Following “A study in scarlet” by Sherlock Holmes, I made a study in black. To properly understand the difference in construction and appearance between a regular bikini brief and a boyshort brief, I sewed them both from the same fabric and with the same design: very simple in the front, the leg opening in the back trimmed with lace, and all trimmed with foldover-elastic. For a better comparison, I’ve put the front and back side by side. Left is the bikini style, right is the boyshort style.
The leg opening in the bikini style is much higher, both front and back. The lace comes up to the top with the bikini style and goes into the side seam. With the boyshort style (bottom picture), the lace only goes up to about halfway. This makes for a pretty side view, in my opinion.
The most obvious difference between the two is the gusset (bikini) or the lack of a gusset. With the bikini you can enclose all the seams nicely in the gusset, with the boyshort this does not work. Due to the lace, I have also found no solution to sew in a gusset lining with the boyshort.
In both styles, the lace meets in a V at the center back.
I’m still undecided if I like the boyshort style on me. Maybe I play around again with the height of the leg opening. In any case, this experiment was interesting.
Pattern: Watson Bikini Slip, Boyshort self drafted according to the instructions of Beverly Johnson’s craftsy class Lingerie Essentials: Boyshort Panty Styles
Fabric and lace: Wien 2002 (Dessous Set Slip)
Foldover-elastic: Wien 2002 (from an bundle)
