Under-Girdle Underwear

Whether you wear under-girdle underwear or not is entirely up to you, but the advantages are indisputable, and many readers have written in with their agreement. I highly recommend wearing full cut panty briefs under your girdle.

• Advantages of Wearing Under-Girdle Underwear
• Recommended Panty Briefs for Zippered Girdles
• Recommended Panty Briefs for Pull-On girdles
• Panty Sizing Discussion
• Panty Sizing Chart
• Panty Care and Cleaning
• Panty Product Review

Advantages of Wearing Under-Girdle Underwear:

• Hygiene. The underwear acts a barrier between your body and the girdle. It collects urine drips and is in direct contact with your bum (and those occasional brown stains we've experienced). The huge advantage here is that you can wash your underwear daily, while you only have to wash the girdle perhaps once every 5 or 6 uses. And the less you wash your girdles, the longer they will last.
  
• Comfort. The liner helps keep the girdle's stitching, which can be a source of discomfort, away from your skin. This is more important with some brands than others and is especially important if your girdle is very snug.
• If the girdle has a split crotch, a liner eliminates potential genital "fallout". However, this problem doesn't exist at all if you sew the crotch together (recommended).

Recommended Panty Briefs for Zippered Girdles

Besides the seams and zipper stitching, the top edge of a zippered girdle can become quite uncomfortable. Hence, I advocate wearing a very stretchable brief that you can pull up and over the top edge of the girdle. I've been wearing girdles with this configuration for years, and the difference in comfort is remarkable. Unfortunately, there is only one brand of panty brief that is capable of doing this, Love Pats Microfiber Briefs.

Many years ago, Love Pats were manufactured with superb comfort and durability, but then the quality deteriorated to a cheap, flimsy, gossamer brief that would fall apart when dried in a tumble drier. But sometime in 2004, they were improved with a double-ply material and are once again acceptable and nearly perfect for our needs. Details follow:

How to Use Love Pat Briefs.

1. Pull the brief up to your natural waistline. Wear the brief inside out so the stitching is on the outside, away from your skin.
2. Stretch the crotch to form a jock-like pouch around your genitals .
3. Pull the brief way up and under your breasts.
4. Put on your girdle then pull a half inch of the Love Pats up and over the top edge as shown in photo #4..

1. Pull the brief up to your natural waistline.	2. Stretch and tuck to form a jock.	3. Pull it up very high.	4. Pull a half inch up and over the top of the girdle.

Recommended Panty Briefs for Pull-On Girdles

You don't need Love Pats for pull-on girdles. Most of these girdles have a gentle top cuff, and you don't need to pull the briefs up and over the edge. Yes, you can still use Love Pats if you want, but a smooth, microfiber, nylon, or satin panty brief is a much better choice.

Over the past two years, I purchased and analyzed at least 15 different models of panty briefs, and I found several very comfortable models (see table below) that warrant your consideration. ALL of the information which follows comes from my experiences:

• Women's panty briefs are far more comfortable than men's jockey shorts, boxer shorts or whatever (my opinion). I'm a convert, and I urge all men to try a couple of the briefs mentioned below whether you wear girdles or not.
• The "full brief" or "full-cut" style is best for men because it is taller and allows more crotch room than other types. Frishman's also endorses full-cut briefs at their web page Ask Sandi and Carol: http://www.frish.com/index.php3?SCREEN=ask_m
• "Hi-Cut" briefs (high-leg brief) are not comfortable under a girdle, too much skin exposed to the girdle seams. These are not recommended.
• Panties that are sold in packages (rather then hanging on a rack) generally come with their own sizing chart which you should use.
• Under a snug girdle, panty briefs are more comfortable worn inside out.
• Most manufacturers use the sizing chart below, but some don't. See Panty Sizing Discussion below.
• The best place to buy panty briefs is at a retail store. You can see them, and feel them, and try them on; and you can return them if necessary.
• The worst place to buy panty briefs is over the Internet unless you are already familiar with the product. What you see is not always what you get. I've been disappointed several times.
• The best briefs are smooth and silky rather than matte, cotton, or lace. The smooth material makes it easier for you to don your pull-on girdle.
• Many wide waistbands tend to roll on themselves. The best briefs have about a 1/4" waistband.

Panty Sizing Discussion

Much like girdles, panties are designed for women, who, as you know, have larger hips and buttocks than men. Therefore, if you were to buy a panty to fit your hips, the overall garment would be too small. For example, let's say you have a 33 inch natural waist and your hips are 38. Using your hip measurement of 38 and the sizing chart below, you would say that you need a size 6 panty. But look in the Waist Measurement column for size 6, and you will see that that garment was designed for a woman with a 27" to 28" waist. For you, that panty would be too small, and it would be too short, and it would not have enough material in front for your genitals.

OK, now let's go the other way. Why not use your natural waist size to order panty briefs? Look at the chart again and find 33 inches in the Waist Measurement column. Notice that this corresponds to a size 9 panty (XXL). This garment would be too big and baggy for you, and you don't want "baggy" under your girdle. So, what's the solution?

The solution consists of three steps.
1. Measure your hips.
2. Using that measurement, look up the corresponding panty size in the chart.
3. Add 2 sizes.
This formula is not foolproof, but it works most of the time, and it worked perfectly for all but 1 brief in the Product Review below (not including Love Pats and Land's End).

To the right, typical Panty Size Chart that represents most panties on the market. Love Pats and Land's End are exceptions. Bali Skimp Skamp #2633

Panty Care and Cleaning

• OK to launder in washing machine
• Warm water with cold rinse is good.
• No chlorine. Non-chlorine bleach is OK.
• Make sure there is no Velcro in the machine with the panties.
• Hang them out to dry; do NOT tumble dry.

Panty Product Review

All of the panty briefs below were tested while wearing a girdle and then while not wearing a girdle. Prices are approximate and are in US dollars. All briefs are listed in order of excellence, best to worst. Unless otherwise marked, use the formula mentioned previously to determine your size.

Criterion for this product review conducted on 10/20/04:

1. Waist band must not roll.
2. Waist band must not dig into skin.
3. Brief should be full-cut and should come up to the natural waistline if possible.
4. Material should be silky/satiny instead of matte or cotton.
5. Legs must not be high-cut.
6. Material must have sideways stretch so it can wrap around the genitals.