Monday, January 23, 2006

Lacy intimate apparel

While the title may sound racy, I have actual practical questions for the readership that are very mundane.

As some of you know, I have implemented a fairly rigorous excercise routine. (Rigorous for me, not for the average joe/jane.) The unfortunate side effect is that my breasts have shrunken significantly. Which sucks because I have not lost weight or inches off of any other part of my body. I digress.

On Saturday, while I was shopping for a gift for K's baby shower, I stopped into our favorite place in the world, Filene's Basement. I hit all the regular sections, purses, shoes, dresses, the vault, juniors, and this time I checked out one section I normally avoid, lingerie. ET#2 and A, think the lingerie section is a critical part of the Basement experience. I feel a little uncomfortable amongst all the thongs and push-up bras. Yet, with my shrinking boobs, I would be brave and sort through the bins for something size appropriate.

For years now, I purchased most of my panties from Costco, where for $6.99 you can purchase a six pack of white cotton bikinis. Since Costco does not sell brazeers in the same manner, I normally am forced to a deparment store, in which I pick one style and buy it in three colors, white, nude, and black.

Finding the simple brazeers I am accustomed to would not be possible at the Basement. I would have to venture into something a little more risque. Hopefully, these undergarments would only have to be worn temporarily, so I could handle a few months of something out of the ordinary.

In the bins, I found two acceptable bras. Both were under $10, which allowed me to overlook the lace overlays. Happy, I walked away only to spot a matching lacy panty to one of the bras. Intrigued, I picked it up too. Since it cost more than half a packet of Costco bikinis, I found it hard to justify the purchase. But a positive disposition, or wishful thinking, drove me to buy it. You never know if there may come a day when someone other than the women in gym locker room may see my underthings. It could happen.

Later that day, I was struck by this thought. A matching set is very impractical. Most women wear a bra for more than once between washings, but a panty just gets a one day use. At some point one will wear out before the other.

Why don't they sell one bra with two matching panties?

Are you always supposed to wear them as a set?

If it says hand wash, can you at least gentle cycle them with Woolite with a little bleach?

I swear, sometimes these puppies should come the a handbook.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think lingerie companies are trying to make us buy more frequently by forcing us to buy pairs.

Have you ever tried online shopping? In the UK, websites like 'figleaves' show you what bras and panties go together, but you can buy seperately and mix-and-match. There must be sites like that in the US.

I would wash with woolite in the gentle cycle, no bleach, to make them last longer. The key is not to machine dry.

Zandrea! said...

Ha ha! Yes, the lingerie section is my favorite and this made me laugh just a little :) I agree with Isa's comment regarding washing, and, as to the coupling of bras and panties, it is true that you are likely to wear the bra a couple more times than the underwear. Thus, it takes some planning. I like wear my matching sets on either a)date days, OR b) days when I want to feel just a little more pretty or confident, and knowing I have a matching set on underneath it all helps.

evil twin #2 said...

I too am a fan of figleaves! And, I totally agree with Zandrea on when to wear the matching sets. Line drying is really the only way to go -- I accidentally tumble dried one of my favorite bras this weekend and it had the misfortune of being in the same load as my hiking shorts which have velcro on them... RIP, lacy undergarment. As an aside, the heat from tumble drying breaks down the elastic in most bras.