Gone are the days when all you needed was a stalwart pair of knickers and a practical slip.  Today’s underwear comes in mid-rise, low-slung, cheek baring, full cut, boy short…and that’s just a few of your options!  What you wear under your clothes is every bit as – if not more – important as what you wear over them.  Here is a basic run down on the panties you need in your underwear wardrobe.

First into the lingerie drawer is the good old-fashioned full and high cut cotton panty a.k.a. the granny panties.  No, they are not sexy but they do have their rightful place.  If you have ever worked out in a thong, you know exactly what I mean.  The full cut cotton is a comfortable, breathable panty for workouts; lounging around the house; under a long t-shirt for bed; and of course for those bloated, uncomfortable days.

Make space in the drawer for the full cut’s modern cousin, the boy-short. Boy short panties resemble a tight pair of tiny shorts.  The back fully covers the lower cheeks while the waist sits under the belly button.  Boy shorts are a great option for the thong adverse, as they do not show panty lines.  Since the waist sits low, the flatter and trimmer the midsection, the more comfortable the fit.

You know we cannot run this article without mentioning the thong.  Women have a love-hate relationship with this tiny wisp of a garment.  The women that love it really love it.  The ones that do not wouldn’t be caught dead in them.  If you have never tried a thong, you do have to get used to a slight discomfort, but within minutes, you forget you are wearing one because it really feels like you are wearing nothing at all.  Not only are thongs known for their sex appeal, they are the height of comfort on a scorching summer day (when you do not want to wear any more clothes than necessary) and they are the ultimate choice for panty-line avoidance.  A near twin to and often confused with the thong is the g-string. A thong has a wider fabric base attaching it to the waistband of the panty (the whale tail) while the g-string is a single string of fabric or leather that disappears completely between the buttocks and has no excess fabric at the small of the back.

The popularity of low-rise jeans ushered in the era of low-rise panties.  For every rise of jean (mid, low, ultra low), you can find a compatible panty.  This ensures that your panty line is never above the waistband of your jeans.

Finally, we come to the specialty panties.  Excepting, of course, edible panties, as I am sure those require no explanation!  Specialty panties are those bits of lacy, leather, or feathery whips you see in high-end lingerie stores.  They often have something extraordinary about them.  Lace ones tend to bare the lower half of the buttocks, leather ones are …well…leather! And so on.  These are the panties you want to have on when you know you are going to have a captive audience when your jeans hit the floor.

Your underwear wardrobe should contain a mix of the panties mentioned above as each one has its own place and function.  Never sacrifice comfort or fit, as a pair of panties that rides up in the back or rolls down in the front all day is enough to drive the sanest woman over the brink.  The next time you are out shopping, swing by your lingerie dealer, not your standard big box retailer with panties three to a pack in cellophane wrapping, and check out your options.