the.com/panties
the smallest garment carrying the heaviest cultural baggage, gram for gram unmatched
means Women's or girls' underpants — short, close-fitting undergarments worn below the waist.
from A diminutive of 'pants,' which itself shortens 'pantaloons' — the tight-fitting trousers named after Pantalone (or Pantaloon), the skinny, slipper-shod old man of Italian commedia dell'arte who became a stock figure famous for his close-cut leggings. 'Panties' arrives as the cutesy '-ie' diminutive, an Americanism from around the turn of the 20th century; originally it could describe small undergarments for children of either sex before settling, by mid-century, onto women's underwear.
- word origin
- originally meant men's underwear in the 1840s
- size paradox
- less fabric often costs more money
- thong history
- mandated for NYC dancers by mayor in 1939
- daily ritual
- average person owns dozens, wears one
- british english
- called knickers, never panties, across the pond
fredrick's of hollywood — lingerie retailer founded 1946, famous for intimate apparel marketing
victoria's secret — multinational intimate apparel company founded 1977, largest lingerie retailer