Nobody wants the word "Dad" printed on their panties. Or having anything to do with their panties.

"maybe some girls like push up bras and want to grow up faster"
Yeah, that's the problem. Some of us want to examine the "why" because it's disturbing and inappropriate and parents shouldn't encourage it or buy into the marketing. Y dont u getalife?

Your nubile teenage years are probably the only time a thong is going to look halfway flattering on you, so I say go for it. My changing body type now prefers boy shorts.

i was actually mortified by my breasts until i was 20

there's something about wearing the same size bra as your 17 year old sister when you are in the 5th grade that really f's with your head

i also didn't wear a thong until 1997 and i sadly felt like i crossed a threshold nowadays i probably wear one twice i year i rather go commando

Nothing creeps me out more than the phrase "breast buds." It embarrasses me even to this day, when my buds have fully blossomed into some banging A-cups.

Hey, 13-year-olds shouldn't have VPL, but it makes me queasy to think of them wearing thongs.

Want to grow up faster? Learn to spell.

oh and today for sure i should be wearing a thong but when you have a big ass and a thin tee shirt dress um that's not the type of attention i need (that was in response to nina garcia i'm not a gawker commenter!)

@collegecallgirl: Agree -- I think I started when I was in junior high! Not that I wanted them to hang out of my jeans or show them to boys, but panty lines are embarassing as soon as you're old enough to know what they are. I cringe when I see grown women with them... and I think that look is much trashier than the thought that they might be wearing a thong.

Thongs are the gateway drug to going panty-free. I didn't start butt flossing until I was 19 or 20, and it was short lived. Those things are so uncomfortable, I'd rather just go without.
So yeah, wee ones + thongs? Nooo.

@hypnotic: try handing your old bras off to mom when you're in sixth grade! but, as you can see from my avatar, i proudly display them all the time now (12 years later!) Also, to that last comment, there is no way that is someone's mother writing that. I don't know why a 12 year old would be on Slate, but if that's someone's mother... I want national sterilization.

Let's ask Dina the appropriate age for thongs.

My sister gave me my first thong for Christmas, senior year of high school. She and my mom giggled when I opened it. I wore it on New Year's Eve, and I remember whispering to a friend "every time I go to the bathroom and notice it, I feel so dirty!" We all shared a laugh and then put the thong to rest for a long time. I still don't really get the appeal of them and only wear them when they're all that's clean. "Laundry-day underwear."

i totally agree with AVIDREADER. I didn't even want my dad doing my laundry past the age of 13. it's weird.
And as someone who got their first thong to go underneath her backless and slinky senior prom dress (i went with my best gay friend, and he matched my dress' shade of smokey-bottle-green perfectly), i'd say when a girl has a job and starts buying her own underpants is when she can start wearing thongs.

@titania1285: I agree with your conclusion. I own exactly one thong. It's cream colored; I only wear it when I wear a white skirt or when I'm too lazy to do laundry. Because I don't find thongs comfortable at all, and I seeing myself in the mirror while wearing one is traumatizing.

At age 13 I did not know what a thong was. And I'm in my early 20's so it's not like I'm talking about 30 years ago or something. I wish more stores sold pretty, good quality bras and panties ala Mark and Spencers rather than coming with padding.

I don't find thongs comfortable, but some folks do.

My teen stepdaughter said she found them comfortable and you could never see them (she always dresses conservatively) so I don't see the big deal.

It's NBD as the kids today would say... ;-)

@titania1285: That's a good rule of thumb. Get a job, get a thong. And for the mom whose daughter is pushing her 'buds' together...uh ew.

seriously why is the back piece so freakin wide? they never look good they are either have some weird high cut leg this isn't 1988 or if they are low rise they dig into your hips

gstrings are better but i just find the lack of crotch area to be a problem

i do like commando but again you need something to contain the jiggle which is why i wear panties

I don't get the "thongs are soooo uncomfortable" thing. The ones I buy from V.S. (Body by Victoria line) are wonderful. I forget I'm even wearing underwear. Of course they aren't frilly or super cute or anything - just basic colors like white, beige, and black - but they're so damn comfortable I don't even care what they look like.

oh wait i have another rant

padded bras wtf why is every bra sold with some type of padding or molded cup

i mean sometimes i just want to be me a bit saggy and ordinary

Isn't Emily Yoffe the one who replaced Dear Prudence, then got all on her high horse about how everyone should have kids?

Bleah. She's the reason I stopped reading Slate.

The thing that confuses me most about the "buy it now, tell Dad later" panties? During my tween years I never had the money to buy shit like that. Are people giving these little kids credit cards? MBNA really is getting them young!

No one else creeped out by the term 'buds'? It used to be 'panties' for me (as in, 'We found thse panties at the crime scene. Test them for DNA'), but I got over it. But 'buds'? So child molester-y.

@serreca: Well my ass is large...so they always get lost back there. I prefer boy shorts. Flattering and sexy, yet comfy too.

I think the appropriate age to start wearing a thong is when you can buy them yourself - with earned wages, not an allowance.

@hypnotic: Ugh. That's one of my pet peeves, too. I don't do false advertising.

The only thongs I wear are the one-size-fits all Hanky Panky's. Yeah, they're expensive, but not too bad at Nordstrom Rack. And my first thong was probably in college - I was completely disgusted by them until then.

Yeah, I can see the arguments about 13 year olds wearing them so they don't have VPL...but there's just something very sexualized about thongs that makes it creepy. The same way a 13 year old wearing a padded push-up bra is creepy.

Little girls who aren't old enough to hold jobs need their little girl butts in little girl undies. And modest bras when they need them.

