I had a conversation with a co-worker on the way to a meeting the other day. Remember, I work for a university so there are always young people around. The conversation came up about my step-daughter’s “thong exchange” party she had a while back. Now before you get twisted and knotted ( Notice I didn’t say, “Get your drawers in a wad.” ) I’ll have you know I was no where near a group of 7th graders exchanging underwear.
But back to the conversation. My co-worker, who is formerly a
seminary student, said, “When did underwear become decoration?” I have to admit this angle of the question struck a chord with me as I could not answer it for about 10 seconds. But I did come up with a theory.
Clearly it’s 2 Live Crew’s fault. Yes, 2 Live Crew. Remember their album with the girls in thong swimsuits on them? Yes, that’s where it started because shortly after that I saw my first thong swimsuit at the apartment I lived at in 1991. It was a pink one with black pokadots.
But the question still remains when and how underwear became decoration and why are 7th graders exchanging thongs is still being debated in a lot of your minds. Later. Keep reading.
I believe underwear became decoration somewhere in the mid-80’s. That’s when the price of my boxers shot through the roof. Remember when boxer shorts came in 2 kinds plain and plaid? I do and that was about the time I started forsaking the white tighty-whities. Women, however, flocked to them in droves for 2 reasons – comfort and price. Fess up women how many of you wear hubby’s or your own boxers to bed? And as any good supplier would do, they shot the price through the roof to maximize profit.
About that time Joe Boxer took off too. And the only thing more controversial soon after was Rachel going commando to Ross’s museum banquet. For those not in the know commando = no panties.
A few years later Vicky had a secret and 2 Live Crew had a hit and the rest is history. I agree the low rise jeans had a huge impact on the new trend to wear the under garments on the outside. In a way I like the trend, but in a way I don’t. It’s one thing to sneak a peak at the person in front of you in church who has a thong revealed when she bends over to pick up her coffee before class starts. This, by the way happened every week with a different woman when I was married a few years ago. The phrase “keep it in your pants” took on new meaning. There’s even a website about showing your thong.
You see for a guy it’s not always seeing a woman naked. It’s quite frequently the implication of what he would like to be revealed that keeps a man interested. As proof, check out every Playboy cover for 20 years. How many are fully nude on the cover? If there are any, you can count them on one hand. I don’t know for a fact, but I’m confident of it.
But, I digress, why the underwear on the outside? Fad, or will it stay? Is it good or bad? And why were 7th graders having a thong exchange?
I learned a long time ago, in the mid 90’s, from an old hippy with a wild daughter to never argue fashion. Ya, I have some rules, no mini skirts at church and no spaghetti straps either. Other than that, she’s free to look like a hoe and suffer the consequence. Fashion comes and goes. Fighting it is like trying to stop the wind from blowing.
The questions now are just, boxer or brief, thong, bikini, boy shorts or commando.
Edge Of The Blade 