Few words in our dictionary raise such a different response or set of expectations between the sexes as the word underwear. Traditionally men’s underwear has been functional and fashion has it getting longer and covering more while women’s underwear has always been guided by a minimalist aesthetic designed to work on men’s visual stimulation instincts.
Nothing, ever, develops in a vacuum or by chance. Everything in our world and our society is part of a design even when that design is not easily grasped or clearly understood. I know I am using evolutionary terms to speak about lingerie but there is a good reason for that.
Women feel the cold and love comfort as much as men do and, if evolution is to be taken seriously, probably more than men. So there has to be a really good reason why most women today could comfortably carry their entire lingerie collection in a blouse pocket. That reason has to do with evolutionary biology and the way men respond to visual stimulation.
Sexy underwear has always been the clincher, the kind of thing which gets men worked up enough to forget their commitment issues and what will happen the day after the night before and simply respond in a more urgent, primal way. The fact that La Perla, Undercover Agent, Agent Provocateur and Victoria’s Secret, to name but a few have built global empires based, exactly, on this instinct and the fact that women who want to get their men, know about it.
While lingerie, here, appears to be, well, ammunition; the question is begged as to whether it does anything else beyond help a woman get a mate, and the answer is also an emphatic yes. Lingerie is a barometer of the state of your relationship. It does not matter if you have been together for 6 months or sixty years. The moment she goes around really dressed in your underwear (not boy shorts designed for women) it’s a sign that she is beyond caring how she looks in your eyes and that is not a good sign at all.
The test holds true across any age group. In the 20s and early 30s lingerie plays that hide-and-seek game where it tantalises by revealing and hiding strategic body parts and it works. As we get to older age groups lingerie is designed to hide imperfections, flutter and accentuate strengths. It still does what it’s really supposed to do: guide the eye, inflame the mind and create a more powerful urge of desire. The sabi brand of lingerie, for example, understand the connection between lingerie and getting a man, so clearly, that they launched (see picture above) their playful "Warning. May cause pregnancy." lingerie ad campaign.
So if you really want to know just how your relationship is going simply check your girl’s underwear drawer. If you find there items of lingerie which look like yours I would say you both have some work to do before you begin to say that your relationship is really working.