The week after it was reported that Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding became a singleton again – splitting from the father of her two children – it seems only fitting to declare that big undies are officially back.

At the recent Dior Couture show, John Galliano went into suspender-ed animation, with exquisitely sculptured jackets worn with suspenders and some gosh-darn enormous knickers.

And Lady GaGa, of course, is no stranger to busting a move in immense undies; she’s believed to be responsible for a surge in the sales of large knickers in Britain. The sales swell has had teens buying big black undies to wear as hotpants, emulating GaGa’s eclectic style.

Melissa Magsaysay of the Los Angeles Times put it beautifully: apart from saying the singer could possibly be Donatella Versace’s doppelganger, Magsaysay stated Lady G’s “aversion to wearing a top and bottom at the same time…swigging champagne and being fanned by oily men in Speedos [is] very Donatella-esque.”

Lily Allen showed off a leopard-print pair on stage last week. And model Lara Stone is about to (almost) bare all, ever so chicly, for W magazine’s September issue. She’s wearing giant pants and straddling a wooden stool, legs akimbo.

Personally, I am mad about big undies. OK, so I’m not talking about your cotton school-sports-day variety, but the more structured, clingwrap styles – the ones that hide all the bad bits and pull in all the slightly flabby ones. Bring them on, I say. Passion killers? Never. Just ask Daniel Cleaver.

Anyway, who wears a G-string anymore? We’ve left them to pole dancers, pageant queens…and Katie Price.

But back to the Bridget Jones factor. Three years ago those famous outsized undies from the film sold for more than $4000 at a London charity auction.

And Hugh Grant had even signed them with the words: “Hello Mummy! Lots of love and kisses.” What would they be worth now? Priceless...

Above: Lily Allen; Dior Couture A/W 09-10
Below: Bridget Jones; Lady GaGa