Cosmo - The Thong Is Dead

[Toner]

The Thong Is Dead!



Until recently, cheekless undies were everywhere. But as sales dip lower than the hipster jeans that were designed to expose them, a new power pantie is poised to take over.

A little more than 10 years ago, the Macarena was a hit, the Rachel haircut was in, and wearing a thin strip of fabric between your butt cheeks was considered daringly sexy. Thankfully, the dance is now socially unacceptable, and those layers have grown out. But what about the thong? Although our love for it has endured, its popularity appears to be fading, and recent figures show another style is taking over. We conducted an investigation to find out how thongs went from hot to not and target the man-melting undies you must own now.

The Rise of the Whale Tail

The lead-up to the thong's run began more than three decades ago. In the '80s, Jane Fonda became a leotard-clad fitness guru, inspiring women to strip down and get fit. "This built a momentum," says Jill Fields, PhD, author of An Intimate Affair: Women, Lingerie, and Sexuality. "In a few years, the idea of fitness became normal, and the everyday woman wanted to show off her aerobicized body." As a result, women started dressing in clingier, more revealing clothing to accentuate the tight backsides they had earned in step class. Not only did this call for an undergarment that would eliminate the dreaded visible pantie line (VPL), but a skimpy thong was also in keeping with the supersexy sensibility (i.e., casual sex) that dominated the era.

The thong made its way into more and more women's wardrobes and, in 1995, truly had its coming-out party. That's when Victoria's Secret put on its first-ever public runway show, and lingerie became visible in a way it never had been before. "Underwear fashion shows have been around since the 1930s," says Fields, "but back then, it was a private trade show that only undergarment buyers could attend." After the whole world saw that, yes, Heidi and Tyra were flossing, demand for the thong skyrocketed. "Retailers responded by turning them out in an array of fabrics and colors," says Fields. "And denim brands like Juicy Couture and Frankie B began to cut jeans superlow for the sole purpose of exposing the cute new designs."

Two highly publicized events helped grant the thong its iconic status. First, frisky President Bill Clinton was busted for fooling around with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and one of the juiciest tidbits Monica confessed was that she had seduced him by flashing her thong. Soon after, Britney Spears solidified her status as pop's steamiest act by performing in a rhinestone thong under sheer pants at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The hot factor of the T-shaped undie had reached an all-time high.

How Low Can You Go?

Flash-forward about five years. The power coupling of the thong and the low-cut jean came down with a severe case of overexposure. In keeping with the backlash that most big trends experience, fickle designers got sick of seeing everyone's straps. "Jeans had been cut all the way down to the pubic bone," says Gillian Proctor, program leader for contour fashion at De Montfort University in the United Kingdom and coauthor of A Century of Style: Lingerie. "There was no place for the waistband to go but up." Suddenly, if your thong was showing, it meant it was time for you to update your denim to one of the new higher-rise styles.

And for those of us whose thong addiction had more to do with banishing VPLs than keeping up with fashion, an alternative popped up: NVPLs, the industry-wide acronym for undies with no visible pantie lines. Available in styles ranging from standard briefs to boy shorts, NVPLs are made with ultrathin fabric (usually mesh) and cut with a laser, a technique that melts the material so that the edge has a smooth, seamless finish. This ensures that it's invisible under even your tightest pencil skirts or bandage dresses.

The fact that the one advantage the thong had over all other styles of underwear has now been completely eliminated puts a major, er, crack in the thong's appeal.

Unleash Those Cheeks

Like Monica and Britney, a huge contingent of thong fans loved that the minimalist look was considered so sexy. But another saucy style is gaining ground as the undie with the most erotic allure: The butt-hugging boy short (with or without NVPL technology) is the new craze. "Sales of our boy shorts are more than double our thong sales," says Ali Mejia, creative director and cofounder of Eberjey, a lingerie line sold at Shopbop and Saks Fifth Avenue. Guido Campello, vice president of branding and innovation for lingerie line Cosabella, confirms the trend: "Our boy short is our fastest-selling item," he says, "and women have told us guys absolutely love it."

No doubt, male fans appreciate the fact that boy shorts make our asses look so amazing. Let's face it, unless you're blessed with Gisele–like DNA, it's likely that a string bisecting your backside wasn't doing your figure any favors. Most boy shorts have a seam running down the middle of the butt, which accentuates the curvature of the bum for any body, giving the illusion of a Kardashian–style keister, says Campello. And even seamless boy shorts enhance your bootyliciousness by exposing the very bottoms of your cheeks. "For a man, seeing that part of the buttocks is a great turn-on," says Daniel G. Amen, MD, author of Sex on the Brain. "His mind wants to fill in the rest of the picture."

