The Guardian, Saturday October 16, 2004

HARD-TO-FIND-CLOTHES

It was a frank discussion about the pain of being pear-shaped that gave rise to Uniquely Woman, a website devoted to helping women find clothes that fit. Gaynor Wisdom and Clare Thomas, both in their 30s, met when Wisdom was designing a website for Thomas's business. But they bonded over their bottoms. 'We wanted to see if there was anyone out there designing specifically for a pear shape,' says Thomas. 'Seventy per cent of women are pear-shaped, but there don't seem to be any clothes that are made for us - everything's all gaping waists and tight around the hips.'

They realised that thousands of women - pear- or apple-shaped, tall or short, big-busted, plus-sized, post-mastectomy - were not what shops consider 'normal'. So Wisdom and Thomas decided to create Uniquely Woman, a UK resource for hard-to-find women's clothing, launched in February, which features a database and messageboards. 'It became an obsession - I would have breakfast at the computer,' Wisdom says, 'and be up till the small hours searching.' The database now has listings of more than 1,000 UK suppliers. The website still does not pay for itself - it is, as the two women admit, a labour of love. Every day, however, a few hundred women log on and search for the clothes that will be right for them.

And those designs for pear-shaped women? Still no sign - which, as they readily admit, is a source of some disappointment, to both them and their customers. 'We can only tell people what is out there. We don't manufacture or supply clothes ourselves,' says Wisdom. 'That's the logical next step.' Watch this space ...

www.uniquelywoman.co.uk