Thongs -- once the badge of exotic dancers -- have become so mainstream that 19 million North American women are wearing them and department store bins are overflowing with the skimpy undies.

Now lingerie marketers are trying to bolster the trend by pushing women to show off the underwear as outerwear.

In a gender twist on the "grunge'' look of the 1990s that gave license to young men exposing their boxer shorts above oversize trousers, women's thong underwear has started to peek above pant lines on fashion runways and in urban nightclubs.

"Anything that draws attention to the bare midriff is hot right now,'' said Tom Julian, a New York-based trend analyst.

Although the jury is still out on the widespread appeal of putting one's undies on display, there is no question that thongs have joined the ranks of bikinis and briefs as undergarment essentials for millions of women.

Thong sales have unseated traditional women's underwear as the fastest-growing lingerie niche in the US.

Most department stores, discount retailers and specialty chains sell thong underwear.

And Lane Bryant, a retail chain that targets plus-size women, carries thongs up to size 15.

Lanise Ingram, 26, of Los Angeles says that she is more fashion-conscious these days, explaining why she has been buying thongs instead of conventional underwear.

"It's not about seduction and feeling sexy,'' she said while recently sifting through a table of thongs at a Victoria's Secret store in Beverly Hills and holding three pairs. "It's about comfort and looking good.''

Since 1998, thong underwear has beaten the traditional brief as the fastest-selling panty.

Sales increased 156 per cent between 1995 and 1999, jumping 25 per cent from 1998 to 1999 alone, according to NPD Group Inc, a New York purchasing-research firm.

According to industry reports, 19 million North Americans -- some of them men -- own at least one thong, with 70 per cent of buyers aged 34 or younger.

Victoria's Secret, the mid-price women's lingerie chain operated by Intimate Brands Inc, has seen thong sales rise 30 per cent since 1995 while all other panty types have increased just 5 per cent.

In 1999 alone, Victoria's Secret sold more than 20 million thongs.

Frederick's of Hollywood Inc, the original purveyor of sexy lingerie, introduced the thong in 1981 and now claims to sell more than 40,000 a week.

In the same way push-up bras lifted the sagging lingerie business 10 years ago by attracting customers seeking sexier silhouettes, undergarment makers today have overloaded store shelves with thongs, hoping for similar results.

Sara Lee Corp of Chicago, which sells the Wonderbra and Lovable lines, has also seen thong sales soar and plans to add two thong designs by next spring.

"The Wonderbra rejuvenated bra sales,'' said Marcia Clark, director of merchandising with Sara Lee's intimate line. "The thong is similar in that we're seeing more customers and more money.''

The outer-underwear trend was rejuvenated recently when teenage girls began exposing bra straps under dainty tank tops.

Since then, slips, corsets and bandeau-style lingerie have also gone mainstream.

Thongs paired with frilly bras under see-through outfits are popular in nightclubs and red-carpet runways.

Undergarments are being accessorized to form outlandish fashion statements, Mr. Julian said. The latest twist encourages women to adorn an exposed thong with bejeweled clips.

Marketing professor Dominique Hanssens of the University of California, Los Angeles, said that fashion trends, including lingerie, usually work in cycles.

Retailers create trends on a small scale and later sell their popularity to a larger audience.

Because of the difficulty pushing widespread appeal, some trends fizzle before they have a chance to take off, he said. "Given today's short cycles, retailers have to act fast.''

He added that this might explain the sudden boom in thongs and thong-related trends, including the outer-underwear trend expected to surge this summer. -- AP

April 2001