Dear LPG,

I have been taking a look ahead at the many national celebration days that our world has acquired and found one that commemorates one of those commodities that we take for granted and rarely talk about in polite society. 

We all need and use them and, once we make our morning selection, I know that I never give mine a second thought until the end of the day when they need chucking in the washing machine or we need new ones.  I am referring to today which has been designated a day to celebrate our smalls.

I think that many will think it absurd to dedicate a whole day to an article of clothing that we all otherwise don’t really give a second thought to once we have put them on in the mornings but, spare a thought for just how many varieties, and how much choice we have now. 

When you think about it, it is interesting how we all start with nappies, and then as we get a little older, the relatively sensible ones that our parents buy.  Do the ladies remember the navy blue ones that we used to ware to school?  We girls had built in pockets in ours, which came in very handy during PT lessons, where they doubled as part of our PT kit.  Those were the days when parents did not have to pay out for an extra set of clothes for us to jump around in.  I have to admit that one of my biggest fears, when at junior school, was that I would find myself walking to or from school, and the waist elastic would give while I was walking down the road leaving me dependant on the leg elastic to stop them falling to my ankles! 

But, there is no doubt that knickers have evolved during my lifetime and if anyone told me that they would be advertised on the telly when I was really young back in the 1950s I would not have believed them, but then again, I wouldn’t have believed that every household would have a television set if you asked me back then either.

Now they come in all colours and shapes and it appears that the youngsters pay more for each pare while the amount of actual material used has dwindled and often covers less and less of the anatomical area that they were first designed to. 

Readers will note that I have omitted to mention the other very important part of the women’s underwear ensemble today, let alone vests or hosiery, but I feel that going into detail there would make this bit of writing far too long.   I have also been a bit selfish, so far, by omitting my thoughts on another very important part of this story.  Men talk of underpants rather than knickers but buying your nephew, twice removed, a couple of pares for Christmas when you can’t think of anything else, is becoming more of a challenge in itself, with all the shapes, sizes and colours.    

This year will afford this celebration its seventeenth outing and, interestingly enough, the event was designed to promote the female form rather than the items of clothing I have been describing, which I find a little sad because we should spare a thought for them, in their own right. 

Apparently the way to celebrate is to post a picture of yours on your social media page but as liberal as I think I have become, I think that I will keep mine to myself…

CL, Penge

CL shares a little information on the day and the history of the clothing item in question…

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