I've done very well with online bra shopping too. The bras are often between 1/3 and 1/2 of their RRP, so even if you have to pay a certain amount for sending stuff back now and then, you still save a fortune. I generally stuck to the same brand, Panache, when I was using underwired bras, and while their sizing is generally very consistent, it does have the odd blip, so I'd ring up the bra shops and ask whether a certain model was running large or small.
Tell you one nice thing about those maternity sleep bras I mentioned: because each size of stretchy bra covers several standard bra sizes, you don't need nearly as much accuracy with the sizing. Of the ones I have, the Fertile Mind Superbra only comes in small and large, so there's very little to worry about there, although I presume that once you get past a certain size, you can't wear this. I wore the small when I was overweight and it still fits now, with the exception of the one bra which someone accidentally threw in a cotton wash which is now too small. The Bravado Body Silk comes in four sizes, and incidentally do look carefully at the size chart if you buy one of these, because it's incorrect for UK sizes (goes A B C D E F, which means that its E is really a DD). When I first bought them, the medium was a good fit over the back but too small over the cups, and a large was fine over the cups but too big over the back. I ended up getting a couple of mediums, wore them occasionally on non-premenstrual days, and once I started to lose weight it fitted beautifully and will probably keep on fitting me from now on. I tend to wear moderately low-cut tops, I feel strangled in anything with a high neck, so I spent quite a while hunting for stretchy bras which weren't too high cut for me. The Fertile Mind one is higher cut, it's a crop top style, but I can still wear most of my tops with it, and the Bravado works for pretty much everything except spaghetti strap tops, as the part where the cups turn into the straps is relatively high, if that makes sense.
The bra liners do look nifty, although I find that the bra band is uncomfortable all the way around these days, not just at the front. I think it's a skin pain thing, it's mostly an itchy sensation, and it doesn't help that my stretchy bras are either crop tops or have three hooks at the back, while my underwired bras only have two hooks and it just doesn't seem like nicely spread out support any more. Plus don't you still get the problem that the bra feels too tight around your ribs when you lie down? Mostly the only thing that solves that for me is one of those stretchy bras, although I went through a patch when a certain softcup bra in a certain size (bit too big for me on both back and cups) was OK for that (it's since become uncomfortable again, though).
Jogging bottoms: does anyone have recommendations on fabrics? I was thinking mostly cotton, I generally do well with cotton against my skin. On the other hand, my partner proudly came home with a hoodie the other night, 60% polyester to 40% cotton witha fleecy feel on the inside, and it is seriously warm and snuggly. (In fact, I have just unearthed it from his desk chair and snaffled it for today, though it smells like he's been around both aftershave and smokers so this may not last long.) One problem I'd forgotten about is that before I lost weight, the jeans I had were pretty tight on me and there were a lot of days when they would set my skin itching like crazy and I just couldn't wear them. Being 4'11 and sticking to a brand of trousers which I reckon runs rather large, everything I now have is a little on the loose side, though mostly still at a level which looks good, so that problem seems to have gone. But I'm aware that it could resurface if I pick the wrong style or fabric.
