221: Building a no-skips underwear drawer

Overhauling my bra, underwear, and sock collection one test drive at a time.

A couple of weeks ago, I realized that I could no longer accept opening my intimates drawer and feeling disappointed. Who knows how it happens, but it seems like one of those core human experiences that we reach a point where our underwear collections are made up of fits and styles that we just don’t like: old, worn ones that have got to go, but also barely touched styles that we resist until the last possible, towering-laundry-pile moment.

This time, I wanted to do it really right, in order to stave off finding myself in this exact situation again in just a year or two. I researched, asked around, and went off instinct, buying and calling in a pretty vast number of bras, underwear, and socks that I thought could bring me to a place I’ve never been before: intimates nirvana. Imagine opening that drawer and having a straightforward answer to every outfit, a no-skips playlist of underpinnings that are comfortable, flattering, well-fitting, and right for the job.

My criteria related to my body type and taste. I prefer simple silhouettes in neutral shades (mostly black and white). I require a bra that can handle a bigger bust (I’m an E) and smaller band (a 32), with an actual support system and not just for show. I lean toward medium to minimal coverage in underwear, but proper fit is incredibly important, as I refuse to be squirming around throughout the day. My feet are small—a size 6—but not freakishly small. I deserve socks that fit! Down with size 8 supremacy in women’s socks!

I outlined everything I kept, tried, and ultimately added to my über-curated selection over the course of those few weeks below. And, now on the other side of that odyssey, I feel…calm? Excited? Full of hope? There’s a first-day-of-school-ness about having a crisp, clean, and picked-just-for-you wardrobe of innerwear to start every morning with. I recommend it. It’s spring, and you deserve that feeling, too.

underwear

Gil Rodriguez The French 100 Brief

What I kept:

CUUP The Bikini Modal and CUUP The Thong Modal: Forgettably comfortable (in a good way) medium-coverage everyday undies. I have seven pairs in four colors—these have been my defaults for a couple years, but I can’t say they bring me much joy. I don’t love the way the wide waistband strip looks, and most of the ones I have are colorful whereas I prefer black or white.

CUUP The High Cut Satin: A smooth, skimming, stretchy fabric with a straight-across mid-rise cut and French leg. A higher-coverage style that doesn’t get bunchy.

Gush The Little Thong: First choice want-to-feel-a-bit-sexy underwear, I have three pairs in black and white and love how they can be hiked up over the hips for a strong V shape or worn lower without the fabric buckling (it has lots of stretch). They sit so nicely on my figure and are easily the most flattering pair from the front and back.

Kye Intimates Essential String Bikini: Elegant. Comfortable. Adjustable. In the summer, I save these for days when I’m wearing something a little sheer so they can shine through, I like the way they look as part of an outfit. I’d say maybe size down, and then fine-tune the fit with the sliders on the waistband. I doubled down by ordering another pair this month.

Spanx Perforated Thong: The most no-show thong I’ve tried, it lies completely flush against the skin and has very discrete seams. I’m considering ordered more in a size down.

Thinx Cheeky Period Underwear: They’re flawed (the elastic trim frays off after only a few washes), but these are among the only period panties I’ve found that don’t feel like a diaper. They are not the most absorbent option on the market, but they are comfortable, discrete, and a solid day-three pair. It looks like Thinx is phasing the style out unfortunately, so I’m only finding it on Amazon in limited sizing at the moment. This is a category I still need to do more research into in order to get my drawer in top form—I just ordered a pair each from Modibodi, Knix, and Saalt, will report back in a month.

What I added:

Gap Body Breathe Bikini: A recommendation from a reader that I’m ecstatic to have explored. This is my new everyday preference that’ll likely replace my CUUP dependency. SO soft, SO stretchy, and yet completely invisible under clothes. I can already tell this sentence is going to be TMI, but the back nestles into my bum and bypasses the dreaded uni-cheek situation without any wedgie feeling at all. I got the heather gray originally (the comfiest color in my mind), but I just made an additional order for eight more pairs adding black and white.

