They were held in place with two plastic press-studs.

I don't know what ringed pads are (so you may be referring to this) but women used to have to wear a sanitary napkin belt where the napkin fastened to it in order to hold it into place. I guess the bikini part is just pointing out that you wear it like a normal pair of underwear?

Thanks, Beelers! That at least does sound halfway practical. And yes, ringed pads are worn with a napkin belt. This is an attempt to market underwear with a pad that attaches, but it's not hard to see why a 'one size fits all' approach probably wasn't that popular. Better adhesives probably killed this invention off, but it's not a bad idea in itself.

I recall plastic pants, with press studs, a sort of feminine version of a cricket box. How they could be comfortable worn under a beachwear, and nobody know what was going on, is beyond me. Unless of course it was the beachwear of a typical summer - baggy tracksuit.

Ah, so THAT'S what they mean by 'proofed'. Bleugh.

I remember Nikini in the 1970s. The pads had punched holes at the front, and were held in place by press studs in the panties. They also had a 'nikini' garment what was mainly thick polythene in feel. Similar idea to the panties with the press studs but I recall the strange plastic feel between my legs, something like thin Tupperware!
I tried them at the time but the cost, and only being able to buy at certain shops, put me off. I changed to another product that was not quite press-on with adhesive but had a sponge type backing that was supposed to be non-slip. They were just as short lived as they soon stopped being sold.
At work we had a machine that sold pads, but only the looped type. Very old fashioned and I had to buy a belt to keep at work, just in case I was ever caught out and needed to buy those big bulky pads.

Thank you, Polly! Boy, am I glad self-adhesive pads were common when I started my periods, and I bitched about THOSE enough. As soon as the Tampax lady came to school, I waved goodbye to those things, but that was pre-Always. I do wonder whether I would have jumped ship quite so fast if I'd had access to those.

I remember my girlfriend wearing the Nikini garment. I have not seen one for years, but i remember that it looked like a jock strap from behind and was tight fitting on her hips.

I remember my girlfriend wearing the Nikini garment .She wore almost see through summer frocks so you could make out the garment underneath or very short miniskirts and she never wore knickers.I found it a massive turn on and needless to say the garment was removed by me rather frequently to engage in more intimate activities.Nothing sexy like that any more!