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Finding the right underwear is a struggle for so many women. With a list of needs ranging from a breathable material to a large enough gusset and seamless design, it’s no wonder many resort to the trial-and-error method, which can admittedly turn pricey quickly.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of brands on the market, all claiming to be the magical answer to the underwear struggle. Do any of them actually hold up? I tried thirteen of the top underwear brands to find out.
The War Against Camel Toe
There are so many cuts of underwear to choose from – thong, brief, cheeky, brazilian, boyshort – I couldn’t help but wonder: are some better for your vagina than others? I turned to a board-certified gynecologist, Dr. Louise Collins, for answers.
Citing several studies, Dr. Collins shares what matters most is that your underwear fits well, no matter what the style. You could be wearing your tiniest thong or your comfiest granny panties – and wearing either style too tight or too long could cause irritation and trap sweat.
Safe to say: fit is important. That’s why it’s the core pillar for some brands, like Thirdlove. As the brand’s co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Ra'el Cohen explains, “Women were settling – we believed women deserved better than close enough, and that belief has driven everything we've built since.”
Cohen learned that women often gravitate towards seamless, soft, extra-comfortable styles and pay for products that will last after multiple washes. “Comfort is non-negotiable. Women are increasingly sophisticated shoppers and want their undergarments to go beyond comfort and actually perform,” says Cohen.
The biggest mistakes she sees are brands designing for the look rather than for wear. “Something can photograph beautifully and feel terrible by noon,” said Cohen. “Brands that don't test extensively on real bodies, across sizes – not just the sample size – miss critical fit issues that only emerge with movement and time.”
It just takes small adjustments to gusset depth, waistband height or fabric weight to make an enormous difference across different body types and life stages. The brands that pay attention to these small details are the ones that are continuously performing well in the market.
“The industry has largely designed to one narrow template and asked women to adapt to it,” Amelie Salas & Oria Mackenzie, co-founders of Underdays, explain. After researching all the conditions that affect women's gynecological health, like endometriosis and cervical cancer, it became clear to the founders of Underdays that the underwear market needed to change. “We'd never claim our underwear is a solution to any of these, they're serious conditions that deserve serious care, but if we can help women feel more comfortable day to day, that's a small contribution to feeling better.”
Combating Swamp *ss
The second most important quality of a healthy pair of underwear is fabric. When it comes to combatting dampness, Dr. Collins suggests synthetic fabrics or alternatives to cotton like bamboo, hemp or merino wool for their moisture wicking abilities.
The myth that cotton is the best fabric for underwear stems from an old belief that nylon, a non-breathable and uncomfortable material, was the only other option. Since then, fabric options have expanded exponentially, and there are safety-tested synthetics and other natural materials that are both more breathable and more skin-safe – even than cotton. Citing a small 2026 study published in The Journal of Clinical Medicine, Dr. Collins explains that anti-microbial underwear (fabrics treated with silver or zinc or that are naturally anti-microbial such as bamboo, hemp or merino wool), improved vaginal symptoms such as discharge, odor and itching.
Ra'el Cohen recommends a 4-way stretch microfiber, which is a performance fabric staple. It’s great for that smooth, no-show finish women want under fitted clothing and dries quickly. And, for those of us “sweaty girls,” temperature regulating fabric goes beyond stretch and comfort. It’s designed to keep you cool and helps regulate your temperature before you get too hot.
The co-founders of Underdays have made fabric an essential part of their brand’s journey. Their core fabric, TENCEL™ Modal (a semi-synthetic made from natural wood pulp and elastane), beats cotton in the areas that really matter: it's twice as soft as cotton, naturally temperature-regulating, and 50% more absorbent, so it manages moisture instead of trapping it, and it gets softer with washing rather than breaking down.
Underdays is also exploring new ways to further benefit the skin's microbiome with UNDERskin™, a fabric treatment with a synbiotic finish that delivers prebiotics and probiotics directly into the fabric. Activated by body heat and movement, it supports the skin's natural microbiome through the day, is 100% biobased, clinically tested, certified biodegradable, and lasts up to 40 washes, with no change at all to how the fabric feels, fits or breathes.
A Look into My Underwear Drawer
My underwear drawer is currently stuffed to the brim with period panties, natural undies that your mom would probably love, and my sexiest skivvies. But what makes underwear good enough to survive my monthly cull and keep me coming back for more? Below I dig through my underwear collection and rate each in terms of comfort, practicality, fabrication, price and design.
Best Lace:
The brand was started in Paris by its namesake in 1948. Today, it is run by her grandchildren and continues to produce some of the highest-quality, sexy, everyday basics. Simone Pérèle is definitely most known for the brand’s delicate lace details, but most styles feature a cotton gusset, making them more practical for everyday wear. Some of my favorite styles include Intrigue, Comete, and Caresse. Styles range anywhere from $45 to $75.
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Best Everyday:
For everyday wear, I continue to come back to Thirdlove. The styles are timeless and the brand’s core principles of fit and function make them some of the most comfortable silhouettes in my drawer. Their online fit-finder quiz and reviews make it simple to find a pair that will work for you through every stage of your body’s journey: pregnancy, weight fluctuation, age and hormonal changes to name a few. I cycle through the All Day Lace Cheeky 24/7®, Classic T String Thong and ComfortStretch Thong weekly. Another bonus, Thirdlove’s products lean on the more affordable side–around $20 a pair–with a three for $49 deal always available on their site.
