A new survey has revealed that more than half of British women have been embarrassed during their intimate moments because they wearing old underwear.
A quarter of those women actually said no to passion because they didn't want their lover to see their unflattering lingerie such as Bridget Jones's famous slimming knickers, the Daily Star reported.
The poll found that nearly all women carry on wearing old knickers and bras that they are secretly ashamed of because they haven't gotten around to buying replacements.
One in six women said that as much as 30 percent of their underwear drawer needed clearing out.
The results came in a poll of 1,000 women by Bluebella lingerie which showed how many women use luxury lingerie to signal sex to a partner and to hide body insecurities.
It found that 92 percent of women own at least one set of luxury lingerie - more than quarter (27 percent) have between one and three sets and a fifth have between three and five.
Ten percent of women wear luxury lingerie every day - but a further (35 percent) see it more as a treat, wearing around once or twice a week.
Nine out of 10 women (88 percent) said that, if they indicate to their partner they are wearing special lingerie, he will instigate sex.
A significant number of females (16 percent) wear their best lingerie to gain favours from their partners - such as approval for splashing out on expensive new shoes or a handbag.
The Bluebella poll found that 76 percent of women will dress up in special lingerie to show to their lover that they desire sex. The majority of women (57 percent) like to keep parts of their lingerie on when they are making love.
Half of those polled said they used their best lingerie to distract their lover's attention from body insecurities such as flabby tummy or cellulite.
Eight of 10 said they would buy fresh lingerie to impress a new lover.
A further 86 percent admitted that they consciously wore their best underwear on a date with a new partner in case something happened.
The survey revealed that many women were simply too busy to keep replenishing their knicker drawer - instead they simply "make do" with older underwear they are secretly ashamed of.
One in 20 women said all of their underwear needed replacing.
Just over a fifth of women (21 percent) said 10 percent of it needed to go, 14 percent said a fifth was out of date, and 15 percent said a third of it should be in the bin.
