The great debate: Do you wear knickers to bed?

A quick Instagram poll posted by our writer turns into the debate of the summer as Irish women argue over whether to wear underwear under their pyjamas

To knicker or not to knicker that is the question

There is a debate dividing the women of Ireland. It pits sister against sister, shocks decades-long friendships and is quite possibly the burning question of our age.

Do you wear knickers under your pyjamas in bed?

This week I thought I was posting an innocent poll to my Instagram account @jenstevensdub. To knicker or not to knicker, that was my question. With a little more than 6,000 followers, a paltry figure in the world of social media, my polls usually get about 1,000 clicks but knickergate, as it will be known from here on in, has at the time of writing, 6,229 votes. 

It wasn’t just the number of votes that was shocking, it was the DMs, the texts, the WhatsApps and one email (seriously, that’s dedication) that did it for me. The poll had to be quickly expanded from A: PJs and knickers and B: PJs, no knickers to include C: Pyjama top, knickers, no bottoms, D: Pyjamas, knickers and a bra, E: Knickers but no pyjamas and F: No knickers, no pyjamas, totally naked.

Person A was romping home and people were shocked. The knickerless women of Instagram couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Who wears knickers to bed, they cried in the DMs. How disgusting, they wailed. But those with a cosy undercarriage hit back swiftly. Do the pantsless PJ wearers change every day? Think of the washing and cost involved in a seven-day rotation of comfies, they said.

If there was a battle cry of the knickerless it was this: She needs to breathe down below. I had women roaring it at me like Catherine O'Hara screaming Keviiiin in Home Alone. It seems that at some point, somewhere, it was decided that a woman’s genitals need a good airing out of an evening and that wearing underwear to bed would cause all sorts of problems. I woke the morning after the poll to 422 messages about underwear, pyjamas, bras and yeast infections. It was quite the wake-up call.

So I asked an expert if there was any truth to it all. Cork-based GP Dr Doireann O’Leary says it’s a matter of personal choice.

“There’s no hard and fast rule when it comes to whether or not women should wear underwear to bed. Some women may suffer from recurrent yeast vaginal infections or irritation of the perineal/vulval skin or vaginitis, in which case letting the skin breathe at night-time may help them," she says.  

Yeast thrives in warm, moist, dark environments so avoiding underwear at night may help. With that said, there’s no strict evidence for this so it comes down to personal preference. 

"In contrast, some women may have more physiologic vaginal discharge than others in which case they prefer to wear underwear at night. Underwear will most likely be preferable to women who are menstruating too." 

Back in the land of Instagram, the debate raged on and a need for a seventh category presented when more than one woman said that they preferred to sleep in just their bra - no knickers, no pyjamas.  I expressed dismay only to be told that I clearly had a small-boob bias and I know nothing of the difficulty of sleeping with a large bosom. I apologised and we moved on.

A late spanner was thrown into the works when someone suggested pants and socks as a combo but I soon discovered that that is classed as a kink and 87% of voters said socks were the devil's own work.

In the interest of transparency, I must declare a side. I am knickers, pyjamas, socks only when we hit a minus figure, and hair up for bed. 

Please come back next week when we ask: Evening shower or morning shower, and do you wash your legs?