Here are indie innerwear platforms that aim to cater to the Indian body type

As most women will attest shopping for innerwear can be a stressful frustrating and confusing experience especially if you arenrsquot willing to either sacrifice comfort or style Add this to the fact that a whopping 68 per cent of women as per a 2019 survey claim to find their bras uncomfortable and itrsquos easy to see why buying new lingerie is realistically neither as naughty nor as scandalous as the movies would have you believe Fortunately a few indie platforms have risen to the challenge drawing on design philosophies and patterns that put the Indian body first Priyanka ThakranTraditional and versatileAngiya made with traditional fabrics and printsDespite the profusion of brands on store shelves most rely on a familiar rotation of spandex latex foam mesh and lace compelling women to choose between comfort and style before they make a purchase But thanks to the efforts of Angiya bras have received an organic facelift underpinned by ancient Indian construction techniques ldquoAngiya were worn by women in ancient India In fact they are mentioned in Kalidasarsquos Shakuntala and Meghadoot The angi was a garment that women created themselves and daughters learned how to stitch their own bras from their mothers This changed during British rule and the tradition of making and wearing angiya faded from public memoryrdquo shares Priyanka Thakran the platformrsquos founder Chancing upon her greatgrandmotherrsquos angi and recognising how much more comfortable it felt as compared to modern bras she decided to revive angiya These lsquoIndian brasrsquo are handcrafted from organic fabrics which include a variety of cottons and silks The underwire is created using a traditional Rajasthani quilting technique so that the bras are metalfree The website offers you the option of choosing your coverage a croptop bustier or Tshirt bra fit and the garments can be worn as both inner and outerwear Thakran adds that theyrsquore in the process of creating a line of corsets that can be worn as saree blouses as well Log on to theindianbracomThese are traditional Indian brasInclusive and empoweringShapewear should be true to size for the best fit PicsInstagramSocial media may be flooded with the Kardashiansrsquo homegrown shapewear brand but if you have any experience purchasing shapewear yoursquoll realise that most North American or European brands arenrsquot suited to Indian body types ButtChique an allIndian label hopes to address this with their comprehensive range of shapewear that takes Indian bodies and skin types into accountldquoThe purpose of shapewear is not to make you look thinner but to correct your posture and accentuate your curves When buying shapewear donrsquot give in to the notion that a smaller size will do a better job of holding your curves in mdash the actual shaping is done by the compression panel in the shapewearrdquo advises founder Kamakshi Agarwala adding that the importance of picking the right size is what led her to create her brandrsquos own size chart and not borrow from standard European or American sizing In addition to shapewear they also offer body tape and pasties to help women of all body types to wear more risqueacute outfits with comfort and ease The body tape and pasties are singleuse and can be comfortably worn for up to eight hours Log on to buttchiquecomCheck out these womenled labels The Underworldco for their funky prints and emphasis on comfort especially for underwear Inner Sense for antimicrobial lingerie made of organic cotton Xxllentcom for plussized lingerie Brag for comfortable wirefree bralettes