Thong, boy short, brief, granny panties, G-string. Push-up bra, demi-cup, T-shirt bra, convertible, strapless. The offerings for women's underwear can be as overwhelming as the coffee choices at Starbucks. The Gap recently slipped into something more specialized - Gap Body, a free-standing store selling intimate apparel. At the same time, Victoria's Secret stores have expanded and department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Henri Bendel plan to devote an entire floor to lingerie later this year. Changes in these stores are part of a trend. Sales of intimate apparel are up 7.3 percent from 2003 to 2004, according to NPD Group, based in Port Washington, N.Y., which monitors fashion trends. Because we wear underwear every day, it needs replacing more often than, say, a raincoat. That, along with an increased demand for stylish undergarments, means sales will continue to rise, says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group. "The overall interest level in intimate apparel and underwear is still on the radar screen for consumers," Cohen says. "There are fashion styles that are generating newness, such as boy shorts for women." According to a study by Olga and Warner, two leading underwear makers, 70 percent of women say what they wear underneath their clothes says something about their personal style. "Women have gotten accustomed to spending a lot more money on everything," says Genevieve Yraola, senior fashion market editor with Shop Etc., a magazine devoted to shopping. "That trickles down to lingerie." Today, many American women drop $900 on a designer handbag without a second thought. That's an attitude Europeans have had about apparel for years. Now, though, Americans are thinking about lingerie in the same way. At Victoria's Secret, a retailer known around the country for its bras, panties and other lingerie, the past year and a half has been devoted to remodeling, and expanding, many stores, and not just for aesthetic reasons. The retailer has boosted its merchandise selection substantially, says Sara Tervo, spokeswoman with Victoria's Secret. "We are introducing all new kinds (of underwear lines) from European lingerie to entire rooms dedicated to novelty panties," Tervo says. The company carries everything from the comfortable, practical Body by Victoria line to G-strings with pompoms and cutouts or bras with lots of layered lace. They now have a bra and panties collection that boasts more than 2,000 sleek and saucy unmentionables. "Just as retailers get in new colors and styles, we see a need to keep up with what is going on in fashion," Tervo says. For instance, she says, Victoria's Secret has backed away from the pink-and-gold combos popular in the past. Now much of what's offered is black, cream and super sophisticated - reflective of the ladylike appeal that's hip in women's apparel these days. It all makes perfect sense, says Colette Wong, a former intimate-apparel designer who teaches the subject at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Fashionable women wouldn't dare focus solely on their pants, coat or handbag; they think of the whole package. Retailers and manufacturers know that feeling sexy underneath can affect your whole persona, Wong says. "It used to be more defined as inner wear. You knew you needed it and a certain style to fit right, but you didn't advertise it," Wong says. "Now there is the attitude of 'show your bra through a sheer blouse' or 'show your thong.' " With more out there on the market, customers naturally expect more. Stylish and sexy panties and bras for full-figured women are probably the most recently tapped market, Wong says.