namasteph yoga blog

You would think that by the 21st century, we could come up with a good solution to our clothing and undergarment woes. Alas, for women, we have the perpetual pressure of finding ways to wear tight clingy clothing without showing off the…dum dum dum daaaa…dreaded panty line!

The panty line, aka visible panty line or VPL, has become one of fashion’s biggest faux pas in recent years. Personally, I think we women should take back our asses and demand equal rights for panty lines, but that’s for another story.

For myself, I’m just trying to find underwear that fits, doesn’t ride up, and doesn’t leave me in pain at the end of the day. It would also be nice to avoid the dreaded panty line as well.

Ideally, I try to find workout pants that cascade off the ass like a beautiful tropical waterfall – that is, they don’t cling to the bottom of your ass cheeks – but sometimes I cave and buy something clingy. I got just a pair of those workout pants the other day. They are so soft, and have a semi-velvet feel to them. What can I tell you? Sometimes I’m weak.

Meanwhile, my current underwear collection has been looking like it had done a tour through Iraq. Finding the right kind of underwear can be a real chore, especially for working out. I found a blog post that discussed the various undergarment options, and I decided it was time to try some boy shorts on for size.

(Thongs, as I have written in an earlier post, are way too painful to wear in a yoga workout.)

Target’s website had some boy shorts listed with some terrific reviews. I hate going to Target (it’s such a madhouse in there), but I trundled down there anyway. The selection was pathetic. The vaunted boy shorts listed on the website were not there (and oops, I notice now they are listed as “out of stock” anyway).

The ones they did have were the more expensive ones, and these didn’t even seem like underwear so much as thick, sweat-inducing bike shorts. And the sizes seemed out of whack: A medium, which I normally would wear, appeared to be fit for a small girl. (I suppose they stretch, but still.) At $9.99 for a pair, that just seemed too much to pay for undies I might not even fit into.

Frustrated, I walked to Ross next door and plowed through their mess of a lingerie rack. I love Ross, but forget trying to find anything organized there. Somehow, I managed to find an assortment of boy shorts at prices averaging $2. The good news is, I got a bunch of different brands to try. The bad news is, if I find something I actually like I’ll never be able to find it again.

The Big Question: Do Boy Shorts Stop Panty Lines?

Boy shorts are a good solution if you are wearing loose workout pants that aren’t too tight in the leg.

Unfortunately, if you are wearing something clingy, boy shorts actually don’t solve the panty line problem. They just move the line down lower. Some brands were better than others at keeping the dreaded VPL at bay. Generally speaking, the higher up the leg is on the boy short, the less likely it is to make a difference. (Some boy shorts are practically briefs.)

Now, this may be due to my body shape. I am a skinny white woman with a big ass. If there isn’t a little bit of “leg” at the end of the boy short, it’s really not going to be much different from wearing regular undies.

Still, even with a line, boy shorts make the ass look better than regular briefs or bikinis. A line at the bottom of the ass is still better than a diagonal line crossing the expanse of the ass.

Shaping Briefs: Not Just for Granny

I would have never considered these before, because I never thought that I needed “control panties,” but I bought two longer “shaping” briefs at Ross. These are the length of bike shorts and offer “support” to keep your legs and butt looking thinner. Well, I have to say I was surprised at how amazingly comfortable these were. You still have the protection you need for your private parts, but you don’t feel any sort of line near your butt. That’s almost as good as going commando.

Longer “shaping” briefs, alas, won’t completely solve the line problem if your pants are tight down through the thighs. On my clingy pants, the shaping briefs gave me a funny line above the knee. But they may be the best bet for pantyline control (other than a thong) for pants that don’t cling so much down the leg. I suspect they’ll feel and look fabulous under jeans as well.

Final Verdict

My final verdict is that boy shorts or shaping briefs are both good solutions for basic panty line problems in standard, loose workout pants. If you are wearing tight leggings or clingy pants, then you’re either looking at a thong, a line, or commando.