Congrats on the bike!

As for shorts/capris: Make SURE you buy a pair of lycra with chamois shorts/liners/capris. At least get the lycra shorts/liners and wear them under a pair of regular capris if that's what you really want to wear. When I was much heavier my inner thighs chafed soooooo badly. I didn't so much need the padding of the chamios on the bike shorts as I needed the slippery lycra and nylon wrapped around each thigh to let them slided around better. For a while I wore bike shorts with regular shorts over them, cuz I wasn't showing anything I didn't have to! Now I'm so hot and gorgeous that I dash around in whatever strikes my fancy!

Take a look at the plus sizes at Terry Precision (www.terrybicycles.com). Terry makes serious bike clothes. I'm very happy with the stuff I get from them. If the idea of wearing nylon is unappealing you could try looking at some of the wool biking clothes brands. My favorite is Ibex (www.ibexwear.com) After I get my tax return I'm gonna get a pair of their biking capris. (those suckers are $120... Aaaaak!)

Those Electra Townies sure are cool. Can you post a picture?