Trust Me - It Does Not Look the Same on Real People

Here are some stats about me: I am slightly over 5 feet tall and weigh 125 lbs. That means that my BMI is about 24 and change, putting me on the line for being overweight, but still considered to be healthy. Very good. It is important to know this because about four years ago I decided that I should update my underwear wardrobe, if you want to call it that. I had a lot of underwear that went up to approximately my chin, and that I bought when I weighed about 165 lbs. They didn't work well with low rise jeans, and I thought I might be nice to my husband and attempt to wear something slightly more appealing to a guy in his 20s.

This led me to go to Victoria's Secret with a friend. I saw some underwear that looked reasonable. The were bikini briefs with a decent amount of ass coverage and thin elastic bands on the sides; something like this, but not as low:
I figured they were cotton, which I always look for (extra absorbant for less crotch rot), and moderately sexy. I thought even a fuddy duddy like me could deal with it. They were 5 for $20, so I split the purchase with my friend and she took 2 and I took 3.

When I wore a pair for the first time, it became very clear that someone like the model in the Victoria's Secret catalog photo above looks very sexy in this type of underwear. Someone with a BMI of 24.something looks like a horror movie. My gut was not only hanging over the front, but also bulging over and under the "cute" elastic sides. Plus it didn't cover my significantly larger-than-model-size ass nearly as much as I'd like. I was now stuck with 3 pairs of these undies. (And I will wear them until they unravel or get lost because I am cheap and hate buying things and not using them to the fullest extent possible. I groan every time one of those pairs comes up on top of my undies drawer.)

My point is that if you look like shit in something and know it because you are not self-deluded, you will not feel sexy anyway, so you might as well wear underwear that goes up to your chin. (Although to deal with the low rise pants issue, I did come to my senses and buy normal cottong bikini briefs that don't have elastics bands on the side and that are very comfy.) A little pre-investigation before a big underwear purchase goes a long way towards creating a ahppy investment.