Kristine Solomon, 28, is a diehard thong fan. "I don't buy or own 'period panties,'" she says. "Why should I buy special underwear just for my period?" She admits, though, to choosing more tatty thongs when the curse arrives. "When you paint you wear old clothes, right?"

Right. And when dabbling in color, you can't go wrong with, well, a matching shade. "I have a special red satin pair that I wear on the first day of my period," says Jillian Rhodes, 25. Jenica Carlley, 28, says her red underwear provides protection from "nasty stains" but the thong style makes her feel "somewhat normal" and still sexy.

The topic of period panties is even making waves in the art world. Rachel Walker, 28, a grad student at New York's Pratt Institute, manufactured six pairs of "Euphemism Panties" for a sustainable design project. "I made pink cotton panties and stained them with different teas to get pretty, rosy brown spots," she says. "The women in my class all wanted a pair."

But even if we're ready to talk about them—in terms of brands, styles, works of art—period panties are not for the faint of heart (i.e., men). "My husband found my period panties in the laundry," says Lindsey Plumer, 29. "He was mortified, and when I explained the concept of 'period panties' he exclaimed, 'Really?! This is normal?!' It took him a month to get over the shock."