Before you read any further, I want you to know that I can’t resist a good deal--or lace. I love Victoria’s Secret panties just as much as the next girl, but I think they’ve finally met their match. Aerie has good deals, adorable underwear, and to top it all off, they have un-airbrushed models.

In the Spring of 2014, American Eagle launched "Aerie Real"- a campaign dedicated to showing women that you don't have to be a supermodel to be hot. Through the campaign, Aerie pledged to use everyday women in their advertisements, and furthermore, they pledged to refrain from editing those advertisements.

You might think that’s trivial, but here’s where you’re wrong:

Let’s start with the fact that there is probably not one woman reading this who doesn’t agree with me when I say that you feel cute when you wear cute underwear. Feeling good about yourself leads to confidence, which shows despite the fact that your underwear doesn’t. Cute panties should always be worn with the intention of making the wearer feel beautiful. Aerie assures customers that this is the case, while Victoria’s Secret does not.

When you buy panties from Victoria’s Secret, you buy them in the hopes that you look like a model. Customers buy Victoria's Secret panties to feel good about themselves, but most of them would be lying if they said their purchase had nothing to do with how great the product looked on the model. In contrast, when you buy panties from Aerie, you buy them in the hopes that you look and feel like the boldest version of yourself. Not everyone can be a Victoria's Secret Angel, and honestly, even those tend to look much different outside of magazines due to airbrushing. So, instead of celebrating a societal standard of beauty that simply does not exist, celebrate yourself (and the money you'll save after a 7/$27.50 deal at Aerie).