Frenchwomen ditch G-string for comfy pants

Men may find it the ultimate turn-on, but the G-string is on its way out in France, a study showed on Thursday. But unlike Bridget Jones, Frenchwomen are insisting on sexy replacements.

"Back in the 1990s, the G-string was the key lingerie item for French women, but it's star has faded," said Cecile Guerin, exhibition director for the International Lingerie Fair taking place in Paris next week.

But today only one in four French women – among the world's top spenders on lingerie – own a G-string, down from 30 percent in 2008, according to a survey commissioned ahead of the fair.

While 45 percent of women still acknowledge that a G-string can be sexy, a quarter see it as "tacky." Only one in five see it as fashionable and one in 10 as practical.