Editrix Abby  

Novelty Panties

A Round-Up of Frivolous Underwear

Chances are, if you've picked up this magazine you've got a passion for panties. Plain and white and pristine. Sexy and silky and soft. Ruffly and frilly and flirty. Panties come in a million different styles, and they all are capable of making the heart race. But one's pulse can be ratcheted up a few extra notches when the panties are extra special. And that's what novelty panties are all about.

Victoria's Secret may sell an assortment of cuts and styles, but they don't carry anything as naughty as the crotchless models from Frederick's of Hollywood. And I'm not talkin' about models without crotches, here. No, I mean the overtly sexual undergarments meant to torture and tease all you men out there. For what other reason could there be for panties that don't cover one's privates? Well, silly, there simply isn't one! The one and only purpose of crotchless panties is to enticingly frame a ladies short and curlies--or if she's hip and with-it, as so many of the current porn stars are, her brazenly shaven snatch. If you're lucky enough to catch a cutie bending over in a pair of these evil undies, you'll be treated to the sight of two sexy strips of frilly lace showing off nothing but bare, exposed skin! Scandalous! And downright mouthwatering, too, I might add! So here's to Frederick's, for designing drawers that don't serve any practical purpose, other than pleasuring the gentleman admirer.

Probably more popular, yet equally as frivolous, are the undies destined for ingestion. That's right: I'm talking about Edible Underwear. Long a staple of bachelorette parties and bridal showers, these candy-flavored seat covers get your taste buds involved in the foreplay. Take them out of their tacky, disco-'70's box and you'll find two tricky triangles of pseudo fruit roll. They're easy to install: just tie them at the hip with the ribbon-like strands. I happen to think that when improvements are made, licorice rope might be a good idea. Once you've got your sweetie inside these sexy sweets, you'd better get down to business tout de suite, because they do tend to melt. In fact, when I took them for a test drive myself, the moment my honey applied his tongue to the tasty treats, the thin sheet of edibleness became one with my little treat, if you get my meaning. This required much snuffling around for gooey balls of cherry flavored panties that eventually became quite tangled in my pubes, leading to more giggling and impatience than general pleasure. In the case of edible undies, there's more to the novelty than the actual panties, and they might be better off left in the box.

Not satisfied with gratifying our taste buds alone, those professionals out there in wacky panty development have recently come up with a new addition to the line of novelty underwear. Franties are fragranced panties, as in scented, to satisfy one's sense of smell. Initially I had a problem with this proposition, that being the same argument I have with all those feminine hygiene products that claim to make a woman feel fresh. They're all based on the perpetuated myth that a woman should smell like something other than a woman in order to feel clean.

Well with Franties, they've taken that concept one step further, by putting the pretty fragrances right into the actual underpants themselves. Designed in both bikini and high-cut, for the more modest of the olfactorily challenged, Franties come in a variety of scents: Revel in the splendor of Romantic Rose! Flashback to days at the beach with suntan oil-scented Taupe! Seduce with the mystery of Midnight Bouquet! Or smell good enough to eat with flirty French Vanilla! Each scent features a corresponding color, so you create a mood both visually and, um, nasally. Frankly, I think these Franties are the true definition of frivolous. Women who tried them out were quoted as saying, "The fragrance was so strong the first day that it was a little embarrassing." Evidently one of her coworkers was sniffing around and caught a whiff of her Taupes. "You smell like suntan lotion," he told her. Yikes! But not as embarrassing or off-putting as those other evil feminine odors, one might assume. And "I washed them before putting them on and the scent was still a little too powerful." Proving that even if it isn't a feminine odor a woman is emanating, her crotch can be a little too strong.

Oh, it's just too easy to make tasteless jokes about these Franties! And even if one enjoys wearing pre-scented underthings, these aren't exactly the most attractive panties I've ever seen. Fashioned from shiny Quiana-esque fabric, each pair is emblazoned with the Franties logo right smack in the front. The secret fragrance pack, or whatever, is beneath the little heart-shaped patch, so to get the whiff it's necessary to suffer with the logo. The press package for these panties seems to think Franties are womankind's answer to the bother of continually putting perfume samples or sachets into their lingerie drawers. But doesn't slipping free perfume samples into your drawers sound like a less expensive (and not-so-overpowering) way to smell nice?

A recent arrival in my X-rated mail box was a pair of Private's Latex Erotic Wear crotchless panties. Those folks at Private really have branched out, from videos to sex toys, right into my underwear drawer! I was a bit excited at the prospect of rubber panties, probably because if I follow the line of logic that says what I wear under my clothes can make me feel secretly sexy, then if I'm wearing nasty rubber crotchless panties, I'm REALLY gonna feel filthy!

Well, maybe, but on the steamy summer afternoon I tried them on, they only made me feel sweaty. Which, I might add, could be a real turn on in certain situations. They also made me feel tight and toned and all tucked in, which, for me, contributed greatly to their allure, and more than offset the discomfort of sweat. Hey, beauty is pain! They smelled great (if you enjoy the scent of Latex) and felt all smooth and soft. Plus, with the complimentary bottle of Latex polish, I was able to make them really shiny and sexy! Latex is all the rage these days, and this little addition to one's wardrobe is an inexpensive way to test the waters without getting all wet. So to speak. And I shudder to think how powerful they would make me feel, knowing that underneath my sensible suit, I'm wearing naughty erotic rubber that leaves my little goodie waving in the breeze! Yee-ha!

The final category of novelty underwear is the most novel of all, especially if you consider that for holidays, the stationery stores sell what they call novelties. That's right, holiday underwear! And in this area, the undies aren't just for women! I've seen his-n-hers sets for the nuptial couple: frilly bridal white for the lady and an abbreviated version of the tux for the groom. Some of them even play "Here Comes the Bride" when you, um, press the button. At Christmas there are protruding antlers for guys, which may be a tad threatening to any man not completely secure in his particular protrusion. There are dimensional jingle bells as well as the button-pressing, "Jingle Bells"-playing variety. And since everyone's a sucker for Christmas, Frederick's usually offers a wide assortment of Santa's Little Helper ensembles that you wouldn't be caught dead in at the mall! Personally, I've had my eye on the red velvet pair with the white fake fur trim. It's really a shame that so few people would see them . . .

My favorite holiday is Halloween--no religious overtones, no credit card bills from overspending on presents--and the Halloween undies are awesome! There are glow-in-the-dark skeleton skivvies, which are a real blast in the bedroom, or the less spooky bone-on-black boxers for that X-ray effect. But the best are the Jack-o'-lantern shorties that say "Possessed" on the waistband. I bought a pair for my trick-or-treater last Halloween and he wears them year round.

Lately I've noticed an exciting trend in the world of underwear: rock and roll bands have started printing their logos onto panties. Almo Sounds recording artists Garbage, dinosaur rockers KISS and upcoming acts Hot Damn and The Pristeens have been hawking cotton bikini panties with band logos across the butts, so fans can proclaim their enthusiasm in yet another direction. Perhaps they've been inspired by all the silly drawers that have become available in recent years--most notably from the folks at Joe Boxer, who continually strive to provide the world with whimsical underwear.

I guess what it all boils down to is that for those of you true panty fans out there, novelty undies are a very good thing, indeed. For they tempt the wearers to give us a flash and a laugh, to share their secrets with a smile. So whether it's a whiff of Midnight Bouquet, a taste of Wild Cherry or just a little jingle, you can thank the makers of frivolous novelty underpants for giving you just a little more than you expected!