Ladies, we need to talk bras and knickers…
Well, bra straps and
visible panty lines.
And I am not talking a sexy subtle use thereof to tease and
tantalise. Oh, no. I am talking unattractively visible underwear that your
mother/brother/boyfriend/sister really should have mentioned before you left
the house.
I know it has been deliciously hot and the excitement of
getting out your summer clothes has been a bit distracting. Perhaps, like mine,
a lot of them didn’t even make an appearance last year. And perhaps that is why
you have forgotten all your underwear rules because there wasn’t much to worry
about while it was hidden under winter warmies.
I think it was Steve Wright who commented on the radio last
week that he was alarmed by the clothes women were wearing in the heat, some he
figured, they wouldn’t be seen wearing in their own bedroom. Well, at Bristol
Harbourside Festival yesterday, in the glorious sunshine, I was invited to view
more underwear in the streets than in a lock-in at an M & S lingerie sale.
To list a few heinous crimes:
A strapless maxi dress – with bra straps!
A backless top – those pretty ones with a sort of diamond
cut out at the back – with a big bra strap and clasp in the middle of it.
A halter neck frock – with bra straps over the shoulders.
A clingy t-shirt dress (on a fairly curvy girl) wearing low
cut knickers that forced love handles at the rear and an unfortunate belly flop
over the front.
Another clingy frock over embossed lace knickers that stood
out in high definition relief - lovely
for teasing your other half, but did you really want the rest of the world to
see them?
What is worse is the condition of some of the bra straps on
show; industrial width, greying whites, browning nudes.
Girls, the right underwear will serve you. There is such a
thing as a strapless bra. There is even a clever backless creation. And those
see-through plastic straps – no –avoid them, too. They catch the light,
especially in photos (girls in ballgowns, ruined by a flash of plastic).
And to the two women in the clingy frocks: big knickers
serve a purpose. On both of you they would have created a smooth, bootylicious
outline. Wouldn’t you prefer that?
I understand that some women feel insecure without their regular
bra straps and that we have an overwhelming choice of delicious necklines and
shoulder strap formations in all the gorgeous clothes available to us. You can
win by clever colour co-ordination. Get a matching bra! I had a favourite red
top that had spaghetti straps and was cut low in front so my strapless bra
wouldn’t work. I traipsed the town until I found a red bra, in the same shade
with fine straps decorated with rosebuds. I always wore them together. Easy.
All that said, I did see one girl go by in a backless frock,
and her lack of underwear and slim, tanned back did cause a few men to trip
over their feet. Speaking of which, she was wearing the oddest shoes…
I like to see women confident in their sexuality, whatever their
body shape. I want young women to feel power in their sexuality – in a good
way. So get it right. Don’t show what you look like undressed because your
underwear is so evident: look gorgeous dressed and share the rest with whom you
choose, when you choose.
