THE MAIN REASON BOW STRINGS WERE ATTACHED TO FEMALE UNDERWEARS.
This article explores the historical and modern reasons behind the small bows often seen on women’s underwear. While today these bows are mainly decorative, evoking femininity and cuteness, their origins are more practical. Historically, before elastic was widely used, the bows helped keep underwear in place and made it easier for women dressing in the dark or by candlelight to tell the front from the back. Over time, underwear evolved from simple chemises and drawers to more decorative pieces, and the bow transitioned from a functional element to a purely aesthetic one. Meta Description: Discover the surprising history behind the tiny bows on women’s underwear — once a practical feature to hold garments in place and guide dressing in the dark, now a cute and feminine design detail.
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We wear underwear nearly everyday of our lives but we properly don’t spend a lot of time thinking about their quirks or even designs and once it is time to leave the house we throw on a nice pair.
In 2021, it came to light that not everyone knew the reason for the holes at the front of boxer shorts. Likewise, it has come to knowledge that people are captivated by women’s underwear, specifically the little bow that adorns them. But it turns out, there is a little more to these tiny bow strings then we all thought. Interesting, right?
While the bow is clearly decorative, a theory circulating the internet throughout the years has it that, that wasn’t always the case.
A user went viral on Reddit after explaining the meaning behind the little bow strings. The original post of the user said “why do so many panties have that little bow on the centre front? Where did the tradition come from?”.
There were many replies to this question but the most common reply was that the bows were used to keep people’s underwear from falling. Here are some of the comments under this post.
“ Now? Because it’s cute, it’s feminine, it evokes innocence, and it makes it easy to tell which side is the front, especially in the front”.
“To add a touch of femininity to the garment I think? Makes the most sense to me”.
“I was told before elastics were a thing”.
“It was used to hold the underwear up but it doesn't make sense why boys wouldn't have it”.
“Otherwise we don’t know that it’s for women”.
Another commented on the similarity of the bow strings on the female underwear and the bows on ballet slippers(flats).
Cute Panties with bowstrings.
We're not entirely sure what European women wore before the 15th Century. Most of our evidence comes from artwork, writing, and textiles that have been preserved well enough to survive until today, which is a lot to ask of an underpant. Women after that wore petticoats and nightie-like clothes under their clothes, known as a chemise, and sometimes corsets.
15th century women’s underwear.
In the 1800s, they also wore drawers according to historian Tim Lambert of local histories. They were plain at first but were more decorative towards the end of the century, adorned with lace and bands.
On the other hand, it could be that current underwear manufacturers merely thought it a nice, decorative addition, unconnected to old traditions. After all, who doesn't like a cute aesthetically pleasing bow?
So, far from being decorative that little tie served the vital function of keeping your undies where they should be.
But the underwear insight didn’t stop there. According to another forum user, previously women would have got up before daylight and dressed in the dark or by candlelight.
It‘s suggested that the bows helped them work out which way round their knickers were supposed to go. But these days, it‘s definitely for aesthetic purposes.
