“Fashion Expert: Knickers Don’t Need to be Sexy, No Ditching Briefs”

BELLY warmers versus sexy smalls – it’s one of life’s great debates.

And now, Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp has put her two pence in.

Kirsty Allsop is wrong, pants don’t need to be sexyCredit: Getty

TV’s Kirstie Allsopp claims the secret to feeling sexy in your fifties is to ditch your big pants and take underwear seriouslyCredit: Getty

But Fabulous Fashion Director Tracey Lea Sayer says knickers to thatCredit: Fabulous Magazine News UK

When asked in a recent interview about the secret to feeling sexy in your fifties, the 51-year-old responded: “I might regret saying this, but you have to take your underwear quite seriously.

“We can all get to a point where you find yourself in big knickers, and I think that is a mistake.”

Well, Kirstie might know her stuff about property, but I know my knickers – and at 51 too, I’m a huge fan of big pants.

In the same way I have certain clothes for work, or exercise, or getting wined and dined, I have knickers that work for me on all those occasions.

For my job, I need to be comfortable, in control and feel like I’m bossing it.

So I wear my big Brazilian briefs from H&M.

These are a hybrid between Bridget Jones’s big control pants and a thong.

They come in practical workwear colours – black, white and three shades of nude – and are sold in a two-pack for £12.99.

High-waisted and made of ribbed jersey, they cover my tummy, giving a nice smooth line under my trousers.

These knickers are the most hard-working pants in my underwear drawer.

‘Not sexy’

They feel empowering to wear and, most impor­tantly, I can get stuff done in them, which definitely helps in the feeling-sexy stakes.

Sometimes I even wear two pairs at once.

OK, that’s not sexy.

The second pair are over my tights so there’s no chance of a 20-denier baggy crotch (now there’s a guaranteed libido-killer if ever there was one).

Then there’s the big old belly warmers I wear for working out.

Every Saturday I do bootcamp, often in sub-zero temperatures, at the local park, and the last thing I need is the wind whistling around my love handles.

The best ones I’ve found are seamless high-waist briefs from Lindex, which come in a multi-coloured three-pack for £19.99.

And while I agree with Kirstie that they are not going to set my husband’s pulse racing, they do what they say on the tin.

I have road-tested them with burpees, mountain climbers and squats and they don’t ride up your bum even a tiny bit.

Of course, I’m not suggesting big pants for sexy time with your significant other.

For that, I tend to go for lacy bikini-style thongs, and for my 50th birthday my friend took me shopping and persuaded me to try a risqué strappy cut-out pair from upmarket lingerie shop Honey Birdette.

I love them, but would I wear these all day every day?

No way!

I thought that turning 50 would make me feel a bit old and over the hill, but age brings an altogether different sort of sexiness.

I want to feel sexy for myself first and foremost, whether that’s excelling in work, beating my PB in training or taking a saucy selfie in a pair of strappy bondage pants.

No matter what your age, sexiness comes from feeling confident and comfortable in yourself – big pants or not.