Gap Body Breathe Thong: The equally successful thong version of the above, which I have likewise stocked up on. Very funny to me that I’m this excited about such a plain and affordable thing, but I’m really looking forward to not waiting around for “the good pairs” of underwear to be back from the laundry.

Cuccia Marietta Lace Thong: Very ‘French lingerie shop’ in design with scalloped lace framing the front, but much more comfortable than they appear. They give me a kind of reassuring, secure feeling when I wear them that I expect from something more plain-looking—these just happen to be super pretty as well.

Cuccia Soprano Natural Fabric Thong: Has a similar boomerang shape to the Gush ones I already owned, but the bamboo feels more organic against the skin than Gush’s techy ECONYL fabric.

Kye Intimates Standard Thong: Grabbed pairs in black and a white for moments when I need something no-show but want to feel a bit elevated. Might’ve sized up in retrospect, but don’t terribly mind the close fit.

Araks Tine Thong: A romantic stretchy floral lace with a high-coverage front and comfortable high thong back. The material is more substantial and thick without being bunchy. A very cinematic pair, if you know what I mean.

Hello Beautiful Signature Panty: Does the sweet, classic style to a tee. High-cut leg and retro over-the-hip fit, the cotton feels substantial. The rosette at the front is a very convincing flourish.

Gil Rodriguez The French 100 Brief: The winner of all the girlish cotton panty brands I tried, these have a great amount of stretch at the waistband and don’t dig at all. I love the inverted triangle back that I can hike up comfortably. Got them in black and white.

What didn’t work:

CUUP The String Thong Modal: I included a bunch of other CUUP styles above, but just wanted to note that I didn’t love this particular style—the sizing felt off and the T-back struck me as cheaply constructed. I was always too aware of their presence when wearing them.

Kye Intimates Mies Brief: Unlike other Kye styles, these cut in at the elastic creating creases and lumps in places I didn’t want them. Might’ve been a different story if I’d sized up.

Coucou Intimates The Thong: I’ve tried Coucou’s underwear a few times and while the cotton is nice, the sizing is an entire letter size off. Not worth wearing a cute pair if it’s going to pinch in all day.

Else Bare Minimal Brief: The mesh is too stiff for underwear. It doesn’t move with you and gives pretty apparent VPL.

Hello Beautiful Classic String Panty: Sad to report that these were a miss for me. The back bunches and the front positioning of the adjustable sliders on the waistband make me feel like I’m wearing a harness, which is at odds with the softness of the bow.

bras

CUUP The Plunge Satin

What I kept:

Le Mystere Safari Smoother Unlined Back Smoothing Bra: This bra basically started this whole overhaul endeavor. I’ve gone through many generations of Le Mystere bras and love how smooth and thin they are, enough so that a nipple might even peek through a shirt worn over top like there’s nothing in between. But what I’ve also found is that it’s been impossible to re-buy the styles I wear to death. They seem to go out of production really often? This one, which has an odd, tonal cheetah print that I don’t love but that no one sees anyway, is now only available on eBay as far as I can tell. Am keeping this one until it takes itself to the graveyard, but I’m glad to have found a great replacement for when it does, below.

CUUP The Plunge Satin: I have a bunch of bras from CUUP from past social partnerships, but among the only styles I kept were two of these satin plunge styles in pink and black. They’re low-profile under clothing, and even though they are unlined (just two layers of fabric), they have a strong hold if you feel like shortening the straps and hoisting your boobs up.

CUUP The Plunge Mesh: The one other style I kept was a mesh version in sunshine yellow because the color is just so lovely. I do also like the fit, however I had to rid myself of a fair few that were incorrectly sized by the team a while back. I have the best success with my usual size.

Nood Shape Tape: For when a bra can’t.

What I added:

Thirdlove 247 Second Skin Unlined Bra: The granny bra of my dreams. I knew I needed a flesh-tone t-shirt bra with utterly smooth contact against my bust so that no seam would be visible when worn underneath all manner of tightly fitted tops. This checks every discretion box while also being the most comfortable bra on this list for all-day wear. After trying it, I bought another in nude and one in black.

