According to The Daily Mail, "Big pants are making a fashion comeback as women discard their thongs in favour of larger knickers." Thank god, the thong is continuing its retreat.
I've already admitted that women in vintage-style lingerie make me feel, er, let's just say they make me feel a little bit funny inside because, well, they're HOT. And the ladies of Mad Men are making high-waist briefs (a.k.a. granny panties) — as well as girdles, long line bras, pointy bras, garter belts, and stockings — sexy again. What Madonna did for the bustier in the 1980s, Joan Holloway and Betty Draper are doing for underwear trends today.
Unfortunately, I don't think this is particularly good news for women.
When dressing the leading ladies, Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant has stayed obsessively true to the authentic 1960s style undergarments. Bryant has said, "they show you what's underneath, and what's holding the person up."
That's all fine and good for Ms. Bryant because she's not the one wearing them.
When actress January Jones who plays Betty Draper talked to Regis and Kelly recently about the Mad Men undergarments, she said, "More often now you see that silhouette with the waistline and a more womanly, feminine figure, which is nice to see. But it's not exactly that comfortable — the stuff that we wear… It takes a good twenty minutes [to get dressed]. And I need help a lot of the time."
Oh boy. 20 minutes! I can't go back for this reason alone. And then there's the fact that they're not just uncomfortable but downright painful.
About the vintage underwear, actress Christina Hendricks who plays Joan Holloway told The Sunday Times Magazine, “If you’re working a really long day, they dig in. The garters sometimes rub little blisters on your thigh, so we learn the tricks, put moleskin on them…”
Hendricks also told LA Times Magazine, "those undergarments really aren’t made for relaxing. If I get my entire costume on, and I have to wait a few hours for my next scene, I have to learn how to position myself, otherwise the boning presses into my guts! It can really hurt those internal organs!" Referring to the blistering again, she said, "I have this little war wound — a blister from wearing a garter the other day for 17 hours."
This sounds like a job for Spanx-creator Sara Blakely. Maybe she can whip us up some figure fixers and body shapers that are as comfortable as Spanx but as pretty as the merry widow and other under-getups of the olden days. Because as The Stir writer Jennifer Cullen already mentioned, Spanx just ain't that sexy. Anyone got Blakely's number?
Janie Bryant recalled when the Mad Men actresses first tried to get used to the well-fitting undergarments, "At first, when we put the girdles on them, it was, 'How am I going to work?' Now, it's 'This girdle is not tight enough.' "
Hmm, sounds pretty horrific to me. But then again, no mention of the horrors of the granny panties. Perhaps big undies are the least of our problems if vintage-style undies come back. And hey, as long as they look like these pretty (and big) undies, I'm in.
Are you happy about the return of retro-style underwear or do you just want to keep your thong?
Image via Blue-Ray.com
