Not granny panties!

 

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17 yr old daughter and I recently spent a little mother/daughter time shopping in the big city. We cranked the tunes on the 2 hr drive to our nearest big city, sang and took pictures as we drove. It was great to connect with her. We hit a number of stores, you know the usual, Wallmart, groceries, a few mom and pop stores to drop off some copies of my latest paperback, lunch, the equine supply shop and then my daughter spied the LeSenza store. I’m only 40 but touring a ‘bra’ store with my daughter was… well… not the experience I’d like to repeat in the near future. Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of pretty bras, water filled ones, gel ones, padded ones, lift ones and strapless wonders, but what sent a chill down my spine were the underwear. I’m talking about the panties. Yes, lacy little confections in pretty colors are nice and all but… there were tables and tables of tiny triangles held together with a string. Bright neon colors, straps that were little more than strings and tiny bits of lace that were designed to cover, well, nothing really.

Ok, I am not a prude, far from it, my kids can wear whatever they want as long as they don’t look like the neighbourhood hooker, heck my one son even sported an orange Mohawk when he was in grade 4, but really? Underwear are supposed to cover, well, you know, that region mom’s don’t want boys to be ogling on their teenage daughters… am I right here? And the prices? I usually pay $8 for a 6 pack of what my daughter calls ‘granny panties’. Yes, smart serviceable cotton briefs that cover what God intended they cover. 

 Anyway, after paying $60 for 9 pairs of panties… um lace postage stamps, I got thinking about how different under garments are from the regency and Georgian periods I write most of my romances in. Underwear back then was basically short pants and a thin chemise with a bit of a boost for those lovely ‘puppies’ used to lure a prospective husband, and let’s not forget those wonderful torture devices the corsets. It seems as the centuries accumulated the clothing thinned. That’s progress I guess. Have underwear become more comfortable? Well, the lack of corsets sure help, but honestly, I did try a G-string once and that little piece of string between my butt cheeks drove me crazy! I thought it was horribly uncomfortable and I will never get over that practically naked feeling. I’ll stick to my comfortable cotton ‘granny panties’ thank you! What do you think about the underwear of today compared to the regency period?