May 2022 – Broad in the seams

Fat travel unders

I’m still thinking about travel wardrobes after my recent post ‘Fat Travel Planning’, which got an unusual amount of comments! Because there was so many great insights in the comment section, I thought that actually, some wardrobe sections deserved their own blog, so I’m cracking off with undies (not just because the Dulcie Boxer Briefs were released yesterday, but kind of because I’ve got undies on the mind)!

I never wanted to sew my own undies

Before I made my own undies I’d see folks get really into undies and bra making on instagram, and I’d be super impressed by their work. Bright colours, lace, matching findings, bra straps in amazing colours.. it all looks great… But, it also looks nothing like what was in my underwear drawer or what I was reaching for.

I never wanted to sew my own underwear but as I got sized out of my go-to natural fibre undies brand, I had to sew if I wanted something to wear. Now that I’ve experienced the comfort of me-mades and the delight of choosing my own fabric, I definitely wouldn’t go back.

Fabrics for undies

I love natural fibres- they keep me feeling fresh, and un-sweaty. Most of my undies are already natural fibres like cotton, bamboo, and merino. As folks pointed out in the comments of my recent ‘Fat Travel Planning’ post, bamboo dried super slowly, so even though it’s a delight to wear it’s not good for a ‘wash in the evening and wear again the next day’ situation.

If you can handle stretch mesh fabric it’d be a quick-drying option for undies and bralettes, but you’d want to use a merino for the gusset on your undies. I can’t handle stretch mesh, it makes me super sweaty and hastens my overheating!

Stretch mesh undies would dry very quickly for travel!

Unsurprisingly, my choice for basically all undergarments while traveling would be merino (like this one with spandex for comfort and stretch)! Merino undies, bralettes and some singlets too.. merino everything! It’s anti-bacterial (so it doesn’t hold smells), and it also wicks sweat away from the body! Basically, it’s a wonder-fibre!

I always get lots of questions about whether merino is too itchy as underwear. It’s not the same as wearing slinky bamboo, but as a sensitive individual I can say that I don’t mind it at all and it’s well worth it for the qualities that merino brings to the table!

Unders I’d pack

pink cotton — Above, a cotton combo Banksia Bralette and Kapunda Undies

The Duclie Boxer Briefs (just released yesterday and 15% off until 28th May) would have been the chub-rub shorts of my dreams for basically all of my trips, and would have stopped a lot of painful chaffing.

I love my Kapuna Undies, and I’d make some in a merino which would dry super fast.

I’d have some Banksia Bralettes , and some merino singlets too. I could do Banksia Tanks (with built-in Banksia), but I’d like to be able to remove the singlet if I heat up.

Dulcie Boxer Briefs-45 — Merino spandex Duclie Boxer Briefs

In my travel bag

Merino Kapunda Undies
Merino Duclie Boxer Briefs
Merino Banksia Bralette
Merino singlets, don’t have the perfect pattern yet

Dulcie Boxer Briefs

The Dulcie Boxer Briefs are new from Leila and me and they’re basically my ideal boxer short, which happens to be the perfect chub rub short! They’re also 15% off during launch week, no discount necessary!

Kits containing everything you need for the Dulcie and also the custom M&B elastic on its own is available from Nellie Joans in NZ.

The elastic we had custom made for us here in NZ, from the same manufacturer that NZ-brand Thunderpants uses for their men’s boxer briefs. My ex has undies that I bought him in early 2017 (or late 2016) from there and although the fabric is close to death, the elastic is still going strong! Basically, I knew it was made to last, so I’m thrilled to be able to use it on my undies!

Envisaged as both undies and also chub-rub shorts, the Dulcie are basically a 2-in-1. There’s a large gusset which eliminates the inner-thigh seam (to cut down on chafing), and I’ve had no issues with the legs creeping up and they’ve also been wedgie free! They’re basically the shorts I wish I had on all those holidays where I was chafed or wearing sweat-enducing polyester shorts to stop chafing.

Both Leila and I love natural fibres and we hated that all the chub rub shorts on the market were a synthetic blend which did stop chub rub but which also made us extra sweaty and swampy. Most of my undies have been from a bamboo or modal mixed with spandex, apart from the black ones, below, which are made from merino with 5% spandex. There’s less stretch in the merino so the rise is slightly less high and tends to want to slip down a bit, but the qualities of the merino (anti-bacterial, wicking, etc) are worth it.

There’s 2 square labels in the ChCh Sews shop which are basically the perfect size for adding to the back of the elastic to hide the join. I’m also thinking about adding a hang label (maybe a greyhound one) to the bottom hem on the front of one of the legs. Totally unnecessary additions but I’m really quite tickled by how these have the look of RTW but with the comfort of self-sewn.

Are there matching Banksia Bralettes in my future with the new M&B elastic around the bottom? There absolutely are.

Fat travel planning

When I think back on great overseas travel experiences, a lot of my memories are unfortunately regrets about clothing! I remember being hot, uncomfortable, sore, sweaty and generally discontented.

I remember red stinging chub rub in Kyoto, I remember wearing a new shirt for the first time on a 16-hour flight to London only to discover that it made me sweat profusely and made me unusually and embarrassingly stinky. I remember feeling like that was my fault.