The Best Underwear Is Gap Underwear
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So important is the question of underwear that presidential candidates are judged on their preferences (like a Cosmopolitan quiz question, the answer says a lot about you). I’ll admit briefs are probably on my mind more than the average registered voter’s: As the Strategist’s underwear writer, I’ve worn every single style, from Bridget Jones’s knickers and Carrie Bradshaw’s tighty-whities to Manny Santos’s rhinestoned thong. But the top of my underwear drawer is where I play favorites.
For the longest time, those favorites included Commando’s Classic Boy Short, to avoid visible panty lines (it’s what stars wear on the red carpet); Jockey’s Elance String Bikini, for more coverage (though you can hike up the strings on the sides to channel a Baywatch Pamela Anderson or an Eyes Wide Shut Nicole Kidman); and Natori’s Bliss Briefs, for comfort courtesy of the pima cotton in a blend that also includes Lycra, nylon, and elastane.
But if the Commandos, the Jockeys, and the Natoris miraculously had a baby, it might be Gap’s Organic Stretch Cotton Hipster. It’s my new favorite (singular). Now, only after I have exhausted my Gap supply — and all five of my pairs are at the bottom of the hamper — do I reach for the Classic Boy Shorts, Elance String Bikinis, or Bliss Briefs.
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This Gap hipster hardly shows any panty lines and is about as VPL resistant as a thong. There’s a thin line between a visible and invisible panty line, and the elastic along the leg openings doesn’t cross it, for the most part. (If you were to see an outline, you’d probably be standing too close to me anyway.)
Unlike a waist-grabbing brief or thigh-cutting bikini, the Gap hipster is hip hugging and butt containing. (I don’t know about you, but I like my bits covered.) Plus it stays put, so I never get a wedgie.
Made from 92 percent cotton and 8 percent spandex (at the waistband and leg openings), it gives me air downstairs. For comparison’s sake, the Gap’s SecondSkin and Breathe hipsters are made of a nylon-elastane and a lyocell-polyester-spandex blend, respectively, and aren’t as breathable. But because there’s still stretch in the Organic Stretch Cotton Hipster, it’s clingy without squishing or squeezing. Maintenance-wise, you can wash and dry it with the rest of your laundry without fear that it will shrink.
For $10.50 at full price, it’s a bargain, and there’s always a three-for-$24 deal. But you can often get one (or more) on sale for as low as $3.99 on a regular Tuesday.
Not only has the Organic Stretch Cotton Hipster overtaken my underwear drawer, it’s the underwear I want to wear everyday. It’s the underwear I had on yesterday. It’s the underwear I have on today and the underwear I’ll have on tomorrow, too.
Some more underwear we recommend
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The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
