Hipster vs. Bikini Underwear: What’s the Difference?

Many underwear styles are pretty similar to one another, which makes it difficult to decide which one best suits your needs. In this guide, we break down the three most common cheeky styles of underwear: bikini, hipster and even some high-waisted styles. Here's what you need to know about bikini vs. hipster underwear.

What Is Bikini Underwear?

Bikini underwear is the classic style of underwear and offers a medium amount of coverage at both the waistline and the back. The waist is low rise and hits right above the pelvis, directly at the hipbone. As for the back, most bikini styles are cut to fully cover the bottom; however, because of the shorter sides, the amount of cheekiness can be adjusted to some extent.

Bikini panties have relatively short sides, often only an inch or two wide. This low-sides-style allows you to show off more of your midsection and thighs and also ensures that you don't have to worry about your underwear showing when you wear lower-rise pants.

Because of their versatile style, bikini panties are an excellent go-to for just about any outfit. Due to the cut, you don't have to stress about the waistband or panty lines showing as you go about your day. This underwear style also won't ride up and stays in place firmly, so you don't have to worry about the dreaded wedgie that can happen with more cheeky styles.

What Is Hipster Underwear?

Hipster panties have a similar cut on the back as a bikini cut. The panties fully cover the cheeks but do not extend further down the hips and thighs. (If you want more coverage on the legs, consider boyshorts.)

Where hipster underwear differs is the waistband. There is more fabric on a hipster panty waistband, so the band hits higher and the sides are thicker. Because of this, the sides of hipster panties can't be hiked up as much as bikini panties, which does not allow the cheekiness to be adjusted as much. Hipster panties are mid-rise and hit an inch or two below the belly button. Basically, a hipster waistband falls between where a bikini panty (low rise) and a high-waisted panty (high rise) would hit.

Hipster panties are great for those who want a little more coverage on their abdomen but still prefer a cheeky panty style. Hipster panties are also a good solution when you want to wear mid-rise pants and don't want the waistband to chafe your skin directly.

What About High Waisted Underwear?

Another cheeky style to learn more about is high-waisted underwear. These panties offer the same amount of coverage around the booty but more coverage on the tummy. As the name suggests, high-waisted underwear hit at the belly button (or even above it, at the natural waist), so they have a very thick waistband and sides. High-waisted underwear can show beneath low-rise or mid-rise styles and thus are best suited for high-waisted pants or dresses.

Where high-waisted panties excel is providing tummy control. Because this style of underwear fully covers the bottom of the stomach, it can provide a smoothing and slimming effect if made with the right fabric technology. At Leonisa, we make many different tummy control panties, all in high-waisted styles for the best slimming effect. If you want tummy control panties, then high-waisted is the way to go.

Hipster vs. Bikini vs. High Waisted Underwear: Which Should You Buy?

Ultimately, there's no right answer to this question. It's all up to you and your style and comfort preferences. In fact, you might want to own all three styles of underwear so you can switch up what you wear depending on how you're feeling.

Generally speaking, bikini panties offer the least coverage of the three and show off your assets the most. Hipster panties offer a little more coverage at the waist due to a thicker, more secure waistband, but are otherwise similar to bikini panties. High-waisted panties offer the most coverage, reaching above the belly button, and may also provide some tummy control depending on the type of panty.

Still deciding between hipster vs. bikini underwear, or can't decide which tummy control high-waisted underwear to get? Don't hesitate to reach to schedule an appointment with one of our Personal Shoppers. We are here to help!