If you take a quick look inside shops like Primark, ASDA, New Look or Tesco's underwear section, you're bound to find some pairs of knickers with a little bow on the front.
But why do so many pairs of pants have a bow on them? They obviously look nice, but are they really necessary?
According to Reddit, there are a number of reasons for the bow – and shoppers have been surprised to discover them. One person asked: “Why do so many panties have that little bow on the centre front? Where did the tradition come from?"
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A knowledgeable Redditor replied: "As for the roots of the tradition? It comes from pre-elastic days, when your underthings were held in place by a bit of ribbon threaded through the eyelet lace at the tops.
“The little bow is where you tied that ribbon, and of course it's in the front because that's the easiest place to do something like that."
Historically we would have tied the bow to keep our pants from falling down.
And, according to Tyla , there’s another reason behind the bow, and it seems that before electricity, women would often have to get up before dawn and dress in the dark, or by candlelight - and many people still use it for that reason.
One person commented on Facebook: "It helps you to realise what way they go on." Another noted: "I like the bow it tells me got them on the right way have put them on inside out before now."
Others were surprised by the idea, with one saying: "This is very interesting." and another noted: "Holy s*it, that's an awesome answer."
But not everyone is a fan of the bow.
One woman commented: "I've always found them a little pointless and annoying, rather than cute. Kind of like those packs of panties that come in nude, white, and black when you never want to wear the white ones."
And another added: "Every time I'm trying to find underwear to wear under something fitted that will show shapes, all I can find is underwear with little bows that I wasn't even aware of that will make an awkward little bump just above my lady parts."
