Ready to wear: dear annie

I am looking for a white body (long- or short-sleeved) which is thick enough not to show every lump and bump of an underwired or not-absolutely- 100 per cent-smooth-and-silky bra. (I am a 32F but don't feel this is too big to wear a white body.)

Zoe, London

I was going to suggest you try some great ones from M&S containing Supplex, which were thicker than usual, but as always happens when you get into something, they no longer stock them. You might want to try a ribbed body, as the ribbing will detract from bra paraphernalia. M&S does one (style 0129, pounds 16) which goes up to a size 20 and comes in white and also black, navy, red, sand, cream, pale green and pale yellow. Good for you for wearing a white body with such colossal mammaries.

Can you advise me on how to dress to disguise the fact that my breasts are different sizes? Underwear isn't a problem as I wear a soft bra (I'm very small anyway), so it doesn't matter that one side is slightly too big. With a leotard I wear something loose on top, and when I go swimming I grit my teeth and scuttle between changing room and pool as fast as possible. Ordinary clothes are the problem. I can never wear anything that fits; I live in very loose things. I've heard that patterned fabric is best for this kind of thing, but I tried something on in a shop this morning with narrow horizontal stripes, and it just seemed to accentuate the difference in size, and really upset me - I looked horrible. I don't know how obvious it is to other people but to me it's the most noticeable thing about me. Can you give me any tips?

Jane Gibson, West Yorkshire

I guess you're hoping that I can provide some miracle solution. I can't. I do understand what it is like to try something on and feel that you look awful. I rarely buy clothes - I can't bear to try them on in shops as my mood for the rest of the day is reliant on what I look like. The mistake you made, I think, is that stripes most probably will make things worse - they can act like a grid system, accentuating all the wrong bits, by which I mean the bits you don't like. How different in size can your breasts be? Not much. The problem is in your head, and while I realise that this still makes it a problem (when we feel fat and ugly, nothing anyone says can help; even if St Versace came down from his gilt palazzo and dressed us, we'd still feel fat and ugly), it is a problem that cannot be helped by any tips I can give you. Yes, patterned (abstract, floral etc) fabrics do "fuzz" silhouettes and take the focus away from your shape and on to the pattern. You could also, I guess, pad one cup out slightly to make it look like the bigger breast. But there is no reason at all to skulk around wearing loose tops. The only thing that will effectively disguise your shape is to carry on wearing loose clothes, but do you really want to do this? What a waste. Unless you are a freak, in which case I'd already have read about you in the Sunday Sport, any difference in the size of your breasts will be imperceptible. It is completely natural for one bosom to be slightly bigger than the other, usually the side that is more well-developed (ie if you are right-handed the right-hand side of your body will usually be slightly larger). I am sorry if you were hoping for names and addresses of companies that do clothes to disguise this problem but I cannot advise you to hide something that is completely natural.

I have two tiny problems, which I hope you can help me with. My husband's ageing Barbour jacket has got its zip stuck and we can't shift it. This is particularly annoying as I wear it most and it was only when he put it on for some gardening in the rain that the zip decided to misbehave. It seems to be one notch out of sync and won't unfasten at either end. Does Barbour run a repairs service for 11-year-old jackets, or could anyone else do something about it? Secondly, we moved to deepest, darkest Dorset two months ago and although I wouldn't be winkled out of here for anything, I do miss shopping. So, I'm now addicted to Racing Green by catalogue and would like to try Boden. Could you reprint their phone number?

Kate Marsh, Dorset

Yes, Barbour does run a repairs service. In fact it has a very sophisticated after-sales service (good quality, functional labels such as Barbour and Burberry do, you'll find). Barbour reproofs, repairs and makes alterations to nearly 1,000 of its waxed cotton jackets every week. The customer service department tells me that it has received jackets dating back to the 1930s, so your 11-year-old jacket will be no problem. You should send your husband's jacket with a note, explaining the problem and your address and phone number, to: Customer Service Department, J Barbour & Sons, Simonside, South Shields, Tyne & Wear NE34 9PD, tel: 0191 455 4444. It will cost around pounds 32 to replace the zip and reproof your jacket (a good idea after 11 years). Boden's number is 0181 964 2662. You might also like to try Wealth of Nations (another of my personal favourites), tel: 0171 371 5333; Cashmere by Design 0171 240 3652 and Kingshill, which has designs by well- known designers, tel: 01494 890555.

5 Jo Grigg's sweaty feet (Dear Annie, 5 May) have prompted a few letters. Cathy Holohan, from Newcastle upon Tyne, recommends an anti-perspirant called Driclor: "My GP prescribed it for hyperhidrosis [excessive perspiration] - in my case it was my underarms which were affected, but it can be used on palms or feet. It's a roll-on which is applied to the affected area before bed and then washed off the next day. Start using it every night, then gradually reduce the frequency until you find the minimum you need. It solved my problem ... I believe it's now possible to buy it over the counter."