The Vine: May 18, 2012
Over the years I’ve seen the Vine readers come through for many people on hard-to-find or discontinued items, so I’m hoping they can help me. Basically, I need new underwear!
For years I was a bikini-underwear girl, but once I started working in the professional world and began wearing dress pants and skirts, I didn’t like the visible panty lines they gave me. I then discovered Hanes women’s boxer briefs, which were really, really comfortable and didn’t give visible panty lines or wedgies. Of course, over the last year or so they phased them out, and now don’t seem to make them at all. Bummer (don’t even get me started on my favorite things being discontinued!). So now I have a drawerful of boxer briefs that have seen better days, and I’m getting desperate.
I’ve tried several other styles of underwear, but they all feel really strange on me, give horrible panty lines and the dreaded wedgie. I figured “boy shorts” would be a close match, but those seem to be the worst fit. I’m a normal-sized woman with a normal-sized butt, so I don’t have any issues there. I prefer all-cotton undies, or maybe cotton with a touch of spandex/lycra, but not much. Hopefully yonder Vine folk can assist.
Kat from Jersey hates a wedgie!
Tags: Ask The Readers one Vine signature to rule them all retail
I started on Hanes women’s boxer briefs too… now I wear men’s boxer briefs. American Apparel also makes a “unisex brief” which I like.
You may be able to find (unworn, brand-new) Hanes boxer briefs on Amazon.
Jockey’s “no panty line” promise really is true. They are comfie & no wedgie for me. They are also easy to find – kohls and all department store type places and online. Kohls 30% off sales are a good time to buy.
Noooo they’re discontinued? Oh man I love my Hanes boxers so much. Crap.
I’ve had good luck with Aerie’s cotton boy-short style ones–better than with boy shorts from other brands–and they are ridic cheap at 7 pairs for $26 or something like that. May be worth a shot? (Note that this is different from their boy BRIEF style, which basically are granny panties and which I also like quite a bit.)
When looking to banish the dreaded VPL, I always wear Hanky Panky’s lace thong. Never mind the cutesy name; despite that it’s a thong, it’s amazingly comfortable and always looks right under clothes.
I second Fiona, though they aren’t cotton. I never would have thought I would be a “thong” person, but the Hanky Panky originals changed my mind. No lines to speak of, no wedgies, and super comfortable. Unfortunately, they are pricey, but if good care is taken, they last awhile.
Lots of brands have “no seams” underwear that usually work pretty well with not giving a panty line. I realize of course that the way these things fit vary greatly by body type and personal preference, but yours seems similar to mine and I found that I love to wear the Victoria Secrets Hiphugger (fits your general criteria: no wedgie, no lines). Maybe worth a shot? I own several of the lacy ones, they are really cute and don’t show through even in my skinniest outfits…
http://www.victoriassecret.com/ss/Satellite?ProductID=1265816210609&c=Page&cid=1335840444463&pagename=vsdWrapper
http://www.victoriassecret.com/ss/Satellite?ProductID=1265815933043&c=Page&cid=1335840444463&pagename=vsdWrapper
To follow up on L – If you get yourself on Victoria’s Secret mailing list (I think I bought online, so they had my address), They will send you coupons for a free pair of panties, every 2-3 months. That was how I tried the Hiphugger, after they eliminated the low rise bikini I had been happy with.
Good luck – I’ve stuck with VS despite their priciness (and awful store service) for so long now because I have a general idea of what to expect, and that seems better than the crapshoot of entirely new brand AND style.
I swear by Shimera seamless boyshorts, which fit my whole butt unlike other boyshorts that give wedgies or let your whole ass cheek hang out. They’re seamless and don’t cause any panty lines, but aren’t high on the cotton content. They’re mostly modal.
I second the Jockey suggestion. Their own website and outlet stores generally have good deals, too.
But can I just ask why VPL is so much more offensive than visible bra-back-strap? This makes no sense to me. I’m old enough to remember the ads we were subjected to back in the day for Underalls, telling us that something that had never even occurred to us to be bothered by was now A Serious Problem. And a whole new underwear industry was born.
Sorry. Don’t mean to thread-jack. Just venting.
I’m with you, Attica. A VPL is only going to tell people that–gasp!–I wear underwear. So what?