YSE Paris Nouveau Monde Bandeau Bra: I picked up a pair of these in black and white from Bon Marché in Paris. I’m not much of a bralette wearer, but these are SO comfortable and keep my boobs in check (i.e. not spilling out the center). These are “around the house” bras.

YSE Paris Histoire de Femmes Triangle Bra: Also from that same trip, I got the last of this style in black from the department store (I went with the 32C, which I wouldn’t have tried otherwise—it fits spot on), and then went to the Marais boutique to track down more to no avail. When I got home, I ordered two more in white and another in black in a 32D; I’m happy with the fit of both cup sizes, one being slightly skimpier than the other.

Else Betty Underwire Strapless Bra: The best strapless bra I’ve tried in years (the technology has gotten much better since I last shopped around). It’s absolutely discrete under clothing, doesn’t bulk up my bust, and most importantly, leaves a smooth line where it meets my armpit area; there’s nothing I hate more than visibly pinched armpit fat under a top worth wearing a strapless bra with.

Wacoal Visual Effects Strapless Underwire Minimizer Bra: I was hoping to find a single strapless bra style to go with and return the others, but I wound up keeping both the Else style and this one from Wacoal. While the above is singular in its pinchless armpit construction, this style feels more secure with a grippy rubber edge on the inner side of the cup, plus it lays more flush against the body in the valley between the cups. I imagine these will have different applications depending on what I’m wearing.

Negative Sieve Racerback Bra: It’s tough to know if a bra sized 0 through 5 (as opposed to band-cup sizes) is going to fit my proportions, but the front clasp and racerback style of this model actually work well. I can see this shape coming in handy with certain tanks where my bra straps would otherwise be visible from behind.

What didn’t work:

Wacoal Visual Minimizer Bra: It was between this and the ThirdLove in the race to become my new everyday, all-use bra, and the ThirdLove was just that much more comfortable, that much more discrete, and that better of a fit, plus the pattern of the Wacoal was a bit of a deterrent. This isn’t a bad bra, it’s just not up to the high standards I had to fill this position.

Araks Beau Underwire Bra: It could be a sizing issue, but there was some puckering of fabric at the top of the cups that I worried would look bunchy under clothes. I otherwise really liked the cotton jersey material, but felt that the level of comfort wasn’t matched by the straps nor the seams, which I could feel abrading against my skin.

Else Bare Minimal Underwire Bra: The underwire went straight into my armpits and the mesh fabric was scratchy around my ribcage. The strapless model from the brand above was much more impressive!

Negative Whipped Non-Wire Bra: This is the kind of bralette I tend to have a tough time with—bandeau style in stepped sizing with no option for a smaller band and larger cup. I went with a size 1 despite the size guide recommending a 2 (I have played this game before and always find that the band simply slides up onto my boob area with this guidance), hoping that the “whipped” fabric would be stretchy enough to accommodate my Es. Sadly, it wasn’t. On top of that, I found the seams to be noticeable against my skin when wearing it, even though the band fit properly; a shame when the fabric itself is so soft.

socks

CDLP Mercerised Organic Cotton Socks

What I kept:

Colorful Standard Organic Cotton Socks: I’ve talked about these socks plenty in this newsletter and even dedicated a spotlight to them a while back. They’re easily one of the best pairs of socks you can get for the money ($11). I have them in sky blue, white, light gray, dark gray, and red. I’m keeping the darker-shaded ones and re-upping on white.

Swedish Stocking Freja Organic Wool Knee-Highs: I forgot I had these until I pulled out all the socks from my drawers and am thrilled to rediscover them. An underrated hosiery brand whose Italian-made styles compete on Comme Si’s level (more on them below). These I love for their comfort, close fit, and temperature control. I just ordered a couple two packs of a shorter style—The Billy—seeing that they’re on sale.

Rosie Sugden Cashmere Bed Socks: Another pair I’ve mentioned quite a bit, these are pure luxury—soft and huggy—but also a real pragmatist’s pair. I can give them a beating in a pair of boots, throw them in the washer-dryer, and have them back looking exceptionally fresh (just the tiniest bit of pilling that I can pick off with my fingers).

