ondear It’s an annoyance many a friend has lamented: It’s nearly impossible to wear matching underwear on a daily basis. The average woman owns about three to four times as many panties as she does bras and takes special care to wash them after each use, while alternately, bras can usually go two to four years before requiring laundering. With these statistics, it’s easy to see how tricky it can be for a lady to coordinate her undies each day. Yet the satisfaction that we often feel from donning a well-coordinated set under our clothes can help make the difference in our mood for the day and inspire us to feel more confident, often encouraging us to show off our impeccable taste to a good friend or significant other.
Ever since I joined the dating world, I’ve felt the pressure too. As a lingerie designer, I also feel it’s my duty to wear the very best undergarments each day with matching sets that let my personal style shine through. So the pressure I’ve put on myself to coordinate my underthings before a big date has been weighing on me more and more as I realize how mismatched my lingerie wardrobe is. Which bottoms do I have to match this bra? Which undies haven’t I worn yet this week? Will my date notice if my bra and panties don’t match?
The truth is that once you get to the point of undress with another person, chances are that the last thing on their mind is whether your bra and panties match or not. But while we tend to be our own harshest critic, it still remains that we just feel better about ourselves when we know we’re sufficiently put together and well-kept underneath it all.
The problem many of us encounter is that it can be expensive to develop a lingerie wardrobe full of all coordinating pieces. When we shop for underwear we often stock up on panty deals, purchasing multiple pairs based on comfort, price, and color. Bra shopping tends to be more calculated, expensive, and time consuming, resulting in relatively few purchases in comparison. The modern woman doesn’t have the time or the budget to purchase exclusively matching sets all the time, so why not work with what you already have in your wardrobe or invest in a few inexpensive pieces that can easily be mixed and matched in a multitude of fashion combinations?
Furthermore, I believe we can all benefit from a little bit of anti-fashion. Who says your clothes have to match in order to look good? Look at the success of tween retailer Little Miss Matched, encouraging kids to have fun with their collection of bold clashing prints and daring colors, guaranteed to lighten the mood and eschew the traditional fashion etiquette. Consider your underwear as your own private medium where you can have fun, express yourself in any way you see fit, and decide when and with whom you want to share it.
While this declaration may not be for everybody, there are still ways you can minimize the mismatched-ness in your wardrobe and stretch your lingerie further. Here are seven tactics you can use to help alleviate some of the stress of coordinating your undies. After all, we wear this stuff closest to our bodies and deserve to have them make us feel as comfortable and confident as possible each and every day