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Best Details:
If you were as tuned in to Off Campus as I was, your first intro to Bluebella was probably the bra Allie wore to play chess with Dean. Besides some of the sexiest bras on the market, the brand is also making some extremely intricate panties. You aren’t going to be wearing your Bluebella thong to the gym (unless you’re into that sort of thing), but the feminine lace detailing is perfect for date night or when you need a confidence boost just for you. I recommend trying the Gabriella Embroidered Panty (to pair back with Allie’s famous Gabriella bra), Peyton Lace Boy Short or Verona Satin Thong. Bluebella’s more wearable styles range from $30-60.
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Best Craftsmanship:
If there is one lingerie brand most people have heard of, it's Kiki De Montparnasse. The brand leans on excellent craftsmanship and lace, mesh and silk silhouettes to bring its audience unique, comfortable and luxury styles like the Dahlia Lace Panty and Crochet Thong. Panties range from $95 to $345, which may seem shocking, but most of the more practical garments remain on the low end of that range.
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Best Technology:
Co-founders Amelie Salas & Oria Mackenzie started the brand with a simple belief: anything that touches your most intimate parts should never be an afterthought. The pair met working at Farfetch, surrounded by categories that were racing forward towards new and exciting innovations and added underwear to that mix. Underday’s fan favorites like The Workout Thong, The Everyday Thong and The Everyday High Waisted are made with the UNDERskin™ fabric I mentioned above. For $26-28, these pairs offer some serious bang for your buck.
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Best Cotton:
Another breathable, cotton staple in my underwear drawer, the High Waist, Thong and Bikini from Lake Jane are practical, easy and classic wardrobe staples. Lake Jane’s USA-grown Supima cotton is some of the best and softest around. For $28 - $38 you’ll get a high quality cotton undie that you’ll get tons of wear out of without worrying that they’ll fall apart after a few washes.
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Best for Activities:
These are designed to move with you – whether you are dancing until dawn or hiking a mountain peak. I like to break these out for a workout when I am looking for a silhouette that is built to perform. My favorite is the Low Hide Thong which feels like a supportive second skin. At $30 a pair, they are built to last.
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Best Period Panties:
Thistle and Spire is known for their sex positive ethos, so it may surprise you that I come here for the Minna Tanga Period Panty ($56) and Minna Full Brief Period Panty ($56). When you imagine period panties you are probably not picturing a sexy and downright skimpy design, but Thistle and Spire has completely shaken up the category. Maggie Bacon, founder and CEO, had been wearing period panties for years when she started wondering why they were designed to be so utilitarian and pragmatic.
“Women on average spend about 18% of their adult lives on their period,” said Bacon. “Why wouldn't we want more special options to wear for almost a fifth of our lives?” Her team created period panty silhouettes that looked like they could be regular lingerie.
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Best Value:
Quince is excelling at creating top-quality basics for less than Victoria’s Secret sales prices. Only sold in $29.90 six packs, Quince’s cotton underwear collections: Organic Cotton Thong, Organic Cotton Boyshort, Organic Cotton Hipster, are some of my favorite everyday pieces. As soon as I got my hands on them, I wore the entire pack back-to-back in one week. They’re great if you’re going for an invisible look under clothes, or if you just want to be comfortable in top quality, organic fabrics.
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Best Silk:
My favorite silk underwear come from Uwila Warrior, a female-founded intimates brand that claims to be the best in the category for their 100% silk silhouettes. I wouldn’t usually go for silk panties, but when these came out of the box I was shocked at how light and smooth they felt. They’re naturally moisture-wicking and fast-drying and give you virtually no visible panty lines.
All of UW silk undies go for around $45, and the pairs I continue to reach for are the Soft Silk Briefs and Soft Silk Thong Underwear.
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Best Fit:
Launched by founders with 30+ years expertise at companies like Victoria's Secret, Nike, Spanx and more, Underoutfit’s Everyday-U Bikini and Everyday-U Thong (which retail for a very fair $24 for a pack of three) are insanely comfortable. The brand’s founders know that fit is not a matter of size charts, it's a matter of construction: how a band distributes weight, how a strap angles across a shoulder, how a fabric moves with a body rather than against it. The brand is so confident in their product they will let you try it for 180 days at home – no strings attached.
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Best for Panty Lines:
Another female-founded favorite, Stripe and Stare is supporting women through real life, not just the picture-perfect moments. Options like the Brazilian Brief for $28 and Thong Four Pack for $80 (sweet deal considering one pair is $28) are made from incredibly soft modal fibers that stay smooth and panty line free all day long. The website claims wearing Stripe and Stare panties, “might cause mild panic that you’ve gone commando,” and they aren’t wrong.
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Best for Sustainability:
If you are ready to take the next step in sustainability, you might want to try Jungmaven’s hemp underwear. Rooted in the culture of the Pacific Northwest, the brand is deeply passionate about treating the earth with kindness. I wouldn't reach for these if you are looking for a seamless pair of panties, but they are comfortable, and breathable and perfect for lounging or spending time outside. I have both the Bikini Brief ($40) and Boy Short ($40) that fit nicely and provide a bit of coverage, allowing me to stray a bit from synthetics.
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Undies are a deeply personal endeavor and you’ll have to do your own research to decide what works perfectly for you. Hopefully our research will set you up to make your list of dealbreakers and find the perfect pair for you.
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