# A question about ladies panties **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470 "2004-10-27T16:28:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/21 "2004-10-27T21:31:11Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > šŸ˜• > > I have no idea what the hell you guys are talking about. Ginch come in S, M, L & XL. > > In a regular full butted style Iā€™m a medium. In a thong, I wear a large, because Iā€™m tall and otherwise they ride too low on the hip and result in that unfortunate ā€œdouble hip bulgeā€ under pants and skirts. FWIW, I wear a 6 or an 8 (long) in regular clothing. > > I have never, in my life, seen underwear sized as you people are describing them. Ever. Iā€™ve noticed itā€™s the more old school brands like Maidenform, Wacoal, La Perla, and Jockey that use the numeric sizing. Mostly department store brands. Newer and younger brands like Victorias Secret tend to just use S, M, and L. The only real explanation I can find of how hip sizes corelate with panty sizes is on this [site](http://www.transgendershopping.com/sizes/sizes.htm) for the transgendered. (donā€™t worry, the site is entirely work safe) ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/22 "2004-10-27T22:05:01Z")
Iā€™m one of the women who wears a large size in underwear, bras, shirts, slacks, etc. I always cut the size tag off because they usually scratch me unmercifully. That way, everyone knows Iā€™m huge, but they donā€™t have a concrete size, if they even want to look at my underwear (I hope theyā€™ve got better things to do). ---
**Author:** ![sixor9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@sixor9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sixor9)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/23 "2004-10-27T22:24:59Z")
How come no one else is pointing out Shirley ended up with the wrong nails??? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/24 "2004-10-27T22:43:16Z")
Where are all the commando-girls! ? ! ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/25 "2004-10-27T22:54:54Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Psychology. No one would ever buy a large or bigger\*. Itā€™s the opposite of using ā€œsizesā€ for condoms. Besides, in my considerable experience women come in many more sizes than just three. Not to mention all those glorious flavors. I always figured I could make a fortune by opening a store where all the clothing was labeled a size too small. For instance, my waist size is _ahem_ 36. But I go to PoorYorickā€™s Fine Fashions and, lo and behold, I find size 34ā€™s that fit perfectly! ā€œFinally, a store with the right sizes!ā€ ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/26 "2004-10-28T01:17:35Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > I always figured I could make a fortune by opening a store where all the clothing was labeled a size too small. For instance, my waist size is _ahem_ 36. But I go to PoorYorickā€™s Fine Fashions and, lo and behold, I find size 34ā€™s that fit perfectly! > > ā€œFinally, a store with the right sizes!ā€ Itā€™s called ā€œOld Navyā€ā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/27 "2004-10-28T03:07:51Z")
> [@sixor9](#): > > How come no one else is pointing out Shirley ended up with the wrong nails??? Yā€™know, I was wondering if anyone would catch that. They all have their panties in a bunch. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/28 "2004-10-28T03:18:46Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Where are all the commando-girls! ? ! Well, why would they come to this thread? They were frightened off by the panties in the thread title. I would like to know if thereā€™s really something wrong with granny panties. No one sees my undies but me (and the occasional other person in the laundry room on laundry day) and thatā€™s generally what I wear. Or do people just like to make fun of them? I say, be proud of your granny panties! Wave 'em like a flowered flag! Disclaimer: I do not actually wear flowered panties. Not that you wanted to know. I am sorry if I gave anyone a mental picture. Hell, Iā€™m sorry about the mental picture I just gave myself. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/29 "2004-10-28T03:54:58Z")
My underpants correlate with my jeans and shorts. You occasionally see SML here but itā€™s usually 8-10, 10-12, 12-14, 14-16 and so on and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/30 "2004-10-28T06:17:37Z")
Not only do they not correspond to pant sizes. Some panty sizes donā€™t correspond to others. I recently stopped wearing granny panties, because I lost enough weight, that I can wear low-rise jeans without making a fool of myself. I got some bikini panties in size 7, which is the size I wore in the grannies. They were huge and kept trying to relocate themselves while I was wearing them. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/31 "2004-10-29T05:27:50Z")
So if my panties donā€™t have lace, satin, or crack-floss, they are ā€œgranny pantiesā€??? I donā€™t buy my underwear at a slut ( šŸ˜› ) store, but they arenā€™t granny panties. Regular olā€™ department stores do have attractive panties that cover my ass and donā€™t give me camel toes. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/32 "2004-10-29T12:32:42Z")
Over here, womenā€™s underwear comes in sizes that correlate to trouser size, or are S/M/L. But I generally only find the S/M/L in places like La Senza, and even then, they have an approximate trouser size to guide you. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/33 "2004-10-29T13:36:05Z")
Hey guys, you can have [prettier underwear](http://www.manties.net) than your SO. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470/34 "2004-10-29T14:28:21Z")
OK I called Vanity Fair, they who make most of the panties. (VF Corporation is the worldā€™s largest publicly-held apparel manufacturer.) The weird sizing is a general take on womenā€™s hip size, each number is 2 inches larger than the previous. Standard sizingā€¦ SIZEā€¦HIP 4ā€¦34-35 5/Sā€¦36-37 6/Mā€¦38-39 7/Lā€¦40-41 8ā€¦42-43 9ā€¦44-45 10ā€¦46-47 11ā€¦48-49 12ā€¦50-51 They make from a size 1 (28 in hip) - smaller than that and you get little duckies and bunnies on the print. The larger sizes (above 12) go up 1 size for every 4 hip inches. And Ms. Customer Service wanted me to point out that cotton panties (no matter the cut) should be bought 1 size larger, due to shrinkage in the wash. OK does that answer your question? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ladies-panties/271470.md?page=1)