(Page 2 of 4)

Tweeden, 28, has been modeling Frederick's undergarments for 10 years, "more than a lifetime in my business."

She says it doesn't matter what size or age a woman might be — thongs are for everyone.

"It used to be scandalous," she says. "Now it's a necessity. Clothing is form-fitting, and nobody wants lines."

From Loincloths to Silk and Hemp

In the early 1980s, thongs represented less than 5 percent of Frederick's sales. Now, the lingerie giant sells more than 75,000 a week. That accounts for more than 90 percent of sales. Over the years, Frederick's has developed more than 100 different colors, styles and fabrics, from low-rise to the "Rio," from cotton to charmeuse.

And there's plenty of competition from specialty houses. At online retailer Stephanna's Curves, full-figured women can find titanic teddies, and yes, thongs to fit a size 22 rear end. The proprieters say that "sex appeal does not come in a size 2 package."

If you're the crunchy-Granola hippie type, there's the all-natural, eco-friendly hemp thong. "You'd be surprised how well they sell," says George Bates of Shirt Magic in Lewiston, Calif.

"This is for the woman who has one eye on the environment and the other eye on impressing her boyfriend."

Of course, the thong existed long before Mellinger revolutionized the underwear industry by mass-marketing it. Some folks would trace its history all the way back to the cavewoman's first loincloth.

But the more conservative historians point to the 1939 World's Fair in New York City, when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia decreed that the city's nude dancers cover up a bit. Thus, the G-string was born. And the G-string begot the thong.

Six years later, the orbit of the Earth was brought to an abrupt halt when French designer Louis Reard unveiled the bikini at a Paris fashion show. It was named after the Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands, where some of the first atomic bombs were tested, and since then, it's had a similar effect on men.