Lauren Manoogian Tall Alpaca Socks: These wooly socks have a very rustic constitution. They’re thick and heavy and are on the stiffer end of the stretch spectrum, which I find oddly comforting. Definitely a winter staple.

KOTN Crew Socks: I have several pairs in black and white, and I always look forward to their turn out of the wash cycle. They are thick and have a strong hold, making them the most heavy-duty pair on this list. I wear them in colder weather with loafers or short boots, or I’ll just have them on around the house like slipper substitutes.

Brother Vellies Cloud Sock: I’ve owned two pairs in black and white for a few years now, and I’m always really happy to have them around come fall. They are scrunchy and fluffy, but actually somewhat thin at the shaft when you pinch them with your fingertips—I find this composition makes them coziest when bunched around the ankle but allows them to be worn out under jeans easily.

Antipast Flower Front Lace Socks: A black lace pair I picked up at Mouki Mou in London last year that’s surprisingly resilient. I love them for adding a bit of dimension to a plain shoe look, and I use them to make rubby sandals more comfortable on hot days or more protected on cold ones. Also totally fine to throw in the wash.

What I added:

Comme Si The Agnelli Sock: A more elegant sock than I’ve ever owned, probably. The knit is ultra fine and has that slickness you usually experience with silk blends, though there is none—likely just the effect of the tightly spun Egyptian cotton. A bit baggy at the toe on my small feet, but I’m still praying they’ll shrink a bit in the wash.

Comme Si The Yves Sock: A couple millimeters less in the toe and these would be the perfect fit, but no complaints about the fit in actual use. These are also made with Egyptian cotton but feel more like a traditional loafer sock, which is to say, a smooth ribbed style at a thin-to-medium weight.

Comme Si The Silk Ribbed Sock: More form fitting than the Agnelli and the Yves, these snapped right into shape around my feet and seemed content to stay up at the mid-calf without slipping down. They’re super breathable, like you can feel a breeze through the weave and they’re almost cool to the touch. I just double checked the price (even though I paid for them originally) and hate that they’re $60…they might be the best socks, at least for spring and summer, that I’ve tried yet, but it’s hard to stock up at that number.

Comme Si The Everyday Sock: A snuggly, well-fitting stretch cotton with a shorter shaft than the other styles I tried. It’s in the name, but that’s exactly what I like most about these: I can put a pair on in the morning without having planned my day or outfit (regardless of if I’m going to something social or to the gym) and they’ll most likely make sense. Of all the Comme Si styles, this is the pair I’ll buy a few of for rotating wear (more doable than the Silk Ribbed at $30).

Comme Si The Merino Tube Sock: Similar to the Everyday, but with a taller shaft. A very comfy, reassuring grippiness to them, and a divinely glove-like fit. A mid-calf length at this weight isn’t my number-one choice for spring, but I like the idea of these for boots in the fall.

Maria La Rosa Organic Cotton Socks in Cream: Gorgeously thin, fine ribbed cotton, a touch baggy in the foot for my size 6s, but comfortably grippy up the shin. Great shade of white, more organic than optic.

Le Bon Shoppe Her Socks: A fantastic fit along the foot with a secure (but not uncomfortably tight) shaft. The cotton-poly-spandex blend is stiffer than other pairs, which makes me think these’ll last a while.

CDLP Mercerised Organic Cotton Socks: A superior all-weather knee-high-boot sock with gently constricting weave that holds you in, veering on shapewear for your calves, but not as extreme as compression socks. They stay up like their career depends on it. (also available in a pack of six.)

What didn’t work:

Falke Active Breeze Crew Socks: Fleshier shade of cream than pictured and very rolly at the opening (the un-seamed edge curls in on itself down your ankle). The fabric is very comfortable, though, so I’d be willing to try more Falke styles…I didn’t even notice I’d ordered an “active” pair.

Nishiguchi Kutsushita Linen Socks: I can totally see someone really loving these for hiking or even for wearing with a No. 6 type clog—they’re a beautiful sheeny material and have a great company history (family-owned Japanese brand since the ‘50s)—but they’re too chunky and hard-feeling for my tastes.

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