The final thing the boy short has going on that the thong doesn't? It doesn't give you a permanent wedgie — it's actually comfortable. And can we just say boo-yah to that?
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrit...-thongs-0210-2

[ob1]

Finally...some compelling and captivating news worthy of lengthy debate.

[rb.]

Sorry, but that doesn't look comfy, either. I'll stick with the bikini cut I've worn for the last 35 years, m'kay?

[Toner]

Originally Posted by rb.

Sorry, but that doesn't look comfy, either. I'll stick with the bikini cut I've worn for the last 35 years, m'kay?

35 years? How could a pair last that long?

[kaneohegirl]

LOL if you like bikini style you'll probably like these... they came out a few years ago and I like them. they are really comfy

bikini style like to fall off my hips( guess Im too curved for them...) but the boy cut ones stay where they are supposed to and show just the bottom of the cheek... other wise its a regular old high cut style for me...

[Twoolf]

Originally Posted by rb.

I'll stick with the bikini cut I've worn for the last 35 years, m'kay?

Isn't it time to wash them?

[LvDemWings]

The thong does have one thing going for it... it eliminates cheek creep. A small piece of material resting in the crack is far more comfortable than an entire cheek worth.

[sandyd]

Unless they stop making 'em, the girls hooked on them will wear them into old age....

[Ought Six]

sd:

"Unless they stop making 'em, the girls hooked on them will wear them into old age..."

Yeah, if you think it is horrifying now, just wait until she's 85....

[Twoolf]

Originally Posted by Ought Six

sd:Yeah, if you think it is horrifying now, just wait until she's 85....

OK, thats just disgusting..............

[Potemkin]

I never understood them.

Underwear has a mechanical advantage. They collect human exudate and keeps it off clothing. Thongs don't do that.

I also never understood the white ones. Wouldn't a darker color be more advantageous?

[Twoolf]

Originally Posted by Potemkin

I never understood them.

Underwear has a mechanical advantage. They collect human exudate and keeps it off clothing. Thongs don't do that.

I also never understood the white ones. Wouldn't a darker color be more advantageous?

I never understood either. Humans leak. They would seem to be very inefficient for their necessary function, and quickly become really gross.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Potemkin

I never understood them.

Underwear has a mechanical advantage. They collect human exudate and keeps it off clothing. Thongs don't do that.

I also never understood the white ones. Wouldn't a darker color be more advantageous?

For whatever reason, women don't tend to leave skidmarks like men do. Generally, if there's any residue on a woman's panties, it tends to be more towards the front.

Not that I would wear a thong...underwear that, by design, causes a permanent wedgie, is just not something I would want. If I want to avoid a panty line, it's easier to just not wear panties

Shari

[ob1]

Originally Posted by Potemkin

I also never understood the white ones. Wouldn't a darker color be more advantageous?

Well,while a darker color would aid in camouflage ,I prefer to monitor skid marks more closely so as to aid in target cleaning.

[rb.]

Ahem...I've worn the same style for 35 years, not the same pair. God you guys.

Actually, women should always wear red panties...the white ones just get stained that colour anyway. I never have understood skid marks. That's such a guy thing.

[TrashCan Man]

First post was promising, then degenerated into "worst thread ever"

[flourbug]

[Potemkin]

Originally Posted by TrashCan Man

First post was promising, then degenerated into "worst thread EVAR"

FTFY

Originally Posted by rb.

Ahem...I've worn the same style for 35 years, not the same pair. God you guys.

Actually, women should always wear red panties...the white ones just get stained that colour anyway. I never have understood skid marks. That's such a guy thing.

I am not sure you could tell a guy did this or not.

[rb.]

Originally Posted by Potemkin

I am not sure you could tell a guy did this or not.

Oh yeah, definitely a guy. Woman don't usually feel the need to leave marks to prove their womanhood.

[Amberglass]

I told DD that thongs were out, she replied that "she knew"...she read it in Cosmo but that she didnt care, she wasn't going to revert to granny panties.

I own a few thongs, but never wear them. I think they're nasty. I like the boy shorts or high cut's.

[Ought Six]

rb.:

"Oh yeah, definitely a guy. Woman don't usually feel the need to leave marks to prove their womanhood."

But they do stand on the brake pedal and cause multi-vehicle accidents to avoid mowing down the cute little bunny rabbit in the road. That can leave a mark.

[rb.]

I don't...I moved to the city to avoid that problem.