Forget activewear. Period underwear is the greatest fashion invention

"Everyone has their horror period stories and as a 90s teen who had no choice but to use pads and tampons, my first period was a nightmare experience."

Forget sat-navs, iPhones and Kindles- period underwear is the greatest invention of the century.

Yes, I’m speaking as a woman and a mother of two girls, specifically two tweens who I know will be the ones to benefit from them, but honestly, in my eyes at least, period underwear is revolutionary!

As a woman who doesn’t get her period, I am admittedly out of the period loop and late to the period underwear game. But with two tween girls, I have had to do my research to prepare them (and myself) as best as possible for when the time comes.

This has meant standing for a prolonged period in the ‘feminine hygiene’ section at the supermarket or chemist reading product descriptions of various items. I have also undertaken a deep dive into the wide variety of period underwear, swimwear, sleepwear, activewear and even dancewear that is available online, for women, teens, and tweens of different sizes.

And doing all of this has made me even more sure of my big revolutionary call.

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Having your period at school causes a lot of anxiety in teens. Image: iStock

Having your period at school was the absolute worst!

You see, as a tween and teen in the 90s, sanitary product options were vastly different. Generally, the options were pads or tampons. That was it. And even these product ranges, well, let’s say, they had a long way to go.

Everyone has their horror period stories and as a 90s tween and teen who had no choice but to use the products mentioned above, my first period nightmare experience revolved around the first pad I ever wore.

Similarly, to other women, my mum for some reason thought it “better to be safe than sorry” and decided the maxi pad option was the best choice for me. This of course meant my twelve-year-old, not fully gown body was waddling around with pads the size (and the firmness) of a surfboard between my legs for at least my first six periods, until I wasn’t mortified enough to ask my mum if there were some “not so gigantic” options.

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The second one of my embarrassing experiences was heading off to the bathroom in Grade 6, attempting to disclose one of these surfboards up my jumper sleeve but instead, dropping it in front of a group of boys who found the whole sight very amusing, while I wanted to curl up and die.

And third, which was more a series of moments, than one, was school swimming. For the first few years of having my period, tampons weren't an option I was comfortable with, which meant when school swimming came around, usually, weekly visits to the pool for an entire term, well it meant not participating.

As someone who enjoyed swimming, this meant missing out on an activity that I would have preferred to have done and it also meant that it was pretty obvious to everyone, that I had my period.

My point in taking this fun trip down memory lane is to highlight how far we have come. I mean now, with period underwear, pad surfboards are no longer required, and neither is shoving them up your sleeve to hide them.

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Period underwear is a life-saver for many

You can put on a pair of underwear in the morning, wear it all day to school and not have to change it once. Not once. Because some of these underwear options hold up to six tampons. Six.

I realise writing this, for those familiar with the products, that I may sound a bit… uneducated, or like I am rehashing old news but the joy that is brought by knowing there are these options now is genuinely empowering.

While I am also slightly jealous, that I did not have these options when I was younger, more than anything I am relieved that my daughters will have a much more comfortable experience.

No more incognito, expertly planned school toilet visits hiding products and the fact that you had your period. Now you just go about your day as normal, without the worry, without having to factor the military exercise in and with a high degree of certainty that embarrassing period moments will be avoided.

It also means girls of all ages and stages can still participate in all the activities they like, without telling anyone they have their period if they don’t want to. From swimming, dancing, sports, and even sleepovers with friends- activities that were often the first to take a back seat.

And with this security comes freedom. And with freedom comes confidence. And with confidence is empowerment. And that is revolutionary!

Originally published as Forget activewear. Period underwear is the greatest fashion invention