Underwear isn’t under anymore. It should be called outerwear or barely-hidden wear.

Straps are in now. Or rather, they’re out. Out for everyone to see. It’s not unusual for two sets of straps–hot pink, lime green, purple, the brighter the better–to be plainly visible on a shoulder.

When I began wearing unmentionables it was against the rules to have a smidgeon of the strap showing. My friends and I went to great lengths to keep them out of sight. A band-aid or piece of tape was often employed to get the job done.

A fifth-grade end-of-the-school-year picnic was the reason I begged my mother for my first piece of grownup lingerie. We were to have class in the morning and then the bus would take us to the park across from Lake Harriet for a …