Going Commando : Shamita Shetty

While big sister Shilpa Shetty made huge headlines as the winner of the UK reality show 'Big Brother', li'l sister Shamita Shetty grabbed her 15 minutes of fame by going commando or 'pantyless' at a filmi function, flashing pretty much everything to click happy photographers. Definitely, a shocker for India but internationally, celeb flashers have become pretty easy to spot.

'Skin' Tillating
A few months ago, pop star Britney Spears stepped out of her car wearing an ultra short dress sans her underwear. Not bothered with the eyeballs popping, the 'Toxic' star followed this act by subsequently making many more public appearances – 'pantyless'.

While cherubic teen singer and actor Lindsay Lohan too cheekily followed suit, when she gave the paparazzi an unrestricted view of her no-no place; 'Desperate Housewives' star Teri Hatcher sat through an interview for a British chat show wearing no knickers. In between the interview, she revealed to the host Jonathan Ross that she was wearing nothing under her sequined dress, adding, "As you gain confidence, you are less sensitive about what others think."

'Bad' girl Hilton, heiress Paris Hilton, of course, made her style statement even more clear when she picked up her skirt to ever-willing shutterbugs to reveal her 'pantyless' status. Needless to say, that picture of hers found its way to the Internet and became the most searched for item thereafter.

Knicker Knocker
It's true; more and more famous beauties are doing away with their panties. But according to them, it's more in keeping with fashion. At the Golden Globe awards held recently, 'Desperate Housewives' star Eva Longoria, 'Sin City' beauty Jessica Alba and British babe Kate Beckinsale, all went commando. Alba admitted to her lack of underwear state, by revealing, "I actually did have underwear on but I was on my way out and my agent said, 'Your panties are showing through the dress'. I had no choice after that but to take them off. So here I am, commando!" Eva Longoria also adds, "The trend right now is for tighter and tighter dresses, and that doesn't leave much room for underwear."

Bare Show
The West is more open to skin shows, is India following close at heel? Says ramp model Tinu Varghese, "There's no big deal in not wearing panties. I have a lot of long, tight dresses where the panty line is visible whether I try a thong or ultra-sheer pair, or whatever style innerwear you can think of. It's better to be without any panties than to have a visible panty line marring the look of a beautiful evening gown."

Image consultant Chhaya Momaya says, "It's ironical but from time immemorial, Indian women have never worn panties under their saris but still, they have walked with grace and dignity. The problem with Shamita is not the lack of a garment, but the way it has been displayed." But all the same, she adds, "I agree that a visible panty line can kill the very 'ironed out' look of skintight dresses. But there are options in innerwear. I really can't imagine what Shamita Shetty was thinking of while posing like that, unless that's the statement she wanted to make. Honestly speaking, Americans can get away by being audacious. Brazenly flaunting a 'look, no panty' image is seen as obscene here." According to Chhaya, wearing skintight dresses is an art and can be worn with success, only if the innerwear is right.

Nude Look
So how does one not end up like Shamita? Fashion designer Ashley Rebello insists "thongs" are the sure-fire wear to beat being caught commando in public.

'Bustier king' fashion designer Lascelles Symons agrees. He says, "It's not only in the West that women are going commando but also in India, as fashion demands get more stringent. I also think the best innerwear one must have for skintight clothes is a G-string. This gives a no panty line 'nude' look, a perfect fit and also, the satisfaction of wearing suitable innerwear."

Combating Visible Panty Lines (VPL)
Thongs, tangas, lacy boyshorts and even seamless satin panties seem to perpetuate unwanted marks and wrinkles around the booty area... So what do you do when you want to wear a cute, clingy, satin dress or skirt? Here are a couple of red carpet secrets to help you hide nasty panty lines.