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(Unless you generally wear crotchless or edible underwear under your everyday jeans- in which case, you do you, girl).Ĭher flashed her cheeks onstage in the late 80s, but it actually wasn’t a performer who made them go mainstream- it was an American White House intern in the 90s. It first came out as more of a sex toy, alongside the crotchless and edible undies, so not exactly mainstream. Basically, women needed underwear that could stay invisible under their hot pink gym leggings.įrederick Mellinger, founder of the famous undies brand Frederick's of Hollywood, introduced the G String to the masses, marketing it as the Scanty Panty. The 1980s were all about tight tight tight-lycra and spandex that showed off those gym bodies. The G String was exclusive to strippers until designer Rudi Gernreich famously invented the thong swimsuit in the 70s, a time when women were being encouraged to explore their sexual side and break through the taboo.Īs fashions started to demand tighter and tighter pants, women started to consider VPL (that’s ‘visible panty line’ for those of you born after the year 2000).
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Keep in mind, this was at a time when normal underwear for women were puffy, cotton, knee-length bloomers. So, the ladies got together and created their grand solution: a tiny strip of cloth to cover up just the crucial bits and so they were able to keep flaunting what their mama gave them, without technically disobeying the new laws. Apparently, NYC Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was worried that all the international tourists flocking to the city would be scandalised by New York’s fully nude strippers. New York City lore tells us that the G String exists now because of the 1939 World’s Fair. The G String’s cheeky reappearance in the 1930s Though some people say it might be ‘groin,’ so let’s move on quickly from that. Weirdly, no one actually knows for sure what the G stands for or where it came from. It was worn mostly by men, possibly as far back as 75,000 years ago, likely resulting in a very different look from Kendall Jenner's 2017 Met Gala dress. The G String is actually one of the earliest types of human clothing (ok, it was a loincloth, but really similar). Also, my targeted ads and browser history are really never going to be the same.įeel free to indulge us and play the ‘Thong Song’ on repeat as you read. After doing a bit of hilarious research, I can now tell you there are literally thousands of other names for the sexiest of underwear (most of which cannot be repeated here). Dental floss, scanty panty, thong, string pants, gadget, g-banger, tanga- the list goes on.
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