Everyone who runs regularly, especially longer distance, knows how important it is to have the right clothing and accessories. A seam you didn’t realise existed will make itself known rubbing into your skin for two hours. A sports bra, which sat comfortably when you took off, leaving a red, bloody line under your boobs where it grated away the top layer of your skin. I have learnt to preventatively slather myself generously in Vaseline, especially when I know I will be doing a run of over 2 hours and this works.
Finding out about sweat wicking fabrics was a revelation! I cannot believe I used to wear cotton (*gasp*) to run… To wear socks that stay seemingly dry even when you run into a puddle or to not feel the litres of sweat that are pouring out of you is nothing short of a miracle. Whoever came up with the concept should be given a prize. Maybe the Nobel Science prize.. They deserve it.
One thing that I just can’t seem to find an easy solution to though, is running tights that don’t give you the dreaded “camel toe”. I am sorry if that conjures up unsavoury images in your head but there’s no getting away from the fact that it looks.. nasty! I have long since stopped wearing knickers under my running tights, they just made the chafing so much worse. And who likes VPL (or “Visible Panty Line” to those who just don’t give a damn)! But going commando makes the camel toe worse.
Why are running tights designed with the seam running in the middle of the crotch? Is there an actual reason for this or have they just been designed by men? If the seam is flat enough inside to not irritate, it will still divide your bits into two in a look that just doesn’t flatter anyone. I have a pair of Nike compression tights that I cannot bring myself to even put on because of this.
Of course you can try to hide things by wearing a longline top or one of those weird running skirts (not for me thanks) but is this not something that could be fixed by better design? Have they not heard of a gusset??? And if they have, could they not place the gusset in a place where it could actually prevent the camel toe?
From a bit of googling I can see that there are products available to avoid the dreaded CT; there are pants, inserts and err… cups (?). . All I want though, is a pair of running tights that have been designed with the female labia in mind – with the view of not exposing it to outside scrutiny. Running with boobs and other jiggly bits is hard enough to not have to worry about whether your undercarriage is presented for the world to see.
I can’t be the only one with this problem, girls? Has anyone found a solution or mainly a brand that has this fixed?
Hysterical Runner 
ROTFL….I thought you were talking about black toenails…..
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Hahaha! Those are a problem too, but I would rather show THEM off than the CT. 🙂
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Simple solution, wear shorts over your nike pants….
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Nah, too sweaty.
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Here’s another solution…….
http://www.pophangover.com/3626/cuchini-the-camel-toe-eraser/
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Haha!! Are you sure that wouldn’t chafe? 🙂
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I just go with the toe! lol I feel better running without underwear but the toe shows less with panties. I thought I looked really cute in my Under Armour running pants for our run on Saturday and my husband complemented my camel toe! He is naive enough to not realize I didn’t want that! haha
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Haha, had to laugh at the “go with the toe”! 🙂 You’re right that underwear controls the toe situation but I have just decided to grin and bear (or bare as the case may be) it. And do my best to find tops that are long enough to cover whatever may show. 🙂 Oh your husband cracks me up! He actually complemented you on that?! 😀 Well, I suppose it has it’s fans – most people end up on my blog after they search “camel toe” so the topic seems popular. 🙂
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Yes, found your blog when researching the same issue. Was perfectly happy with my Asics lycra shorts until viewing the finisher’s pix of recent HM! Ewe! Major CT! Now seeking comfortable floppy shorts, I guess!
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A majority of the hits on my blog are funnily enough through the search term “camel toe”. 🙂 I am hoping it’s women trying to find a solution rather than guys perving. They can put a man on the moon but they can’t fix this..
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hi, the new nike legend 2.0 has a triangle gusset to avoid the camel toe.
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This is excellent news!
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Last summer I got a pair of under armour running shorts. I bought them because they fit comfortably (difficult to find when you’re tall with big hips)……..they are amazing, they don’t ride up and (wait for it) there are no seams in the gusset. There is no centre seam. It was completely accidental that I found them…………have I seen another pair since? No. Have I seen the same in long tights? No. Does anyone in the store know what I am talking about when I am looking for them. No.
…….but they are out there….somewhere…….and it’s about bloody time
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Wow, you have found HG tights! All the more bloody annoying when you can’t find another pair anywhere. Tights with no centre seam are IMPOSSIBLE to find. Do they have a product code or something in a label that you could try to google? I am really liking the sound of these tights.
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I found them. Here they are. They don’t seem to have them in long tights though.
Hope this helps.
http://www.underarmour.com/shop/ca/en/womens-ua-authentic-7-compression-shorts/pid1236555-001
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Wow! I will keep digging for capris – they MUST exist as wel. Thanks!!!
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I would be happy to find a pair or shorts, capris, or tights that are comfortable to wear without undies. I prefer to run with no undies. But all the running clothing has seams. Even if it is gusseted, there are seams around the gusset or heading to the gusset that rub my lady parts.
