Abstract:
A women&#39;s undergarment in the style of a thong for improving the user&#39;s appearance when utilizing certain stylish low-cut pants and skirts. Close fitting undergarment is a thong-style article which is adopted to be worn around a user&#39;s waist while having support straps which are intentionally restricted such as to prevent any part of the garment from being revealed while worn with low-cut, below-the-hip style clothing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The disclosed invention relates to women&#39;s undergarments and in particular to an undergarment in the shape of a Y-Back Thong useful as an undergarment in combination with fashionable low-cut pants or skirts. The undergarment disclosed provides a geometry which prevents a horizontal upper back strap in a conventional thong design from protruding outside the contour of low-cut pants or a low-cut skirt being worn by the user.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Changes in fashion and style of women&#39;s clothing over the years have frequently presented tight-fitting or low-cut pants or skirts which begin at or below a woman&#39;s hips. In the past, such low-cut styles have been referred to as “hipsters” or “hip huggers.” The wearing of such fashionable apparel dictates that for proper appearance and clean lines the connecting straps which comprise the structure of the undergarment be hidden and unobservable with such low-rise clothing design. Conventional panty design or thong design using a strap which circumvents the waist of the wearer, protrudes above the top waistline of a low-cut apparel, thereby presenting an unsightly or unappealing appearance.  
         [0005]     The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a single undergarment in which the geometrical shape and structure of the garment, defined by the strap design and shape, present an undergarment of thong design which can be worn comfortably by the user while providing for a harmonious low-cut appearance, thereby preventing unsightly protrusions of underwear above the waistline of a low-cut garment being used in conjunction with the underwear.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     In view of the foregoing disadvantages found in undergarments with the prior art, including known types of thong-style panties and other undergarments which may be used under close-fitting or low-rise overgarments, the present invention provides a thong undergarment which can be used for improving the user&#39;s appearance and comfort when used with low-rise fashion pants and skirts. The undergarment is a unit of a one-piece design utilizing a cotton and nylon combined material, although the invention would function with any of the commonly available fabrics used for undergarments or conventional thong design. A triangular-shaped panty panel extends across the lower front portion from an upper band, tapering to the crotch area then connected through the legs to the waistband extending from the top of the panty panel at a point below the top of the panty panel line closest to the waist of the wearer. The three-point connection of the resulting straps occurs in the buttocks area of the user at a connection point defining the approach angle of each strap of approximately one hundred twenty degrees (120°). A small three-surface triangular connecting plastic piece is used to affix the joining of the three points comprising the connection of the three resulting straps.  
         [0007]     It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved women&#39;s undergarment that functions as a thong design which can be worn under low-rise or low-cut pants or skirts without the structural aspects or straps of the undergarment being exposed beyond the waistline of the pants or skirt.  
         [0008]     It is further the object of the present invention to provide an improved women&#39;s undergarment that allows the wearer to don the latest women&#39;s fashion clothing such as very low-cut pants or skirts, or asymmetrical hipline garments which reveal liberal amounts of the wearer&#39;s below-the-waist area without exposing the structural components, straps or material of the undergarment.  
         [0009]     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a women&#39;s undergarment design which allows a woman to wear tight-fitting and low-cut pants or skirts while having an undergarment that provides the appearance that no undergarment is being worn. In accordance with these and other objectives which will be apparent hereafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like-referenced numerals refer to like-parts.  
         [0010]     There has thus been outlined in a more general matter the important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present improvement in the undergarment may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter in which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following descriptions or as illustrated in the various drawings described below.  
         [0011]     The invention as disclosed is capable of other embodiments and can be configured and worn in various different ways as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art of fine women&#39;s underwear garments and related clothing design. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and the terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art of clothing or fashion design will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is fully based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other garments for carrying out the same purpose of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view from the front and left side of the garment illustrating the geometry of the connection point of the straps described as part of the invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a pictorial illustration of the waistline and buttocks of a typical user showing configuration of the support straps of the invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view from the left rear of the invention showing the garment suspended in space. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0015]     The invention, a Y-thong shaped undergarment will be described with reference to the various drawings,  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 3  inclusive, describing a new undergarment embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention generally designated by the referenced numeral  10  in the various drawings. With reference to the drawings, it should be appreciated that like-numerals refer to like-parts.  
