Women, explain this "going commando" thing to me

Another celebrity has been photographed flashing her lady parts. (Anne Hathaway if you’re keeping score.) She was at a film premiere, wearing a fancy dress with no underwear, and when she got out of the limo, the cameras caught a picture that will be appearing in issues of Celebrity Skin for the next ten years.

So how does this kind of thing keep happening? Some reports are saying “wardrobe malfunction” but this wasn’t a strap breaking or a seam splitting. Her panties didn’t malfunction - they would presumably have worked just fine if she hadn’t left them back home.

Stars must know that when they go to a major publicity event, there are going to be photographers there waiting for them to get out of their ride. And any shots that are taken will be published.

Now I’ll admit we men have our faults but at least we almost always wear underwear when we’re out in public. So could one of you women explain to a clueless guy how this keeps happening?

I have three theories:

  1. It’s a fashion thing. Women in fancy dress don’t wear underwear because it affects the way the outer clothing looks. So women just skip their underwear and hope for the best.

  2. It’s a psychological thing. Women enjoy going around in public without their underwear. But they don’t intend to go public with this choice.

  3. It’s a publicity thing. There’s no such thing as accidental exposure. These women know they’re going to end up flashing the cameras and they do it deliberately because they know it’ll get them media attention.

No we men don’t always wear underwear out in public. I never do.

Hathaway was wearing panties in the photo.

The first thing I thought of was the avoidance of panty lines. If a dress is tight or made out of thin material, underwear can cause a visible line on the outer garment. Even a thong or a G-string can show through. Easiest way to avoid it? No underwear at all.

From what several women have told me, it’s A. It seems that there are some dresses/skirts that no matter how skimpy, or “line free” the panties/thong/whatever claim to be, an underwear line will still show and THAT. IS. BAD.

But really, any worse than flashing your hoo-ha?*
*I saw the photos, and sadly, there’s no actual hoo-ha to be found, just a bit of bush.

my wife never wears underwear. However, she’s careful not to expose herself in public.

The first. Some dresses are completely unforgiving, and any underwear will produce the dreaded Visible Panty Lines (VPLs). Hathaway is a pretty right-on woman, and in her interview with Matt Lauer she handles the incident well, with none of the “tee-hee ain’t I naughty” that you’d expect from certain other celebs: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/12/12/15862942-anne-hathaway-les-miserables-premiere-wardrobe-malfunction-an-unfortunate-incident?lite

I think flashing your bare private parts is worse than a Visible Panty Line. Can’t understand why anyone in the public eye would take that chance.

Living in a cold climate, I have no idea what it’s about. I’ll just read for further enlightenment.

Perhaps the lady commando could perform the derriere-swivel move to exit the limo, keeping both knees together and landing with both feet on the ground. Problem solved.

The chances of flashing are pretty low. However, in some outfits, the chance of VPL is 100%. Actresses and other celebs are very careful to dress in the most extreme fashions…some of which are pretty unforgiving.

Hey guess what guys don’t really care about?

Panty lines.

Guess what some women care about? Panty lines. Women don’t dress exclusively for men or for sex appeal.

it’s healthy to get outside every once in a while and get a little air.

Yes, but see, among your own tribe you have elevated VPL to a mortal sin, rather than an “oh, bother” annoyance.

VPLs were a punch line in a Woody Allen movie nearly 30 years ago. I didn’t think anyone still cared.

I’m not a woman.

I see what you did there.

They’re why thong underwear exists.

Er… she was? Doesn’t look like it to me.

Was hearing the radio jocks talk about it this morning; first reason that popped in my mind was to avoid panty lines that show up with those sheer types of dresses.