My Essentials | Lingerie

From left to right:
Wacoal mid-thigh shaper | $60 at Nordstrom (yeah, that’s pretty much a girdle)
Hanky Panky boyshorts | on sale for $19 at Nordstrom
Only Hearts second skin bra | $44 at Shopbop
Cosabella new soiree molded bra | $64 at Shopbop

Hanky Panky has been my HG lingerie for as long as I can remember. I’ve never been a huge fan of their low-rise thong that everyone raves about, mostly because it’s one-size-fits-all, and that size didn’t fit me very well! I do love love love love their lace boyshorts and have more pairs than I can count. I generally get them on sale, or when they come up on sample sale sites, but I’ve paid full-price for a few pairs and haven’t been sorry. My oldest pairs are starting to look quite worn out though, they don’t last forever, no matter how well you take care of them (never ever dry them!!), because of the lace, but they have held up quite nicely for nearly 5 years. Besides their lace boyshorts, I have a few pairs of their cotton boyshorts that I also love – not as much as the lace though. I have had a few of these t-shirt hipsters and I CANNOT recommend them – the lace waistband started coming apart in no time, which rendered them completely unwearable. Besides their panties, I also have a few different styles of the Hanky Panky bralettes. They are insanely comfortable, but provide no support at all, and very little coverage; I generally save them for when I’m wearing lots of layers.

I can’t imagine ever straying very far from having an underwear drawer full of Hanky Panky. It’s not cheap, but I try to stalk sales and buy up the ugly colors when they get marked down! Bare Necessities has a good selection of Hanky Panky and sometimes has colors/styles on sale – they do lots of codes too, but they’re never valid on Hanky Panky. I also have purchased quite a few pairs on sample sale sites and at Nordstrom on sale, you just have to be quick!!

I have random other underwear I’ve bought – lately, since I’m having to go down a size, I’m just buying as cheap as I can get and bought several pairs from Gap. They’re not awful, in fact they’re pretty comfortable, but I don’t like elastic trim because it always cuts in on me, making bumps where Hanky Panky boyshorts do not. For a g-string or thong style, I have several pair of these hip-g panties by On Gossamer; they are inexpensive and last forever if you take care of them. They’re great with jeans. I also have some pairs of Felina panties which I like – I usually get those during the half-yearly sale at Nordstrom.

My very favorite bras right now are my Only Hearts second skin bra and my Cosabella new soiree molded bra. Neither of these bras have great coverage, in fact the Cosabella bra has NO coverage at all; I save it for black t-shirts or I wear my Bristols 6 adhesive nipple covers with it. In fact, I wear these pretty much all the time since I’m not wearing padded bras anymore. I HATE to be able to see ANYTHING, and I’m always cold, if you catch my drift….

The Only Hearts bra is so comfortable, I always wear this one traveling, but it’s cut a bit too high for wearing with my JP casual tees or any tee that has a low-cut v-neck or scoop-neck. For padded/convertible bras, I love this style by Natori. I have 5-6 of these bras, but since I am so small, and I’ve never had a bra-fitting (I know!!!), or I have, but I forgot what size I am, something crazy like 34c and I’ve always bought 36b, the cups of the bras are always too big for me, so they don’t fit quite right.

(if you love Only Hearts, or want to try it, Refinery29 has a “ticket” right now: spend $45, get $90 or spend $75 and get $150 at Only Hearts. This is how I got my Only Hearts pieces, it’s a GREAT deal. Their organic cotton robe is also TDF)

If you’re a fan of 100% cotton, I highly recommend Eberjey. I have all three of the styles of their Pima Goddess collection bras and highly recommend them. They’re reasonably priced around $35, super-comfortable and easy to care for.

Now, for the big guns – shapewear. I’ve written about this before, but when I’m wearing dresses and skirts, I’m pretty much ALWAYS also wearing a mid-thigh shaper or slip. Over the years, I have really preferred this one by Wacoal and have a few; it has a lower rise than Spanx, and just fits me better. I do have some styles by Spanx, which I’ve purchased only through sample sale sites, but none of them are really good enough to recommend. I do have a black and a nude version of this half-slip which I wear with more flowy skirts/dresses and I love them although I tend to prefer the shorts-style shaper over the skirt.

I think I might have covered everything! Now it’s your turn – what’s your favorite lingerie brand? Any recommendations to try?