         [0016]     Referring first to  FIG. 1 , a pictorial perspective is provided with the invention suspended in air in the same configuration as it might appear if donned by a woman using the undergarment. The undergarment  10  shown in  FIG. 1  is sometimes referred to as a thong, and in the present embodiment is referred to herein as a Y-thong because of the general configuration of the strap connection shown at connection  18 . Thong  10  is comprised of a triangular or wedge-shaped front panel  12 , which is configured to present the wider end of the triangle or wedge at top  14 . The triangular or wedged shape panel generally has three apexes. The bottom of the wedge, a point of the triangular shape of front panel  12  is shown at bottom  16 . Panel  12  is suspended at the top  14  by two straps. Left strap  20  and right strap  22 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , generally suspend panel  12  at top  14  by encircling the user&#39;s body and connecting at connection  18  where strap  20  and  22  meet bottom strap  24 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  illustrates thong  10  from a rear side perspective view more fully disclosing the connection point  18  where strap  20 , strap  22  and strap  24  meet at a point. The connection used to affix the three-point strap meeting at connector  18  may be of various devices or means. In the preferred embodiment, connector  18  is a nylon or plastic triangle which allows the straps to be threaded through and sewn back on themselves to create a permanent attachment.  
         [0018]     Women&#39;s undergarments that are created in the form of a thong-style panty have normally had the top portion of the thong adapted to cover a user&#39;s waist and extend about to the rear of the user to provide a band which generally takes the shape of a conventional panty but with less material and more reveal of the thighs and legs. The present invention improves upon any garments presently used by limiting the rise of front panel  12 , so that the top of the panel  14  does not extend up to the user&#39;s waistline. The straps  20  and  22  extend about a user&#39;s body at a point lower than the user&#39;s waistline to prevent revealing of both strap  20  and  22 , as well as front panel  12  at top  14  when the user is wearing low-cut, below-the-hip-style pants or skirts such as has become fashionable in some aspects of women&#39;s clothing.  
         [0019]     Such clothing, if worn with conventional undergarments, pantyhose, and thongs found on the market presently, would reveal the support straps or underwear which, even if a low-rise style, still provides for support straps or waistbands which eventually reveal above the low-cut hipline of such women&#39;s garments. The present invention solves this problem by providing a means to restrain the straps which comprises support structure of panel  12  by lowering the point of connection at connector  18  as shown in the various figures.  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  is a pictorial illustration of how the invention is worn, and provides an illustration of how the connector  18  is worn at a very low point just above the user&#39;s buttocks to allow the user to wear clothing which presents as much reveal of the user&#39;s waist as any individual user might dare.  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  illustrates the configuration of strap  20  and  22  where it meets the bottom strap  24  at connection  18 . It can be appreciated by consideration of  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3  that point  18  may rest at a point lower than the beginning of a user&#39;s buttocks if in fact the user chooses to wear low-cut jeans or skirts which rest on the upper part of the user&#39;s buttocks. The connector used in the preferred embodiment at point  18  is an equal-sided triangular device made of plastic or nylon which presents an obtuse angle at each apex of the triangle of about one hundred twenty degrees (120°), shown as angle  26 , as can be fully appreciated from  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3 . Conventional thongs frequently have an approach angle of waistline straps which present the connection of any material, fabric or strap presented through the legs of the user at a right angle. Accordingly, the advantage of the present invention remain a useful combination of a short length of bottom strap  24 , combined with an attachment point  18  located such as to prevent the riding upward of straps  22  or  20  during the course of wearing the garment with low-cut styles. With the configuration as illustrated, the straps can be configured to converge near the posterior or buttocks of the person or at a point below the top of the buttocks to allow more reveal of the user.  
         [0022]     The description of the invention has emphasized the improvements evident in the geometry of the undergarment. With respect to the materials which can be used, those skilled in the art of clothing design and in particular undergarment fabrication will appreciate that a variety of conventionally available materials may be used. Whether cotton, a cotton blend, an artificial material such as nylon or a natural silk, all such materials might be used to fabricate the undergarment presented in the present invention.  
         [0023]     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationship for the parts of the invention to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, as well as stylistic variations are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art once the disclosed invention is fully understood. All equivalent relationship to those illustrated in the drawings and descriptions in the specification are intended to be encompassed within the present invention. Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art of clothing design, and in particular intimate apparel, as it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described within the drawings or the descriptions above. All suitable modifications and equivalence may be resorted to, but are still considered within the scope of the invention, limited only by the claims set forth herein as well as their equivalence, regardless of the terminology presented.