When walking through any shop that sells underwear - from Primark to Marks & Spencer - you'll notice one common design feature that most pairs of knickers share.
And that's a little bow on the front at the very top.
Many women surely won't pay much attention to this bow, as they're so used to seeing them - but they do come in handy when working out which way round to put your pants on.
But it turns out there's more to the tiny bow than you might have initially thought.
A Reddit user went viral last year after explaining the meaning behind the little bows - and the post has resurfaced again once more, blowing people's minds.
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The original post asked: "Why do so many panties have that little bow on the centre front? Where did the tradition come from?"
The most common response was that the bow kept underwear from falling down as elastic was yet to be invented - but today it also remains on knickers for aesthetic reasons.
One person said: "Now? Because it's cute, it's feminine, it evokes innocence, and it makes it really easy to tell which side is the front when dressing hastily in the dark
"As for the roots of the tradition? It comes from pre-elastic days when your underthings were held in place by a bit of ribbon threaded through the eyelet lace at the tops.
"The little bow is where you tied that ribbon, and of course, it's in the front because that's the easiest place to do something like that."
As you might expect, the bow has also been used to distinguish the front and back of underwear for years.
Centuries ago, before electricity, many women would have to get up before dawn and dress in the dark - or by candlelight.
The bow made it easier to put them on with little light to see and still does today.
Many people admitted they didn't know the reason behind the bow, with some claiming it had "blown their mind".
One person replied: "Holy s**t you just blew my mind."
Another wrote: "I always wondered what that damn bow was there for. I always found them a bit stupid but I learned to ignore them. It's interesting to know why they were there to begin with (as a practical way to tie your underwear)."
A third admitted they always remove the bows from their underwear as they find them "annoying".
Did you know about this? Let us know in the comments below.
