In Search of ... Underwear

Dear businesses that sell ladies underwear: Please keep in mind that not every woman shopping for underwear is 22 years old, with a flat stomach and a tiny waist. Not every woman wants or needs bikini underwear.

I travel quite a bit, so I recently looked for underwear that is lightweight and dries quickly, as laundry services are not always available in the places I travel. What I found after searching several websites was that a lot of the offerings was bikini style underwear. Now bikini underwear may be fine for the young and thin among us, but I am not in that group of people. 

I was thin at one point some 40 to 50 years ago, but those days passed a long time ago. So I was looking for some regular ladies underwear, what my daughter once called granny underwear. And that’s OK. I’m not looking for anything sexy or to show off my flat stomach. I simply wanted something that is lightweight, hand washable, comfortable and that dries quickly.

I checked the websites of a few companies that specialize in outdoor wear, including Columbia, REI and Patagonia. I even checked Amazon. I finally remembered that I had ordered years ago from a company called Travelsmith. There I finally found what I was looking for, but at great expense. I ended up spending more than $90 on underwear, including a ridiculous charge for shipping (why should shipping charges be based on the price of the items purchased rather than on their weight? A few pairs of underwear weigh very little). and state sales tax.

Because I am sometimes gone for two weeks or more, it isn’t practical to take a separate pair of underwear for each day of the trip. They simply weigh too much and take up too much space in my suitcase. Hence this search for quick-drying underwear.

This experience made me realize that I am in that group of invisible women, women who are no longer young and thin. Businesses don't market to us, unless it's an ad for some prescription medication or wrinkle cream. 

But guess what? We still are consumers. We often have more disposable income than do the skinny 24 year olds who appear to be the target of marketing of too many businesses. What a refreshing relief it would be if businesses actually acknowledged that as women get older, our bodies change. We get heavier. We get thicker around the middle, or as one friend of mine says, fluffier.

I would bet there would be a good market for comfortable, light weight, quick-drying underwear for women of all sizes, not just for the sexy young things featured in ads, with their flawless skin, big lips and perfect hair.

I am tired of being invisible. Ladies, how about you?