The Thong Has Gone a Long Way
Seamless, crotchless, backless… never has a piece of fabric – or lack thereof – created as much sensation. The early 90s saw the rise of the thong – a sliver of fabric leading to a sexy V-shape at the back. The thong, or tanga as the Brazilians dubbed it, promised zero panty lines and plenty of sex appeal.
Its successors have included the G-string, bikini, brief, boyleg and high rise cut. But, despite what men’s magazines would have us believe, it seems the average woman is no longer baring her cheeks in next to nothing lingerie. We still see women buying conventionally sexy G-strings but these days it’s more about comfort. Boylegs are becoming more popular, especially the seamless variety.
Full coverage seamless boy shorts are also now available, ruling out the visible panty line problem. Remember Sex and the City’s Carrie walking around her apartment in boyish Y-fronts, Cameron Diaz’s boy shorts in Charlie’s Angels and Bridget Jones’s granny pants? It seems even Hollywood is saying, ‘So long, thong…’
Bet your Bottom Dollar
So what’s in a thong? Well, there’s not much to it. Fabric, that is. But there is big money. In the early noughties, big business caught on to what a hit the lacy skivvies were. So did Hollywood. Sisqo released the irritatingly catchy ‘Thong Song’ in 2000. The same year Britney Spears released her second album and sexed up new image. As she purred on ‘Oops… I did it again’, a nation of teenage girls copied her low rise jeans and high rise thong look and imitated the accidentally on purpose thong flash. Two years later, a record 123 million thongs were sold in the US, more than double the number sold in 1998. American retail giant Abercrombe and Fitch even released a line of thongs targeted at 10 – 16 year old girls.