I’m a fashion expert and Kirsty Allsopp is wrong, knickers don’t need to be sexy & there’s no way I’d ditch my briefs
BELLY warmers versus sexy smalls – it’s one of life’s great debates.
And now, Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp has put her two pence in.
When asked in a recent interview about the secret to feeling sexy in your fifties, the 51-year-old responded: “I might regret saying this, but you have to take your underwear quite seriously.
“We can all get to a point where you find yourself in big knickers, and I think that is a mistake.”
Well, Kirstie might know her stuff about property, but I know my knickers – and at 51 too, I’m a huge fan of big pants.
In the same way I have certain clothes for work, or exercise, or getting wined and dined, I have knickers that work for me on all those occasions.
For my job, I need to be comfortable, in control and feel like I’m bossing it.
So I wear my big Brazilian briefs from H&M.
These are a hybrid between Bridget Jones’s big control pants and a thong.
They come in practical workwear colours – black, white and three shades of nude – and are sold in a two-pack for £12.99.
High-waisted and made of ribbed jersey, they cover my tummy, giving a nice smooth line under my trousers.
These knickers are the most hard-working pants in my underwear drawer.
‘Not sexy’
They feel empowering to wear and, most importantly, I can get stuff done in them, which definitely helps in the feeling-sexy stakes.
Sometimes I even wear two pairs at once.
OK, that’s not sexy.
The second pair are over my tights so there’s no chance of a 20-denier baggy crotch (now there’s a guaranteed libido-killer if ever there was one).
Then there’s the big old belly warmers I wear for working out.
Every Saturday I do bootcamp, often in sub-zero temperatures, at the local park, and the last thing I need is the wind whistling around my love handles.
The best ones I’ve found are seamless high-waist briefs from Lindex, which come in a multi-coloured three-pack for £19.99.
And while I agree with Kirstie that they are not going to set my husband’s pulse racing, they do what they say on the tin.
I have road-tested them with burpees, mountain climbers and squats and they don’t ride up your bum even a tiny bit.
Of course, I’m not suggesting big pants for sexy time with your significant other.
For that, I tend to go for lacy bikini-style thongs, and for my 50th birthday my friend took me shopping and persuaded me to try a risqué strappy cut-out pair from upmarket lingerie shop Honey Birdette.
I love them, but would I wear these all day every day?
No way!
I thought that turning 50 would make me feel a bit old and over the hill, but age brings an altogether different sort of sexiness.
I want to feel sexy for myself first and foremost, whether that’s excelling in work, beating my PB in training or taking a saucy selfie in a pair of strappy bondage pants.
No matter what your age, sexiness comes from feeling confident and comfortable in yourself – big pants or not.