P.S. Thongs create more pantylines than they erase. Especially under a clingy dress. No one wants to see your ass cheeks jiggling back and forth and the dress fabric creeping into your crack. Invest in a nude colored pair of invisible-line boy shorts. Makes a way better silhouette.

And P.P.S. to all the oversexed tweens/tween moms out there who think butt floss is sexy:
Women were designed with curves because men were designed to like curves. Curvy tap pants and cheeky panties are way sexier and more flattering to a woman's natural figure than string panties that make you look like a stick wrapped in twine.

Plus they don't obnoxiously hang out of your clothes or give you a nosebleed from riding up so far.

@HeatherNumber1: Makes me queasy, too.

@thegreatladies: Yeah, so it's probably more like: men were designed to like curves because women were designed to have curves.

Much better.

I love boy shorts and tap panties, too, but they tend to ride up on me and create a line. I have never had a VPL problem with the Body by Victoria thongs.

And also, have you seen pics of Vida Guerra in a thong? There's nothing "stick wrapped in twine" about her at all!

@thegreatladies: word! I avoid thongs as much as I can.

Yeah, I find thongs don't show through your clothes,'cause they're hiding in your crack. HATE.THEM. For me, they're right up there with the Epilady hair removal system and douching with Lysol Household cleaner in terms of "weird ways we women torture ourselves." Boy shorts, rock, BTW.

On the push up bra mom, true confession time: I had teenaged sisters growing up (Brady Bunch family) and wore my teenaged stepsister's pretty teen bra to...kindergarten. I still remember to this day ushering my favorite gal pals into the girls room and flashing them my severe lack of T. Even with the straps on the smallest setting, I wasn't fooling any of the adults. No one said anything and let me figure it out on my own. Karmic bit me on the ass later when I was the first girl in the 4th grade getting my "strap popped" by the boys.

that's it. time for the class-action lawsuit against sisqo for his hit "the thong song." i think i was in the 9th grade when that came out, and thats when i started seeing thongs sold at little-girl-accessable stores like claire's boutique and the limited, too.
but then again, at least his career died along with the nation's sense of decency.

@titania1285: I think the same thing, and would apply it to any kind of sexy underwear - buy it yourself! (Though buying your flat-chested daughter a pushup bra once she hits high school is a different matter...)

Of course, I don't like thongs either, and wear them only when necessary. And even that's rare, because I'll wear a slip with a white skirt before I'll wear a thong. (Oh, whatever happened to the slip? So logical, so maligned! I realize this makes me sound geriatric, but I'm in my mid twenties.)

@HeatherNumber1: Totally creepy. I hadn't heard the term until now.

I cringed when I read the part from mom about her 10 YO's "buds"

the appropriate age for thongs = the age when you no longer want VPL. If it's 13, then so be it. I will not force my daughter to have a wedgie all day.

But since when is a thong considered "sexual" on it's own? As long as you're not spoting a Whale Tail or visible straps at the hipbones, what's the big deal? It's just a piece of underwear!

As for anyone who says they're so uncomfortable I have two words: Hanky Panky.
Worth every penny.

@optical_allusion: I still wear slips under dresses and skirts. There's something about them that makes me feel a little classier. I think my grandma would be proud. But then she'd see that I'm wearing a thong and no stockings.

@optical_allusion: Aaah, the slip! I have been searching for one this summer. The problem is, they're either polyesther and completely sticky & uncomfortable, or made out of Spanx-type material, which makes me feel like I'm wrapped in sausage casing.

Oh to find a beautiful, silk slip that fits...any suggestions as to where I can find one?

@fulanita: My guess is that a 13 y/o wanting a thong is a sign that she's been hooked by the Be Sexy For Boys brainwashing, and may have dangerous ideas about her body and its purpose. Wanting to wear $2 sparkly gloss is one thing, but wanting a thong is on another level. It reflects a desire to grow up too fast, which of course we ALL had at 13, but parents have a duty to prevent their kids from actually growing up too fast.
And who cares if tweens have VPL? They shouldn't be wearing pants that tight anyway. Why do we want people to think our little girls aren't wearing underwear?

@serreca:
I love slips. They make things glide along without nasty static cling. Also, they provide a fun in-between step when getting undressed for lovin'. Take off the top layer and bam, you're already wearing pretty retro-esque lingerie.

I NEEDED a bra in fourth grade and had a teacher tell my mom to get me a bra! I grew up with "trunk shorts" which were cotton panties with legs. Have never worn a thong-can't figure out why I would want a string up my butt. Am I missing something?

Hanky panky: Yes. Comfy. Cute. Not on kids.

Molded bras: I hate to say, but after a certain stage in life, these are necessary. I nursed two babies, and it's distressing to think of what I would look like without some external structure.

@petuniacat: I wish! I have a few of my grandmother's, and I've bought a few vintage, but they just don't seem to make nice ones anymore.

I wear molded bras strictly so my headlights won't be visible to everyone if there's a slight breeze or I get a chill.

@HeatherNumber1: Um, unless I'm much older than I thought, "buds" is the mother's term for her daughter's not-yet-developed boobs (headlights or misquito bites, if you prefer). Contextual clues.

And to defend myself, I've also never had indency problems, VPL or comfort issues in VS thongs, but I wouldn't wear them in a clingy dress.

@serreca: No doubt she's hot. I just think bottom-of-the-ass cleavage is way more seductive.

My major rant is this: Mothers, teach your daughters that true sex appeal lies in brains, personality and seduction--not being a pussy on legs shopped around to any man that will look.