Are You Underestimating The Power of Your Underwear?

About six months ago, Beth and I were discussing how to feel more confident at job interviews, meetings and networking events. We both concluded that most of how people perceive you is in how you present yourself. I told her about the Ted talk on Power Poses, and how I’d used that as a tool to feel stronger before important meetings. Somehow, it moved from that to the idea of wearing Wonder Woman Underoos (under our clothes, of course!). There’d be no choice but to kick butt if we had indestructible bracelets and a lasso of truth at our disposal! We never found anything bigger than junior sizing for our experiment, but I’m still holding out hope.

A few weeks ago Beth and I went to CurvExpo – and it was amazing. It was like a candy dish of underthings – with gorgeous colors and textures; every piece was interesting and different. It brought me back to a time when I paid closer attention to my own underwear. I think I started in the early 90s, when a certain store began moving into all of the malls. Whenever my mom and I would go shopping, we’d stop by and I’d buy a matching set. I don’t remember her exact rationale, but I always remembered that it felt nice. (and my mom knew nice when it came to clothes, the woman had flats, heels and matching jewelry to go with every designer work outfit) I stopped buying matching sets sometime in my mid 20s. I’m not sure if it’s because I gained weight or if it’s because I was broke, but I stopped. I’ve since returned to buying nicer bras, but I never got into matching again. After spending the day at CurvExpo, it reminded me of that feeling of wearing beautiful underwear and I told Beth needed to step up my game.

Last week I came across this article by Veronica Granja-Sierra entitled It’s What’s Underneath That Counts: Why Women Should Embrace Lingerie. She explains how lingerie had become about either utility or sex but it is really about neither. It’s about self-expression and how we feel about our bodies:

“Matching bra and panties have been proven to actually impact a woman’s self-esteem.

When you devote time and effort to adorn your body in beautiful lingerie, it affirms your self-worth and boosts your self-confidence. It ignites feminine creativity, and also helps you take yourself seriously because let’s be real: Do you even take yourself serious when you’re lounging in PJs all day?

It is proven that you feel your best when you are at your best, and then, people will naturally gravitate to you. Confidence in what you are wearing not only makes you feel good, but it also attracts people who appreciate those qualities.”

(but read the whole post here, it’s really good)

The memory of that feeling propelled me to find something for myself (off the clearance rack, not everything has to be about spending a ton of cash!) and I feel good about it, beyond the basic retail therapy high. I’m inclined to think that Veronica’s on to something.

Do you wear matching underwear? If not, after reading this, would you consider starting? And what do you think of our Wonder Woman Underoos idea? (especially you, Veronica!)

Also: Our blog has been on hiatus for the last month, we’ve been dealing with a loss in the extended Strap Saver family. We’ll be doing something to honor their memory and hopefully make a difference in the world. More information on this coming soon.