A few weeks back, my friend Mons Tantoco-Romulo asked me to answer the question of the week for her column in the Philippine Star. I'm flattered that Mons thinks of me every now and then despite my being away from Manila, but I'm afraid the replies I've given her over the years are rarely as profoundly introspective as everyone else's. Perhaps her respondents like to see her column as a chance to go all Deepak, but believe me, if your life the past four years has been anything like mine, with its never-ending circus of assessments and pre-trial conferences, you'd be Deepak-ed out.
So Mon's question, ironically put to me a week before Valentine's Day, was: "How do you move on after a heartbreak?"
Of course, most people went into the whole self-evaluation thing, which leads to acceptance and growth, yadda yadda. And there was the thing about divining God's will, naturally.
My answer, in contrast, was rather succinct: With humor and grace.
In retrospect, I should have added: Buy new lingerie.
A friend of mine once told me that if there was one particular thing that signalled to her that her marriage was crumbling, it was when she began buying beautiful new lingerie, which she would then stash away in her drawer, hidden from her husband. She would take the frilly lace sets out in secret and lay them against her bare skin, imagining a future lover one day slipping the straps off her shoulders...
Despite that TMI (Too Much Information) moment, I must confess that I could so relate! Clearly, a new post-breakup underwear wardrobe is as fraught with symbolism as a new haircut or new upholstery.
According to a recent story in the Daily Mail, when it comes to underwear, the popularity of the g-string is, well, hanging by a string.
Sales of the G-string have fallen to their lowest for five years after they increasingly became associated with football WAGs and chav culture.
In contrast, larger knickers or boy shorts, regarded as more flattering for the figure, have dramatically increased in popularity.
The advantage of wearing a thong was evident - no VPL (visible panty line). Yet, while panty lines may have become less visible beneath pants and skirts, they became disconcertingly omnipresent above low-rise jeans - which certainly led to thongs falling out of favor. There was nothing more chav than seeing that tiny triangle of nylon and cotton peeking out of the waistband of jeans - and many a swiftly descending into C-list celebrity has been photographed thus exposed, like Britney Spears.
So, based on the spending patterns of UK women, bigger pants are big at the moment.
While in 2003 around a third of all women's knickers sold were G-strings, last year they accounted for only 12 per cent of the knicker market. Women spent £44million in Britain on G-strings in 2007, compared with £100million in 2003.In contrast, sales of shorts have doubled in two years, with more than £63million spent on bigger pants last year, compared with £31million in 2005.
They now make up 17 per cent of the total market.
"Wearing bigger pants is definitely more trendy than wearing a thong these days," said Elaine Giles, account manager for TNS. "The main attraction of the G-string was the fact that they stopped women getting a VPL.
"But the technology is such these days that women can wear bigger pants and still have their panty line hidden.
So, which ones do I prefer, boy shorts or thongs? Well, that's something only the ladies at Princesse Tam-Tam - and Carlitos Bronson - would know...
(Britney Spears' thong appears courtesy of bad taste, poor dress sense, too much alcohol and mtv.com)
Wow that got me thinking :)
Posted by: Mrs.T | March 14, 2008 at 01:38 AM
hehehe... i wonder what a wardrobe of Flexees and Nancy Ganz Bodyshapers means though!
Posted by: bambinawrites | March 14, 2008 at 01:44 AM
Those darn thongs aren't comfortable at all, so I guess women wised up. Thank goodness for Jockey for Her's "No pantylines promise", no pantylines talaga!
Posted by: CD | March 15, 2008 at 01:03 AM
Oooh! I remember, they were even called butt floss! Eeewww! It had its time...
Posted by: CD | March 15, 2008 at 01:04 AM
Butt floss, gross! Remember how Victoria's Secret even came up with a V-String?
Posted by: bambinawrites | March 15, 2008 at 01:30 AM
Ah the v-string! Yeah! I think Victoria's Secret is still selling that...
Posted by: CD | March 18, 2008 at 09:34 PM