So far I can only wear tri shorts that have an thin chamois (for cycling). I have to wear those under my tights and capris because those are all gusseted with seams. And I only have 2 pairs of those tri shorts.
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It is really hard to find comfortable tights. And often, even if they are comfortable they give you the dreaded camel toe. 😦 I wear Nike tights and capris now, without underwear, and just make sure they are big enough to be a bit baggy around the lady area. Then I just try to make sure they are not too “snug”. 🙂 Oh – and BodyGlide or vaseline is a must against chaving.
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i use CW-X compression shorts,Capri, and long winter tights. They have a gusset and a nifty diamond shaped piece of fabric sew in the delicate area. Why don’t other manufacturers do this? It’s so simple and takes care of CT.
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Hi Marie! I know; it would be soooooo easy to put in that gusset and spare us all the embarrassment. I reckon it’s due to the majority of designers being male (and possibly pervs.. 🙂 )
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I have CW-X tri shorts with the diamond shaped fabric. I also have others that claim they have a gusset, and they do. But the gusset isn’t where I need it. I don’t care if there is a gusset where my vaginal opening is. I need the gusset to be higher up in the front, other wise the seem around the gusset rubs my clitoris raw and the seem that goes up the front still rides in between my labia (causing the camel toe)
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I know!!! This is the issue; I don’t understand it. And clearly whoever designs the tights, doesn’t either. I think we should design our own tights! 🙂
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Far out someone could make a LOT of money, if they could just get this right!!
I race outrigger canoes, so we sit & this makes that STUPID centre seam, almost cut us in half!! We like to wear lycra, so it doesn’t absorb water & would all love some cool patterned pants to wear…but the ones on the market all have seams that rub our clangers raw!!
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Absolutely! If only I could sew…. It does bend my mind that noone has actually put in some decent effort in seeing how to fix it.
NIKE – listen up!!!
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My problem is the high beams. I have to wear a sweaty super padded bra or my nipples are saying hello to every passer-by. My husband said he didn’t mind it…of course.
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Haha! D’you know; I have the same thing (2 kids; thanks very much) but I just don’t really care. I just have my music on so loud that I can’t hear any comments being shouted my way 🙂
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One lovely Sunday morning, my husband and I were walking hand in hand in a shopping centre, suddenly he spotted a woman wearing legging as an pant, he looked and looked. As we passed her I immediately said to my husband that you have looked enough, stop it now because I don’t want you to turn your head 360 degree to perv at her. He held his perv at her while his body move forward. I was very upset and hurt. What he was perving was that he was looking at her camel toe.
We are not on talking term at the moment. He said that he is a man and quote the “Everybody Loves Raymond” sitcom that it does not matter that he perv at her as who cares where he get it appetize from so long he has his meal at home.
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Men are funny creatures. I wonder what his reaction would have been if you had openly been ogling at a good looking guy – or specifically at his “package”. I have a feeling your man would not have been too happy about it.
We all look, I guess that’s human nature, but it is very disrespectful of your husband to be so blatant about it especially if he knows it was making you feel uncomfortable. And not sure his response makes things any better; basically he is saying that looking at some random woman’s camel toe is turning him on enough to then want to go home and have sex with you. I’d be tempted to play him at his own game and open your eyes to the good looking men out there…
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On a fit female, camel toe is NOT nasty, it’s actually something most men love to see.
But for women who don’t want the sexual attention, the concept of NOT wearing painted on clothes seems like an obvious answer.
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What a ridiculous thing to say. Runners or people exercising in general do not wear tight fitting clothes because they are after “sexual attention”. The last thing we need is over-sexed idiots leering and shouting comments or eye balling us.
The tight clothing is all about comfort and wearing suitable clothing for sports and to me the obvious answer here is for the perverts to grow up.
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ok- Lulu lemon has fantastic running tights that do NOT have that front seam. I am in love!
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Uuuh, that sounds promising! Which tights are these? Can you post a link?
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Hi! I came across your blog and am also of the camp that cannot believe why any sort of tights have a center seam in the front…for either women or men…(men’s version of the CT is the moose knuckle…a much more horrid affair if you ask me…). I have found a website that sells seamless tights and half tights in lots of cool fabrics…the only problem is I’m not sure of how weighty the fabric is or how effective at wicking away moisture as they seem to be more fashion oriented than not…but worth checking out. It is skinzwear.com, but look in the men’s section for the more normal leggings and what not, as their female offerings are more suited for strippers I think. 😝 Also, I believe they can customize anything for you as well, and the price is not outrageous.
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Brooks Running’s Streaker Capris don’t have the seam on the front. I’ve just ordered two pairs but I haven’t received them yet. I found this blog while I was searching (for hours) without the camel-toe-seam. My old Adidas didn’t have them but everything else I’ve bought since does.
