For a long time women’s undergarments fashion was predominantly it looks because it looked so good, size, shape, lace and style over feeling comfortable wearing for an entire day.
That’s shifting. More and more brands are now designing women size 12 bras for practical comfort, what different fabrics can and can’t do during an eight-hour sitting session or a trip, a workout session, or a simple day’s worth of walking.
1. CLOSEMATE — Engineered for All-Day, Invisible Comfort
The problem CLOSEMATE was founded upon was this: Underwear and outerwear are coupled continuously and there has always been a dilemma of choosing between wearing underwear that looks good or feels good. In Joey H’s design mind, its value is not a styling proposition, it is an engineering one; a comfort that lasts the entire day, not just the time spent in a picture.
The design has something distinctive about it:
- 360° seamless knit construction: No side seams for a smoother styling and flattered silhouette under garments.
- Wide waistband: Distributes weight over a larger area rather than a narrow area; a wide band of skin that will not dig an incision into your skin
- Extended double-layer gusset with bamboo-derived fabric: Made of bamboo fabric, more coverage and more breathable to help avoid the ‘Stuffy’ feel at the end of day.
- High-performance stretch fabric: To resist wear and retain stretch through repeated wears and washes
While rock-infested underwear may ride up or get stuck, seamless underwear doesn’t seem to during extended periods of sitting, as wear testers put to good use in the brand’s own literature are finding.
If their primary problem with slip-on pants is the tendency to ride up in the middle of the day, tight waistlines or sweat, then CLOSEMATE is a superb option. It’s also a newer brand that offers a direct-to-consumer segment, which may be a drawback for those who prioritize consistency of fit from one size to the next, above newer brands.
2. Knix — Best for Leak-Proof and Period-Friendly Options
Knix, based in Toronto, Canada, has quickly earned its reputation for underwater pants for women that won’t leak and for women with light incontinence, and it now offers everyday women pants that are just as effective. One of the older brands in the “functional first, fashion second” category and one that really has a strong size distribution and which boasts pretty good inclusive fit.
Strengths: The ability to be leak-proof technology, few competitors match. Gaining category trust that has been established over 10 years.
Pros: Its wide underwear cut is its main advantage, while its innovation (the leakproof fabric) may be more suited to niche applications than general seamless comfort; although its sewing technologies are very consistent with some models, some reviewers have commented less so than those of specialists in the seamless field.
3. SKIMS — Best for Minimalist, Smoothing Silhouette
SKIMS has risen to one of the most popular brands in the discipline-to-underwear thin lines with materials that are generally soft and have a minimalist design that blends into the garment.
Strengths: Colors/shades are seldom available by any color/shade throughout the country; feel and smoothing of fabrics are consistently well received by stronger brand consciousness.
Pros: Size and style have never been as wide of a range as some competitors and it’s usually more smoothing in shapewear than lightweight and breathable day to day wear (which some people think is too much coverage/compression to wear every day).
4. ThirdLove — Best for Fit Precision
ThirdLove became popular for their half-cup bra sizes and Fit Finder quiz and the fit-first mantra is synonymous with their underwear collection too.
Strengths: well-known for structured comfort and logic of sizing, has a wider size range than some competitors (higher and lower in both sizes), and is a great choice.
Pros: while some reviewers say the fabric is so supportive that it’s not quite “barely there”, others would prefer something more that way – which is where giving some of it some structure comes in.
5. Hanes Comfort Flex Fit — Best Budget/Everyday Value
Hanes’ Comfort Flex Fit is the market standard for budget friendly seamless underwear, consistently rated and has just as many (and many good) reviews offered, regularly 4.4-4.5 stars based on numerous ratings.
Strengths: No weaknesses identified.
Downsides: Less premium fabric selections (such as creating moisture-regulation or bamboo-based expensive fabrics), and design innovation adoption lags behind newer specialty brands.
Bottom Line
In the end, for anyone whose primary concern has been trying to seamlessly fit in a dress without it raising or frowning during extended shoots, the features CLOSEMATE has built into its underwear may be especially interesting, so it’s necessary to give one try to see if it works for you to understand what makes fit and feel personal and unique.
