YOU'RE in the throes of passion when you suddenly remember you're wearing those huge reinforced-nylon knickers that kept your tummy firmly sucked in over dinner.

Do you, a) excuse yourself and hastily change into the leopard print thongs you keep for best occasions, or b) give in to the moment, regardless of your belly warmers, and hope he doesn't notice?

Rene Zellweger's Bridget Jones finds herself in exactly this predicament with gorgeous on-screen boyfriend Hugh Grant. Unfortunately for her, it's too late to change into something slinky but she's not about to miss out on the moment so she thinks 'what the hell' and bares her enormous bloomers. The unflappable cad of a boyfriend barely hesitates; "oh, mummy," he exclaims, and garners all his strength to pull off the 'pants of iron'.

So at least it all ends happily for Bridget and her pants, but while the 30-something Sloane Ranger can get away with wearing reinforced nylon undies and still pull Hugh Grant and Colin Firth in the film, women across the country will probably watch the scene and ask themselves if their men would find big drawers so desirable.

While most of us assume men lose their minds over lacy lingerie, women can see the beauty of nylon girdles, all-in-one bodies, control top knickers with reinforced leg bits, strong uplift bras... there's a whole armoury of underwear that women can buy to look ten times slimmer and sleeker in their 'pulling' dress. But is it actually a case of looking good with your clothes on, but not vice versa?

Local 30-something singleton Sarah Aither agreed to 'do a Bridget Jones' and try out a few of the biggest bloomers on the market for the week. Like Bridget, she's a size 10 to 12 and neurotic about her weight.

And surprisingly, rather than finding large lingerie a wee bit embarrassing, Sarah felt they could well become next season's biggest turn-ons.

"I love big pants and I think there's something spunky about them in a sassy sort of way. They're sexy without being sexy," says Sarah, 36, from Darlington, who now swears by sturdy pants.

The mature university student squeezed herself into a pair of M&S thigh slimmers for a night out at a restaurant in Whashton, North Yorkshire. Three courses later, the big white briefs were still doing the job.

"I felt really confident that they were holding me in. They produced good results for me," says the single mum. "But I don't know if I got any admiring looks because of the underwear. Perhaps it's more down to the aura of confidence you get from wearing it. I was feeling a bit overweight and it did just the job in making me feel a bit tighter and a bit firmer."

If she ever found in the arms of a gorgeous man wearing big pants, she'd laugh off the fashion faux-pas.

"Ideally, I'd wear them to look great in but I'd try not to get too close to him," she laughs. "But if I ever found myself in the same position as Bridget Jones or if he came round and found them drying on my washing line and asked me what they were, I'd have a giggle about them.

"In one way, they could diffuse the situation and you can both laugh about them. You can only make light of it when you get caught out. I mean, if you're wearing a pair of knickers that go down to your knees like I was, you have to laugh about it!

Ultimately, though, Sarah admits she'd feel a bit embarrassed. "I'd have to hope he'd be too drunk - but not incapable - to realise what I was wearing underneath."

Compared with strong pants, the lacy twin-set she tried out was pretty but didn't leave her feeling as confident. "You can't afford to have any bumps in the wrong places if you're wearing incy-wincy lacy underwear. I'd probably wear it if I'd been in a relationship for years and my partner knew all about my lumps and bumps and didn't mind me looking fat and frumpy."

Sarah says sexy lingerie can leave you feeling like "mutton dressed as lamb". It's often scratchy, too. But the Marks and Spencer set she wore was comfortable and she did feel sexy wearing it - even if it was around the house one afternoon.

"I wouldn't wear it underneath a slinky dress. It didn't leave me feeling firm and slender. I think I'll keep them at the back of my knicker drawer for some occasion or other. It might come in use one day."

But given the choice, Sarah is resolute about the potent power of big pants - despite the fact her six-year-old daughter Lottie laughed out loud when she saw her in big knickers.

"I don't care how good they look. I'd never wear insubstantial thongs or flimsy bras that you pop out of. Give me strong pants anytime - I think they're the way forward for women."

So you decide girls - strong ones or slinky ones, the choice is yours. But just make sure you've thought out what you're going to do if you're caught out in 'first date' big pants in which you expected to say goodbye in at the door.