Go Big or Go Home
image via Skims at Net-A-Porter
5 minute read time
Among the small comforts of lockdown are big knickers, apparently. Google searches, retail sales and column inches about granny pants have all risen exponentially since the pandemic first upended our daily routines and made casualties of our closets.
Today, the term oversized undies conjures a variety of images, from Bridget Jones in her mumsy control pants to Carrie Bradshaw in her boyfriend’s Y-Fronts. Neither is most women’s cup of tea (although Danish uber-influencer Perneile Teisbaek recently posted a picture of herself wearing an almost identical pair to Bradshaw’s, so perhaps with her endorsement, borrowing from your boyfriend’s underwear drawer will go mainstream). The full, high-waisted briefs that characterised post-war pinups of the 1950s, however, have the comfort and subdued sexiness that is beginning to define how we dress in the first 14 months of this new and unusual decade.
Up until and including the 1950s, women’s underwear was prescribed by the enforced dress codes of the day, but the liberalisation of society over subsequent decades, and women’s emancipation from these authoritarian sartorial dictates, played out in women’s wardrobes with the shrinking of their smalls – hipster briefs in the 1970s and thigh-high cuts in the 1980s. By the 1990s, scrunchies had more substance than undies, unless you were a celebrity walking the red carpet, in which case your biggest (literally) ally was a piece of beige body-sucking shapewear that stretched from rib cage to thigh. These were secret weapons, however, not spoken-of sartorial solutions.
La Perla stretch-tulle briefs, €160 at net-a-porter.com
Last year I wrote about the pandemic trend of going braless, having seen the ‘issue’ debated in a variety of mainstream media. Twelve months on and everybody still seems to be transfixed by what women wear beneath their outerwear. Perhaps the focus on the size of our knickers right now is a response to the publication of a special 25th-anniversary edition of Bridget Jones’ Diary, with a new cover that’s illustrated with Jones’s signature big white pants. For all that Bridget Jones was to women – to some a feminist icon, to others a good-time gal they’d like to hang out with – it saddens me a little that she’s been reduced to a parody of female insecurity represented by ample-bottomed, tummy-smoothing undies.
Susan Hunter of Susan Hunter Lingerie in The Westbury Mall in Dublin tells me that right now her clients are looking for dependable underwear, as well as nightwear. “People are replenishing what they already have – a good bra style or a reliable knicker. ‘More of the same, please’ is the request,” she explains. The C-word (comfort) often gets a bad rap and is misinterpreted as a synonym for frumpy or dowdy. But our perception of comfort can be as confused as our understanding of sexiness.
Buying manager for Selfridges lingerie department, Heather Gramston, told The Guardian, “The definition of sexy has evolved. It is now defined as how a woman feels when she is wearing something – as opposed to what she looks like in archetypal lingerie created with men in mind.” The reason a high-waisted full brief feels sexier than a tooth-floss-style thong to many women is because it offers support. When the contours of your silhouette are underpinned correctly, the result is confidence in both body and attitude, and that’s an empowering place to be.
Super soft star knickers, €20 at stripeandstare.com
What is perceived to be sexy evolves with each decade: once it was Elizabeth Taylor in a bullet bra; in the nineties, it was Kate Moss in Calvin Klein briefs and a singlet; five years ago, it was Kendall Jenner in her Victoria’s Secret angel wings.
I think for this decade, however, binary notions of what is sexy and what is stuffy feel archaic and irrelevant.
The reality is that traditionally overt sexiness doesn’t feel erotic to every woman and doesn’t appeal to every man either. I remember a wonderful article written by the late AA Gill on what men really like women to wear, which ran in the Sunday Times Style magazine way back in 2012 (I kept the issue it was so good). The quote that stood out most to me was the following: “Fancy underwear is take it or leave it...no man is ever going to notice how pretty your suspender belt is.” Sensuality rather than sexiness feels more of the moment. It’s less prescriptive, more subjective and involves each of our senses – touch as much as sight.
Recycled cashmere ribbed knickers, €49 at Cos
Karen Jackson, founder of Irish brand Wear With Cashmere, agrees and is building a collection of organic cashmere separates that fulfil her customers’ new wardrobe needs. “Women today want every piece in their wardrobe to feel wonderful, look great, be worth the spend and worthy of love for years to come.” Alongside her beautiful and brilliant-value cashmere sweaters (€220) and accessories, she’s looking at adding cashmere shorts to her offering for spring. “Not everyone wants to spend the day in joggers, even if they are cashmere, so shorts will make a cool, comfortable and chic option for women working from home in springtime.”
New York fashion brand Khaite made headlines when actress Katie Holmes was photographed wearing its cashmere bralette a couple of years ago, and the brand’s cashmere briefs went down a storm in (affluent!) locked-down households late last year. They’re still available on Mytheresa.com for an eye-watering €360.
For all its downsides, the pandemic has prompted a seismic shift in how women dress, as we prioritise clothes that are joyful to wear. Jo Ellison, editor of the FTs How To Spend It, wrote an editorial in last week’s issue in which she stated, “I want clothes that comfort, nurture and caress me.” This luxe loungewear aesthetic we’ve adopted in our ready-to-wear has extended to our underwear. Libby Page, senior market editor at Net-A-Porter confirmed this, telling Vogue.com recently that “...the trend for really wearable pieces...has trickled down into lingerie. Customers are after cotton, high-waisted briefs.”
Cotton full briefs, €16 at Marks & Spencer
Simple, everyday luxury is what we’re talking about, from organic cotton underwear to cosy cashmere socks. What titillates today is tactile fabrics in shapes that flatter every body. Women are shopping with only themselves in mind, they’re owning their choices and feeling fabulous in lingerie that suits their personality as well as their body shape. Generic sexiness is out, uniquely sensual is in.
This year that means, when it comes to your smalls, go big or go home.
Marie Kelly, February 2021
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