The three of us had met through our husbands, that was over twenty years ago and we'd become close friends since; bringing up our families together, we had five children between us, all away to college or working.
Now in our mid-forties that meeting felt like a lifetime ago; we'd all become empty nesters. School runs were replaced with swimming, yoga and lots of lunches together, usually with wine. We sometimes got approached by guys and it was flattering although none of us had any inclination of taking up any of their kind or otherwise offers.
There was myself 'Christine' married to Rob, Helen married to Mark and Jane married to Kelvin. Rob was the love of my life and I was so proud of him, he ran his own business and worked really hard to expand and grow it. He was also a solid reassuring presence in my life.
Our husbands played golf together and we met socially most weekends. There was a healthy rivalry between us and the guys, they often joked around and set us up. That developed into various competitive games, some with consequences for the losers.
I thought us girls pushed it a bit too far after winning a games night and making the guys dress in pink tutus to collect for charity outside the town's football ground on a match day. We thought it hilarious and took lots of photographs. The guys carried it off with good humour for the most part, but looked decidedly uncomfortable.
Then we were on a roll, winning the next two games nights, we made them wear the sports kit of our bitter arrivals in the local bar. They got a lot of abuse, not all of it good natured. I honestly thought I was going to have a fit when Rob pulled the top off and threw it to the ground, sitting in the bar in just jeans and trainers. Jane insisted he was reneging on the bet but I warned her to let it go, we had definitely gone too far and the owner was threatening to throw us all out.
We knew that the repercussions of any loss were likely to be severely embarrassing. They didn't disappoint, they said we had to act as hostesses for a charity ball. They gave us three choices of outfits: bunny-girls, cheerleaders or schoolgirls. We were certainly too old for the latter two choices. I argued with Rob but he insisted a bet was a bet and reminded me of both the tutu's and bar debacle.
Kelvin bought us some cheap fancy dress bunny-girl outfits; we tried them on at Jane's house when the guys were out.
Helen was furious, "No fucking way am I being seen like this in public, the material is so thin, you can see my... well everything. They surely can't want us to be seen like this, it's so disrespectful."
"We can't back out now... we'd never hear the end of it."
"Shit, what can we do?"
"We could try modifying them with some shoulder straps, maybe a skirt to cover more up."
Jane's eyes brightened, "We could... or we could really go for it, they will expect us to be awkward and cover up. I say we vamp it up and own it, get the best outfits we can find; better still get them hand-made, not this cheap crap. You could make them for us, couldn't you Helen?"
"Well I could, but my friend Mary is a seamstress and teaches at college, she'll do a much better job than me."
"Great let's ask her to make an outfit for Christine and if it looks ok, we'll go for the other two. Get her to make them like the original bunny-girls; those girls were thoroughly supported with sturdy corsets built in."
***
I was back at Jane's, teetering on the 5 inch stiletto heels in a black satin bunny-girl outfit and feeling very exposed.
Jane made the obvious comment, "Jesus Christ Christine... your tits look massive."
"Don't... I can hardly see where I am going, they aren't usually pushed up there, they are jiggling all over the place and I can hardly breathe."
As I got older my boobs got bigger, but the padded bunny girl cups and structured corset made me look like Jessica Rabbit.
Mary fussed around and started making adjustments, "You'll get used to it, it's either that or let it out and everything will relax a little."
Helen added, "The slight rucking across the stomach is perfect Mary. It's really pulling in her waist and accentuating her hips."
Jane was laughing at my discomfort, "It's a pretty tight fit around your ermm... hips, we are all going to have to shave thoroughly though."
"I don't know what you're laughing it, we have to try and get you into one of these and you're much bigger than me, what are you these days 34dd?"
Mary looked up aghast, "She is certainly not, really girls you should get measured properly for bras. Jane is actually 36d, she is broader across her back and Helen is 32b. The support and fitting will make you all look at least one cup size up. Try not to bend over too much or the supports will dig in some."
Jane had another brainwave, "I know, we'll get Elizabeth to pin our hair up with some curls hanging to give us that classic look... and Kelly's for a make-over to make sure its full vamp mode: red gel nails and scarlet lipstick. Give us a twirl then."
I teetered around, trying to get used to the heels, "Wow that's cut really works for your arse, your cheeks are below the cut, it makes your legs look longer as well."
"I don't know if I can be seen with this much on show."
"Just look at it as being on a beach, bikinis actually show more."
"Yeah and I wouldn't wear one of those in a room of two hundred people who are all fully clothed."
Everyone laughed, "And I wouldn't be dressed with a collar, cuffs, bunny ears and certainly not with a cute little rabbit tail."
"Well I think we can agree Mary has made a stunning job of it, so we should get another in red for me and a pink one for Helen, both with the satin material rather than velvet."
"What about pantyhose, I want something on my legs."
"Seamed black is the tradition or fishnets, the seams are sexier."
I sighed, "What the hell, let's go for it!"