Plus Size Brief Panties

It is the decision that changes the garment most and the one people skip. A high waisted brief sits at or above the natural waist, smooths across the stomach and stays put under a fitted skirt or high waisted trousers. A mid or standard waist sits lower and is less noticeable under low rise clothing. Seven of the styles here are high waisted, so it is the default rather than the specialty. Decide this before you look at fabric or color, because it determines which half of the page you are shopping.

Three styles here are French cut or high cut, which means full rear coverage with the leg opening cut high on the hip rather than straight across the thigh. That is a real difference in how the garment looks and sits, and nothing in the word brief signals it. The product titles do say so, using the words French cut or high cut, so it takes two seconds to check. If you want the leg opening where you expect it, pick a style whose title says neither.

Almost everything here runs S to 3XL as one continuous scale, so you order your ordinary letter size. Hanky Panky instead uses the 1X to 3X plus block, which starts where regular sizing stops. Those are two different scales using similar-looking numbers, and a 2XL is not a 2X. Measure your hip once and compare it to the chart on the product page. Doing that is the difference between the right pair and a return, and it takes a minute.

If the problem is a visible line under fitted clothing, buy bonded seamless, where the edges are fused rather than sewn. If the problem is comfort over a long day, plain microfiber in a full coverage cut is the simplest answer and the cheapest. If you want the brief to look like lingerie rather than underwear, lace does that, but accept that lace has texture and will read through thin close-fitting fabric. Each of those is a different style on this page, so pick the problem first.

The bonded seamless brief comes as a single at $16 and as a three-pack at $44, which is about $14.67 a pair. The pack is the better price, but it arrives in mixed colors in one size and there is no way to swap sizes inside it afterwards. If you have worn the style before and know it fits, buy the pack. If you have not, spend the extra dollar and change on a single first, then buy the pack once you know the size is right.

A brief is defined by how much of the seat it covers, and that is all the word means. A brief covers the whole seat. A hipster or bikini covers part of it. A thong covers almost none. The word says nothing about how high the waist sits or where the leg is cut, which is why two garments both correctly called briefs can look completely different on. Check the waist height and the leg line separately, because neither is implied by the name.

Only the waist height. Both cover the seat fully, which is what makes them both briefs. A standard brief sits on or just below the natural waist. A high waisted brief rises to the natural waist or above it, which is why it smooths more across the stomach and why it stays put better under a fitted skirt. Seven of the styles on this page are high waisted, so it is the more common option here rather than the exception.

It is a brief with a high leg line. The seat is still fully covered, so it is genuinely a brief, but the leg opening is cut high on the hip rather than straight across the top of the thigh. The effect is to lengthen the leg visually while keeping full rear coverage. Three styles here are cut this way: the Hanky Panky Signature Lace High Cut French Brief and the two Parfait Micro Dressy colorways, which are high waisted and French cut at the same time.

Your ordinary size, extended. This is the unusual thing about this collection: fourteen of the sixteen styles are graded S, M, L, XL, 2XL and 3XL, with one reaching 4XL, rather than being sold as a separate 1X to 3X plus block the way most plus size lingerie is. So you order the same letter you would order in any other garment. The exception is Hanky Panky, which uses 1X to 3X, and Natori, which runs S to 3X.

No, and this catches people out. Parfait uses UK sizing on a continuous S to 3XL run, while the 1X, 2X and 3X labels used elsewhere in plus size lingerie are a separate apparel block that starts where regular sizing stops. They are different scales that happen to use similar numbers. Measure and read the chart on the product page rather than assuming your 2X translates, because on these the equivalent is often a size apart.

4XL, on the Parfait Charlotte 6917 high waisted vintage brief, which is the only style here that goes that far. Most of the rest stop at 3XL, and the Hanky Panky and Natori styles stop at 3X. If you are shopping at the top of the range, the size run on the individual product page is the thing to check, since no single style covers everything listed on this page.

The bonded seamless ones. A bonded edge is cut and fused rather than sewn, so there is no stitched hem to press a line into fitted fabric. The Parfait Bonded Seamless mid-waist brief is the style built that way here, and it is the one to buy if a visible line is the thing you are trying to solve. Lace briefs are the opposite: the lace itself has texture and will read through anything thin and close-fitting.

It depends on where you want the waistband to sit, not on which is more comfortable. A brief covers the seat fully and the waistband sits higher, so it stays in place and smooths more. A hipster sits lower on the hip with less rear coverage, which some people find less noticeable under low-rise clothing. Both are everyday shapes. If you are deciding between them, the real question is whether you want the waistband at your waist or at your hip.

Mostly microfiber and lace, with two bonded seamless styles. The microfiber styles, Cozy and Charlotte, are the plain everyday option and the cheapest here from $11.20. The lace styles, Charlene, Luxlacy, Natori Feathers and the Hanky Panky, are thinner and more decorative and run $16.80 to $38. Bonded seamless is smooth microfiber with fused edges. Fiber content is listed on each product page and varies by style.

Yes, modestly. The Parfait Bonded Seamless brief is $16 as a single and $44 as a three-pack, which works out to about $14.67 each, and the pack arrives in mixed colors rather than three of the same. If you already know the style fits you, the pack is the cheaper route. If you have not worn it before, buy one single first, because there is no way to size-swap a pack after the fact.

Not at the moment. The live range is microfiber, lace and bonded seamless. Microfiber is the closest thing here to a plain everyday cotton brief in how it behaves, and it is where the lowest prices sit, but it is not cotton and it does not breathe the same way. If cotton is the requirement rather than a preference, the fiber content on each product page will tell you quickly that this is not the collection for it.

The waistband should sit flat without rolling down or digging in, and that is the first thing to check, because a rolling waistband means the brief is too small through the hip rather than too small at the waist. The leg openings should lie flat against the thigh without leaving a mark. At the back, the fabric should cover the seat fully without riding up into it. If the seat rides up, size up rather than trying a different shape.

Cold water and lay flat to dry, or a low tumble at most. The elastic in the waistband and leg openings is what holds the shape, and heat is what destroys it, so a hot wash or a hot dryer will loosen a brief long before the fabric wears out. Wash lace styles in a mesh bag so the lace does not catch, and wash dark or red pieces separately the first time, since dye transfer onto a nude or pale pair does not come out.