The word Panties

[Sarah V]

Saying the word alone and thinking about it (repeatedly) it does sound kind of funny when you think about it. But I do not find the word panties creepy in the slightest at all, and I do rather like the word panties as I find it very feminine to say and to listen to it being said when used in conversation. That being said though, I don't use it a whole lot either. I stick to " my underwear", "my undies (for short)", or sometimes just "pants", as in the "matching pant" - which is de rigure in my book for a lady to have matching bra and pant sets.

[Shananigans]

Tiffany, I wouldn't stress out too much about what it looks like to find yourself in the intimates department. I mean, we know that there are tons of reasons why men might find themselves in those sections...I try not to assume anything. My SO found himself lingering around the feminine hygiene section looking for Monistat cream. The truth was that our pug had a yeast infection in his wrinkle above his nose...and, I'm cheap enough that I try to fix things at home instead of running to the vet. Could he have looked liked wildly out of place?...Was he just some kind guy shopping for his girlfriend?...Was he just bewildered at the amount of products out there to make your vag sparkle? (I think probably so on the last one... But, no one in a million years would have guessed he was shopping for a pug). So, same with underwear at Walmart...there's guys that are a little creepy, but there's also guys that just wind up there and get what they need (for whatever reason).

I'm actually unfamiliar with the underwear packs. I do know the younger girls in my family get their underwear that way, but most of the grown women I know just buy theirs separately. They have made a lot of things more reasonable in price...I wait for sales at VS or use coupons so that I spend less than $5 a pair. The reason I don't like the packs is because I have virtually no idea what is going on with the sizing. I went and bought a pack of size 6 underwear just for working out in (no one really wants to sweat up their nice underwear). But, the size 6 was literally like parachute panties.:.it was not for a size 6 woman lol. I should've read the back, but I didn't. And, I threw all the packaging away before I took the time to figure it out. So, now, I have these really random HUGE panties (there's that word). I could have bought some that I liked for less and with less hassle. Man, I hate underwear packages!

So, I really do like to buy underwear that I like...that I think is cute. You do just have certain staples that you just have to have...like nude thongs, white bikini cut, black anything. I always get sad if any of my underwear gets messed up, because those are then cast down as "that time of the month" underwear...and, I'm never at a place where I can do random tricks to try to save my underwear with peroxide or whatever is used for blood. So, it's usually the cute panties that fall into this category...and, eventually, I feel weird about wearing them and throw them away. There are some types of underwear that are just not practical and do not belong outside of the bedroom...for example, underwear that ties on to you...underwear that has some sort of jewels and craziness all over them...underwear that may or may not have a crotch. So, obviously, those are sexy underwear for special occasions. But, overall, I think most of us try to buy things that are cute..maybe even a little sexy. I'm a fan of Hanky Pankys...they're my "every day wear" sort of thing...but, I wouldn't feel embarrassed to strip down in them...I wouldn't feel "unsexy."

Really, the thing I don't spend time on is making everything match. I like to mix and match...I rarely buy things as a set. So, days that I have a lime green bra and a hot pink thong...it's an alright day...I mixed and matched. Days that I wear a set, might be really good days...I apparently have my crap together that morning. But, laundry day? Forget it. I'll wear literal bikini bottoms if it comes to it. And, I feel this is probably the same "fault" in underwear shopping that my friends have. We go through underwear so fast...we buy things separately...so, in the end, it doesn't necessarily match perfectly. But, it's just how things work out...not really ambivalence...everyone likes to spend money in things they like...but, sometimes Flow sneaks up on you and she doesn't care that you're wearing your matching set. So, now, your matching set is gone. It sucks and it's sad...but, that's the beauty of VS mix and match sales, I guess.

Something that I just thought of...a local Walmart has a somewhat small rack of little girls underwear (including bras, for the just hitting puberty types who are still too young for the grown up stuff). This has a banner above it (on the shelf, but still in typical Walmart style) that says something like "Foundations." Well, those of you have been in Walmart know where the women's stuff is located is called "Intimates." In both sections (Hey, ADD guy over here...I notice stuff others don't just because I have lingering eyes) they have the multipack of Hanes and Fruit Of The Loom panties. I am going to guess that both sections have similar packs too (I'm not going to look in the girls section to see if they have packs of briefs, bikinis, and hipsters or just one of the three or whatever. How weird would that be? It's weird enough for me to shop for women's underwear, being in the girls section would make me feel creepy.)

Anyway, I'm sure that Hanes and FTL make their womens underwear and girls underwear out of the same materials with the same quality and even some overlapping just a touch in size (like the really large older girls who parents feel are still too young to buy the stuff with a woman modeling them on the package). The difference though is how people look at the departments. A mother (or even a father, I don't want to alienate the men who shop for their daughters, or sons...I don't want to alienate the boys who like the pretty stuff) shopping for her kid isn't thinking of how "attractive" the underwear is. For that age range, underwear is still very utilitarian. It serves only one purpose, to modestly cover up what should be covered. A grown woman or a teenager shopping for herself, though, is probably thinking a few different things about the types of underwear she buys.

These are (at least from my perspective of looking at underwear) what I think goes through a typical girls mind when shopping for underwear:
1) These are comfortable to lounge around in or wear when I want to go to the grocery store.
These would be the every day styles (not too sexy, but still fun).
2) These are going to be the one I don't mind tossing if I have a little complication.
These would be the cheapest crap you could buy and probably aren't all that comfortable, but are easy to part with.
3) These are the ones I will wear when I need something that doesn't show that I'm wearing them but I know I am wearing them.
These would be things like thongs.
4) These are what I will wear when I want to surprise him or when I want to feel sexy.
This is where the lacy numbers come into play. Other items of lingerie get added in as well.

[Rachel2000]

I love the word panties, I love wearing panties, I love seeing panties on women, I love shopping for panties, I love saying "panties"!

I couldn't have said it better!!

[Nanaya]

If the word panties doesn't work, go for pantsu! Pantsu is the best!

[StarrOfDelite]

I think the only time in my life I ever referred to women's underwear as panties was probably when I was in grade school. Nowadays, if I'm referring to anything other than the utilitarian cotton stuff that I still call women's underwear, I would call the items thongs or bikinis, but NEVER panties. In my mind it's a fetish sissy's word nowadays. Not that there's anything wrong with being a fetish sissy if that's what a person is into. Different strokes, as they say.

[Melissa_59]

When on this site, "underwear". There seems to be a large population here that don't like girly sounding words.

I find that funny since my Mother, my sister, and both of my ex-wives called them "panties" and they most definitely are women. But there are others here who seem to think that it's too creepy to refer to "underwear" as panties. Most amusing.

~Linebacker Melissa