for the first time - you'll see, especially in some corsets and moreso even in plus size bodystockings, the term "Queen Size". This is a dedicated term used by most manufacturers for plus size lingerie, and it simply means their range that are above the regular sizing, so most bodystockings are available in two sizes, regular (up to size 18) and queen size (size 18-24). Again, queen size can be slightly different between manufacturers, so the sizing guide on the item page is your guide.
Plus Size Lingerie Products
If you're used to the general humdrum underwear on offer in the UK high street for outsize women, you'd be forgiven for thinking that's all there is, or expecting Bigsmalls to offer similar fare, but in fact, there's lots of sexy styles and types of lingerie available for size 18 and over, and here's a brief overview:
Plus Size Hosiery
This means larger size tights and stockings, and the increasingly popular middle ground of all-in-one suspender tights. We have the best range we know of, with nearly 100 different types at the last count. Plus Size Hosiery is the most popular single area of the Bigsmalls site, and it's the one where a lot of our customers buy their first new lingerie items from. For a start, a pair of sexy stockings is a relatively cheap way of spicing up your underwear drawer. You can read our introduction to plus size tights and stockings as a great place to start and familiarise yourself with the plethora of different styles and designs now available.
Plus Size Corsets
Corsets have seen a real comeback in the lingerie market in the last couple of years, and they are ideal for plus size women because they flatter the figure and using boning and stretchy material they shape the figure well to boost confidence. They are some of the more expensive items we sell, but many are reversible for multiple looks in one garment, and combining them with a set of different stockings means that you can get many different outfits from one piece of lingerie - see our guide to corsets.
Plus Size Babydolls
The babydoll is an American expression, and you can see why they decided that the UK "nightie" wasn't exactly raunchy enough for sexy nightwear. The closest we have is the French term "negligee", but even that doesn't quite fit. Babydolls tend to be fairly short, and can be worn with or without other underwear (a plus size thong, for example). Combined with a lingerie gown, the babydoll is a great piece of plus size lingerie for the bedroom. See here for more information on baydolls.
Plus Size Bodystockings
We mentioned these earlier, but just in case you were left scratching your head, a body-stocking is exactly that, a pair of stockings that doesn't stop at the waist but extends over the body. Quite frankly, words do not do them justice, because we can see how you'd wonder if such an underwear garment can possibly be sexy, but trust us, they are perfect. Using various designs and some sexy lingerie materials like fishnet, bodystockings are one of the raunchiest pieces of lingerie around and spice up sex lives around the UK; it's just people don't talk about them. We know from the number that we sell though just how popular they are!
More About Bigsmalls
To help choose the actual lingerie you want, you'll find great descriptions and images for all our products on their pages to help you decide what plus size lingerie to buy. We also think that you should have a fair returns policy, so you can shop with confidence, and because of the nature of lingerie, you want to be sure that we are a secure site: we never have or store your credit card information; instead we use market leader SagePay so your financial information is 100% safe. We also operate a strict privacy policy in compliance with all UK laws, but go further to guarantee that we never sell or share your personal information to any other company, whether for marketing use or anything else. You'll find links to all these policies at the bottom of the page.
There's so much more Bigsmalls has to offer, but that's a very quick guide to what we stand for and some of the more popular types of plus size lingerie that we sell.