15830/05THE proprietor of a specialist shop for the fuller figure in Devizes has come to the aid of one of the guests at the wedding of Camilla Parker-Bowles and Prince Charles.

Christine Cooper, who owns Rubenesque in Bath Road, said that a member of Mrs Parker-Bowles's entourage had been scouring the West Country and London for something to wear at the wedding in Windsor on Saturday.

But she only found it when she came through the door of Rubenesque in Bath Road, Devizes.

Mrs Cooper said: "I knew what she needed the minute she walked in. I had it on the rail and it only needed a few minor adjustments. She looked beautiful in it and she was so grateful."

Mrs Cooper set up the shop over 13 years ago and has built it up into one of the most renowned fashion stores for women who take dress size 16 and over.

But now she and her husband Eric are planning to retire and are selling the shop.

Mrs Cooper is very anxious to sell the shop as a going concern and says she is willing to pass on her wealth of retailing knowledge and experience to the new owner.

She said: "This is the easiest and most pleasurable business I have ever owned. No one believes me, but it is like falling off a log.

"I've made all the mistakes, now it is all plain sailing, it really is. And the business comes with a beautiful four-bedroom home in an idyllic location. What more can you ask?"

Mrs Cooper and her husband Eric used to run the post office stores in Eastleigh Road now the One Stop shop and before that had a newsagents in Henley on Thames.

They both come from families with backgrounds in the newspaper industry, so setting up Rubenesque was a dramatic departure for the couple.

Mrs Cooper admits that, if she had not got her own source of funding, she could have gone under three times in the early years of the business.

She said: "It took me a long time to find the right suppliers. So often skinny designers are designing for us larger girls and they simply do not understand our shapes.

"For instance, because our arms are bigger at the top, it doesn't mean they are as long as a gorilla's."

Once she had established a sound footing with her suppliers, Mrs Cooper was able to have clothes made to her own requirements, and often to her own designs.

Shoppers are often pleasantly surprised by the range of styles and the competitiveness of the prices. Now Rubenesque has its own website, which attracts between 2,500 and 3,000 hits a month, she gets orders from all over the country.

Mrs Cooper said: "Before Christmas last year I had two ladies fly down to Bristol from Edinburgh. Neither knew the other, and they both must have been on the same flight.

"They both needed ball gowns to go to ceremonies for awards they were to receive. I thought it was a joke when I answered their phone calls, which were almost identical, and both called on the same day within the same hour."

Both customers went back with their dream dress, one in size 28 and the other in size 30.

The Coopers are keeping their retirement plans under wraps at present but they need to finalise matters surrounding the shop fairly soon.

Mrs Cooper is anxious not to let down existing customers and would offer advice to anyone willing to take on the business. She can be contacted on (01380) 728972 or visit the website www.fullerfigure.co.uk