I Don’t Match My Underwear And You Shouldn’t Too
In the glossy world of the lingerie brand brochure, models parade their perfectly matching lingerie set; a co-ordinating bra and brief, maybe a suspender belt too. The message is clear: underwear is orderly and our knicker drawers better reflect that.
According to a recent Ultimo study, a mammoth 85% of UK women wear matching lingerie sets. That means the majority of women ensure they purchase a few pairs of knickers at the time of buying a bra.
So this may shock you: I don’t match my underwear.
As a lingerie blogger I can appreciate the aesthetic charm of a matching lingerie set, but I never buy my knickers as an after thought to the bra.
Lingerie is so broadly categorised by its array of benefits and solutions, that a brief is not just a brief, like a bra is not simply a bra.
Finding a fantastic bra that fits and ticks all the boxes is not a simple task, so to expect a pair of pants to equally fit as perfectly is not realistic.
If I need to wear a seamless bra, it doesn’t mean I need to wear my seamless briefs. If I fancy rocking my leopard print knickers, it doesn’t mean I want a leopard print bra showing through my white blouse.
Sometimes on bloated period days I just feel like flumping out in a comfy big knicker and when I want to shape up, a gut sucking girdle is on the cards.
And what about your favourite pair of novelty knickers? The ones with cute bunnies all over them, or with the kiss my ass message across the cheeks? No bra will match them but there’s always a day to wear them!
Things look pretty when they match – like twins dressed in identical clothes, a co-ordinating bra and brief just looks right. (No: amazing.) “They look the same so should be together.”
But a bra and brief is not a pair of socks. What our boobs want or bottom needs can not be solved by a set from the same hanger.
What I wear on the top half of me does not dictate what I wear on my bottom half. I don’t wear the same colour from top to toe, or have the same demands of my bra or brief, so why would I expect the same lingerie set to suffice?
Whether or not I’m one of the lowly 15% who admit to wearing mis-matching undies, I won’t be changing my ways any time soon. My M&S multipack pants don’t have a problem pairing up with my glam Gossard balcony leading the way, until I need that gut sucking girdle anyway.
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Kirsty
November 23, 2014 at 8:49 amI was surprised by the statistics that 85% of women wear matching. Having a Lingerie shop, I would say that I probably sell around 50/50.
As you say, the comfortable, beautifully fitting bra may not have the bottoms you like, or you may not be able to afford both.
However, although I don’t think badly of those who don’t coordinate, personally I can’t not. Even through nursing my children, I had to have matching. It sets me up for the day, makes me smile, and I will change my clothes to fit around the underwear I wish to wear that day.
Don’t get me wrong, I do have my little miss naughty shorties, which I love, I just don’t get to wear them very often.
Lingerie is about feeling comfortable and beautiful. That’s different for everyone, so if you love to match, like me. Go for it. If you are more of a funky mismatch kinda girl, that’s cool too
Panty Buns
November 30, 2014 at 6:41 pmI have been remiss! My lingerie wardrobe is missing good pairs of novelty knickers . This MUST be remedied! Those Knickerocker Panda Pants are adorable.
I too hardly ever match my underwear either. I purchase my knickers first but it is rare that there is a matching bra available. Even when there is a matching bra available it’s rare that it would be right for me.
Please forgive me for having doubts and questions with respect to the results of that study. I’m quite certain that people who said they wore matching sets (at one time in their life?) don’t always do so. I have no doubt that most customers buying lingerie would like to own and have the option of wearing matching lingerie sets, but given the large number of lingerie brands selling panties or bras that don’t have a match or have very limited sizes in a number of colours, I doubt very much that many lingerie drawers reflect peoples’ desires to own matching sets.
Depending on when and where people intend to have their lingerie seen (and what good is owning gorgeous lingerie if nobody sees it?) they may want to style it with different outfit pieces as you noted so astutely above. I agree wholeheartedly that since the top and bottom halves of outfits so often provide complementary contrasts to each other, one may well want to vary what’s being worn underneath to coordinate with the outfit (or vice-versa).
Naturally I would love it if I could always find the best fit, slippery soft feel of the fabric and beautiful look in the colours and styles I want that was suitable for me and matched. That, however, rarely occurs.
I can also see how cost could be a factor with respect to some of the luxury lingerie brands which are more likely to carry lingerie collections with matching pieces, however I have yet to find the very full cut full coverage high-waisted pants I prefer in most of those brands along with the particular style of bra that would be practical for me. Perhaps I should look into purchasing a “gut sucking girdle” as well. 😀