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And I just thought it was a problem for blokes who like to wear leggings!! 🙂
I’m not a runner, but wear lycra leggings & rash vests for watersports – either under wetsuits or on their own as UV protection when it’s hot (I burn easily & hate using suncream). For exactly the same reasons you state I don’t wear anything underneath. I’ve since also worn them hill-walking which was a huge revelation – so much more comfortable than proper ‘hiking trousers’, especially when it rained. (I’m old enough that I’ll wear what’s comfortable rather than fashonable!!!)
Trying to find leggings that fit is difficult enough, especially without a centre seam. A couple of years I came across a small company who did custom stuff, & between us we came up with a perfect design. Basically it has front & back panels, with a large panel under the crotch so no seams where you don’t want them. Oh, and pockets on each hip!
Unfortunately the girl running it has had to stop trading due to illness, but I’ve got the patterns. So it’s just a case of trying to find someone else prepared to make them at a reasonable price…
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You’d think that with the “seam rub” being such a universal problem affecting both men and women alike, that the companies would do more to find ways to readjust the designs. And clearly it’s possible since you did just that. What do the tights look like? I think you’d have a market out there for them…
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I’d post a picture of them but I can’t see how to do it on this blog. As blog owner can you see my email address? If so, drop me a line & I’ll send you a pic.
I’d suggest that the poor design is mostly down to lazyness & cost. The easiest way of making a pair of leggings uses just 2 panels – one for each leg, joined together with a seam up the inside of each leg and then middle of front & back. For fashion leggings this is perfect as you can easily have prints without joins in the wrong place. Lining up the 2 halves is easy as all the seams meet at a cross in the middle.
You could improve it a bit by creating a pattern where the two halves were ‘joined’ by the front seam. That’d get rid of the CT (or MK for me!), but you’d still have the central rear seam joining with the leg seams in the wrong place. I suspect this isn’t done as the single big pattern wouldn’t be efficient with material.
Simplistically my design uses a single front & single rear panel, so these have two seams on each leg – one on the inside & one on the outside. The ‘problem’ with this design is that it can’t join up under the crotch, so you have to use an extra ‘gusset’ piece. This could be relatively small if you didn’t want to see the extra seams, butfor what we want you make it quite a big panel which can extend down the inside of each leg, and up the front & back a bit. It’s impossible to have no seams, but it’s just a case of making sure they’re in a place where it doesn’t matter.
Seams – that’s another issue! ‘Fashion’ dictates that sportswear should have flat seams. Because of this, the girl that ran the small company bought one. It was fiendishly complex & tempremental, but having seen it in action it doesn’t actually make a seam with any less bulk than a normal one – it just folds the ‘normal’ seam over & sews it in place. Worse than that is that the seam doesn’t stretch and as it has extra threads creating the ‘flat seam stitch’, it’s possibly more bulky than the normal one. Using the right stitch, a normal seam can be almost as stretchy as the fabric. So a central ‘flat’ seam is probably making things worse…
Whilst people are all different shapes & sizes, the ‘bits’ are in the same place so it really shouldn’t be difficult to create a universal design that’s better than what’s out there. Perhaps it’s just that because nobody likes to talk about those ‘body parts’ that the whole issue has been ignored by the industry?
Since the original small company closed down, I’ve failed to find another one prepard to make custom leggings. If anyone out there knows of one, I’d be happy to pass on the patterns.
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Hi Hysterical Runner, I recently chanced upon your blog and read it (and the related comments) with a feeling of relief that there are MULTIPLE women having the same issue with underwear/tights/leggings/compression wear/yoga pants etc.
I too have had major problems with centre (variant of center) seams rubbing in delicate places that often borders on pure torture… and yes, even those tights with the small gussets that some manufacturers put in, still chafe and don’t hide the dreaded “showing your lady-parts for all and sundry to see” problem.
I have been so fucking frustrated with the manufacturers of women’s underwear/ tights/leggings/compression wear/yoga pants etc for so long that I have just about given up on finding pairs that don’t have one or both of these two problems… (I wear shorts over tights but this just adds even more uncomfortable seaming…).
AND I want to fucking scream at the designers who never seem to address these two basic major design flaws… SO LET ME REPEAT THIS FOR THE DESIGNERS/MANUFACTURERS OF THIS TYPE OF CLOTHING APPAREL:
1) SEAMS RUBBING WOMEN RAW (in the delicate lady-parts region).
AND
2) THE OUTLINE OF LADY-PARTS SHOWING FOR ALL TO SEE PROBLEM!!!
There are SOME companies who have put out a “seam free”” version of tights but don’t necessarily address the dreaded “CT” (hate this phrase) problem… and they often cost a small fortune…
So, thanks Hysterical Runner for blogging about this issue!!! Well done you.
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Amen, sister! I really agree with you on all the points you make. I even find myself sometimes wearing my tights slightly lower in the crotch area in order not to put in a show. Which mean they then chafe in an new places…
One of the other commenters had designed himself (men suffer with that front seam as well) tights with panels placed to avoid this issue. Let’s all club in and take on the industry! 🤩
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