Were you to peek in my top drawer, you would find lovely bikini underwear in colorful cottons and silks, chic (not trashy) thongs to wear with special-occasion dresses and a pair of sassy boyshort briefs, for when I'm feeling particularly hip. At first glance, I live a practical but sophisticated, stylish life—a life unstained.

Unless you dig deeper, that is, behind the scented sachets and ironic Underoos. It is in those depths—at the very back of the drawer—that you'll find my period panties, complete with shot elastic, frayed seams and, yes, faded splotches.

For my personal battle with the crimson tide, I have a "panty graveyard." Whenever a pair loses its color, its elasticity or its general charm (i.e. one my boyfriend liked to call "the pair that makes your butt look like you belong in a rap video"), it is relegated to the graveyard and ready to serve front-line duty every 28 days. Sometimes a still-sexy pair is accidentally maimed, and therefore it has to go to the back of the drawer.

Am I alone in this secret stash, I wonder? What exactly are women wearing when Miss Scarlett comes to town?

Mary Lofgen, 24, is a comfort fan. "All my period underwear is Hanes Her Way," she says, adding that she prefers cotton, high-waist briefs with lots of coverage so that they're "wing-friendly." Repeated calls to Hanes for a comment about their period-favored status went unreturned. Spoil sports.

Other favorites include "black Gap cotton hipsters" for Katie Claypoole, 26, and "Old Navy cotton" for Aly, 30. But it's not just the old standby brands that are feeling the flow—some women want to wear sexy undies, all the time.