Great big, sensible, cotton knickers; I never imagined I’d ever find myself in a pair after I finished school, until I came to Asia. Now I’m the biggest fan in the world. But I can’t get good quality versions here in Siem Reap.

The ones I can track down here fall apart after two weeks. And if you’re not a fan of flouncy, super-shiny, upholstered brassieres with more stuffing than a Winchester sofa, then you’re pretty much buggered on the lingerie shopping front in Siem Reap.

As a consequence, my undie drawer is stuffed with more knackered knickers and strung out bras than is decent by any standard. So, when I heard that Bare Necessities was coming to Siem Reap for a special sale at Soria Moria Hotel, I ran, not walked.

One shopper at the sale named Annie said, “As long as I can find something not padded, I’ll be happy.”

Luckily, with the beautiful products from Australia and New Zealand on sale, I did find something not padded and I was happy. So was Annie.

Bare Necessities allowed me to indulge my once-brilliant passion for pretty bras, offset by local conditions that demand the aforementioned passion killers. Sharee Bauld, the Australian founder of Bare Necessities, was sitting pretty at Soria Moria and reported a brisk trade, supplemented by my delirious visit.

She covered all of the angles from sensible to super-sexy, with knickers, bras, sports bras, corsets, pyjamas, negligees, stockings and, most importantly, proper washing bags. I’m definitely getting old, though, as I turned down a stunning pair of Saturday night specials in favour of three pairs of sensible cotton pants. My former self is spinning in her metaphorical grave.

The nicest thing about the sensible pants, however, is that the proceeds all go to supporting a project that raises awareness for the detection of and response to breast cancer, the number-two killer of Cambodian women (after cervical cancer).

In case you missed it, Sharee is planning another trip to Siem Reap if the demand is there. Email Sharee at [email protected] if you’d like to get on the store’s official mailing list.