But then again, I almost always wear jeans. Except on the days that I don’t, and then I wear yoga pants. I have a couple of pairs of nice black slacks that I can wear if I have to go to a funeral or something, but I would just wear my black cotton Jockey string bikini panties like I always do. But some people like wearing filmy fabrics and having a nice clean look, and I guess I get how the VPL could disrupt that.
(And as a large-busted gal, I don’t care if people can tell I am wearing a bra, either. Of course I am. I am 32 and I have 38DDs. If I don’t wear a bra all the time, the twins could sag. Plus, if I didn’t wear a bra, where would I put my cell phone?)
I am totally in the same boat…LOVED Hanes’s boxer briefs for women, got a drawer full of ’em, and haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement (I even wrote a letter to Hanes asking them to bring back the old style). VPL doesn’t bother me so much, but the boxer briefs were super-comfy and wedgie-free. I can’t bring myself to try men’s boxer briefs yet…
Anyway, I feel your pain and wish I’d found a viable alternative. The other Hanes boyshorts are awful.
I second Victoria’s Secret hiphuggers.
For a long time I wore their bikini style but they randomly increased in wedgies. So I went to VS, tried on every style of underwear and ended up liking cotton hiphuggers the best.
They almost always run the 5 for $25 sale, which is a bit more expensive than I’d think Hanes would be, but they last years.
I’ve always been an all-cotton girl myself, but recently decided to switch to something a bit sleeker. Bali has a no-line no-slip collection that’s fantastic and is actually pretty comfortable, despite not being a cotton fabric.
I’ve had great luck with the hipster underwear from Garage. This is a clothing store for teens but the large size fits my relatively normal sized butt. And no wedgies! You may be in in luck if there’s a Garage in your area.
They aren’t cotton, but the spandex type material doesn’t show any panty lines.
I’m going to second Angharad’s Bali suggestion. I found several on sale at Kohl’s a while back, and really like the smooth line they give – no wedgies, guaranteed. I alternate with cotton on weekends/blue jean days/days I don’t have to worry about VPL. I also have a couple of pairs of microfiber ones that weren’t as cheap, but breathe nearly like cotton. The label just says “Enchanting”, though, which is completely unhelpful, and I don’t remember where I got them (maybe Kohl’s as well?). Finally, when you do find some you like, don’t run them through the dryer – hang them to dry with your bras, even if they say you can machine dry them. They’ll last much longer, and the elastic will keep its shape better.
In general, I’ve found that I just have to try on a bunch of underwear in order to find what really works for me. At this point (knock on wood, cross fingers, whispering so I don’t jinx it), I have two types that I wear almost exclusively to control the VPL:
Barely There Flawless Fit boy short — for me, it has to be the “Flawless Fit;” their other types of boy shorts are miserably uncomfortable and cause upper-thigh VPL. But the Flawless Fit are great.
Shimera high cut briefs — Seamless and they stay in place. They are not the most attractive underwear when on – don’t seem to do much for the look of my behind – but under clothes, they are comfy and pretty good on the VPL.
St. Eve hipsters!!!!!!! They have them at Kohl’s, according to the internet, but I found them randomly at Ross and immediately went back and bought A BUNCH more. First underwear in my whole life that has not given me a wedgie or a panty line. And they’re even kind of cute.
Jockey fangirl here…wedgie-free in cotton for decades.
Also, look on ebay for them. Lots of people make a cottage industry of buying store items on clearance/closeout, and offering them for sale in an ebay store. Another option is to go to a Hanes outlet store and see if you can score a box of them before they’re gone. I sometimes stock up on an item this way when I know it’s discontinued but just don’t want to say goodbye yet. Good luck!
If you want to try the Shimera undies, suggested by someone above, a whole bunch of styles are on sale right now at Nordstroms.
I never bought panties from VS before but picked up a few lacy pairs recently because I was going wedding dress shopping and didn’t want the lady in the fancy shop to see my ratty cotton undies.
And I love them. They’re super comfy and lightweight and they don’t seem to give me VPL.
Then again, I personally don’t care about VPL. Wearing thongs or going commando just makes people think I’m not wearing underwear or that I’m wearing a thong. All people wear underwear, I don’t know why anyone should care.
But if you care for your own style, I would suggest trying VS undies.