Hanky Panky’s First Workout Collection Is Halfway There

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When the news landed that Hanky Panky was launching a workout collection of sweat-friendly bras and underwear, I knew I had to try it. If life were perfect, my entire underwear selection would be composed of the Signature Lace Original Rise Thong in every color. But fine-tuning the ratio of cotton lace to elastic is one thing; building undergarments that stand up to workouts and the sweat that comes with them is a totally different beast.

Hanky Panky knows how to make great thongs, so it comes as no surprise to me that the Mia Two-Tone Thong ($22) made me reconsider my stance on workout underwear as a wholly unnecessary wardrobe category. I took the Mia Thong for a seven-mile run on a recent weekend and felt totally comfortable the whole time, especially when I stopped running while still a 20-minute walk from home.

Usually I’d be very aware of the sweat soaked into the old Victoria’s Secret Pink cotton pairs I typically save for workouts (so dates don’t see them), but with these I felt totally fine for the whole trek, Starbucks stop included.

(There’s also a hipster version, as seen here, for $36, but I didn’t bother to try them because #thongsonly forever. Fight me.)

But when it came to the bras, I probably should’ve read the tags a little bit more carefully. I mean, it’s right there in the name: Hanky Panky In the Studio. Studio — as in workouts you typically do in a class setting, like barre or Pilates. But I don’t really do barre or Pilates, so I threw the Mia Cropped Bralette in my bag to wear to my intramural volleyball game, and quickly learned why this collection isn’t called Hanky Panky on the Court. With every spike approach, I risked losing an eye due to flying boob; with every dive to the floor there was some, um, tenderness.

That the bras in this collection aren’t sports bras at all, but rather bralettes (there’s also the Mia Padded Bralette, which I would not fault you for mistaking for a swim top) is a little disappointing, and also pretty exclusionary: Sizes for the padded bralette only go up to a medium, and neither style is suited for someone who really needs the support while sweating it out (and forget about if you’re plus-size.)

My coworker pointed out that the high neck on the cropped bralette would make it great for yoga, which is true — I don’t need that much support to keep my girls in place during downward dog, and it covers enough of me up enough that I could wear it as a top with high-waisted leggings. But at upwards of $60 apiece, I wouldn’t be purchasing either of these for myself.

Anyway, the Mia Two-Tone Thong is obviously suitable for “non-studio” activities. These are a little pricey, though; while I’m fine to throw down $20 every once in a while on the Hanky Panky thongs I’ll wear all day and night, I’m hesitant to pay $22 a few times over to have a rotating selection of workout-only underwear that I’ll only wear an hour or two out of the day, tops.

But, of course, I could wear them outside of sweat sessions, too. Maybe the next time I want to add a stretch lace thong to my shopping cart as a little treat, it’ll be a Mia.