Ask Elle: That’s What She Said

Dear Elle,
Me and my friend were discussing the other day, what dictates girl’s trends in underwear? I remember from like 2003-2006, thongs were everywhere, and girls would be at the club or the library and they’d bend down just a little and plop, thong smile. But now, not so much. Is it that girls are wearing pants higher or thongs lower? But even when we’ve had the chance to “unwrap presents”, we noticed its more boy shortish things these days. Why is that? And can the thong come back?

-Blurnandez

Dear Blurnandez,

I would first like to thank you for leaving the word “panty” out of this conversation. Nothing disgusts me more than hearing the word “panty”, and repeating it back to someone makes me gag.

In my opinion, the thong hasn’t gone anywhere. But its prevalence has declined after we all discovered the phenomena of the boyshort and the tanga.

In any case, I find that age dictates undergarments. Teenage girls feel liberated by one of the more “intimate” garments: the thong. I think 20 something women use them on a case by case basis – unless they are one of Hugh Hefner’s gfs. Perhaps in your 2003-2006 era of hook ups, you were just hu’ing with the young girls who felt liberated by constantly having floss up their butt. In addition to the relationship of age to undergarments, whatever pant fashion is happening has a direct impact on the thong vs. boyshort situation. With the introduction of high waisted pants, your dreams have been dashed. Although, one would think that skinny jeans would necessitate a thong, but in fact, the entire concept of the skinny jean is the sort of ambiguous look that both men and women can wear which means a more ambiguous undergarment is needed in order to complete the look (er, feel). However, if you spot a woman with leggings on, you can be damn sure she is wearing a thong.

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If you would like to ask Elle a question about dating, relationships or something else ridiculously interesting, send an email to askelle@ploomy.com.

Elle Chyun is a dancer and arts collaborator living in NYC. She’s a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and currently dances with cakefaceart.com and robot hands. She likes vodka, shoes, and sarcasm.

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