You, too, can be iconically sexy in Old Navy!

The other night some friends and I caught a commercial between channels featuring a white flokati rug, a fireplace, and a gamine model prancing towards the camera in fuzzy boots, panties and a sweater from… Old Navy??? Surprised glances dashed around the room. We hadn’t realized that Old Navy could aid the sexy!

Immediately after, another musing surfaced... Why is a sweater with panties/bikini bottom so sexy? What does it MEAN?? So many magazines whose fashion spreads feature sweaters invariably have a girl dreamily gazing into a grey sky in a fluffy sweater and panties on a barren beach.

But, when would you wear a sweater with panties? When would there be a situation where your top half would need to be sweatered and your bottom half could go bare? I remember once, a friend came to visit me from out of town in winter. Eager to show off my fringey moccasin boots and bright red plaid boyshorts, I answered the door in those and a white, slouchy sweater and yes—a mug of cocoa as a prop. When I answered the door, she said, “What the fuck? Put some clothes on!” “I was just uh… writing…” was my excuse. The ellipses here replace the sound of my teeth chattering.

The only time I wear a sweater and panties is a time like now—just after work, alone and relaxing, writing possibly… with some soup or hot tea. Perhaps the private nature of this dubious form of undress is the key to the sexiness. The sweater-panty combo is appealing in advertisement and fashion spreads because it stimulates the voyeur within us. We observe a fleeting, private moment of cozily letting it all hang out.