Underwear is one of the most private and personal
decisions in menswear because only very few people will
see it, yet it is worn every day, all day, right next to the
skin. As such, comfort is paramount in underwear and while
many men prefer one kind of underwear, it makes more
sense to choose the style based on the day’s activity.
When it comes to choosing underwear and materials, there
are a plethora of options on the market today, which makes
it difficult to find underwear that is perfect for you without
buying one of each kind. Therefore, we dug in and tested
many different underwear brands. In this guide, we will
present the best underwear styles for different activities,
colors, a #underwear-materials, quality hallmarks and
brands that work best in different situations, including our
favorite underwear.
It was a type of clothing that utilized front buttons or laces
which permitted men to urinate without having to take off
their trousers. King Henry VIII adorned his codpieces with
various decorations for show and padding for comfort. The
popularity of padding a codpiece declined in the 1500s.
As underwear continued to develop, men began wearing
tight knee-length flannel union suit that matched their
shirts. It wasn’t until the mid-1920s that a boxing company
called Everlast began to tweak their leather trunks worn by
prize fighters opting for something more comfortable with
an elastic band. From this invention came the beginning of
boxer shorts. Despite this level of ingenuity, men didn’t
appreciate the modern boxer and preferred the support (and
warmth, pre-central heating) offered by the union suit.
“ Whenever the economy tanks, men
stop buying new underwear first
because they aren’t public
garments. ”
Brief Breakthrough in 1934
Then, in 1934, a man by the name of Arthur Kneibler, a
senior executive at Coopers, Inc, a hosiery company,
received a telegram from a close friend in France. The
picture on the front of the postcard was a man wearing a
small bikini-style swim suit. This triggered the imagination
of Kneibler who immediately realized that this type of
apparel could be worn by men as underwear. He then
created what he would eventually name “ Jockey shorts”.
He chose the name because of the similar support that an
athletic cup offered.
By 1935, Marshall Fields department store in Chicago
began carrying the newly developed jockey shorts and
despite the horrendously inclement weather, they sold out
by the end of the first day. This also gave way to men
opting to re-try the boxer shorts developed some years
earlier and by the end of the 1940s, both boxer shorts and
briefs were the regular style worn by men instead of the
traditional union suits.
In fact, the jockey shorts were so popular that in 1971
Coopers changed their company name to Jockey.
Designer Underwear Makes Its
Mark
The 1970s underwear industry began to flourish and by the
beginning of the 1980s, fashion designers like Calvin
Klein turned underwear into a publicly displayed form of
fashion, and today it is probably the most counterfeited
underwear, even though the fakes can be really bad, like the
one below.
Men’s underwear began to adopt patterns and designs.
They became more flattering and a company named Joe
Boxer began to introduce funny and comedic underwear
with bold pictures and wording and accessories that could
be attached to the underwear via Velcro.
By 1985, Joe Boxer was a household name with their most
popular pairs of underwear being yellow smiley faces and
images of hundred dollar bills. This trend became even
more popular with the US Treasury Department decided that
the underwear violated forgery laws and seized over a
thousand pairs of the dollar bill underwear.
Rather than fighting it in court, Joe Boxer turned to the
media and made a joke of it which took the underwear
industry from playful to sexy and serious with solid color
briefs and dull patterns.
Underwear Today – An
Indicator of Economic Health
In the last few decades, advances in underwear have mostly
been limited to materials and a few gimmicks without any
real innovation. Interestingly, Alan Greenspan stated in
2008 that the men’s underwear industry was an important
indicator of US economic health because the purchase of
underwear was viewed as a discretionary. Whenever the
economy tanks, men stop buying new underwear first
because they aren’t public garments. While some critics
laughed off this theory, men’s underwear sales drop
significantly during an economic downturn.
UNDERWEAR TYPES &
STYLES
Underwear comes in many different styles and most men
usually settle on one style of underwear and keep wearing
that same style no matter the activity. Some enjoy the
comfort and security of briefs, others prefer the freedom of
boxers, and many opt for boxer briefs. Others prefer thongs
and g-strings. About 90% of all underwear sold today are
briefs and boxer briefs. However, because ever man needs
underwear, even the remaining 10% represents a huge
market.
That aside, rather than wearing the same style of
underwear all day every day, wouldn’t it make more sense
to wear a different style when traveling, working out at the
gym or when wearing trim denim or trousers? Absolutely!
Boxer Shorts – Well Suited for
Pleated Pants
Boxer shorts are loose and offer little support. They come
with an elastic waistband and a button fly and straight leg
openings with a short inseam.
Briefs
Briefs, or jockey shorts, are easily identified by their elastic
waistband, no leg and minimal coverage. They usually offer
a Y-shaped fly in the front and have enough fabric to offer
full coverage from the waist to the top of the thigh with
complete coverage of the buttocks. Briefs provide excellent
support and are less prone to bunching and rising than
other styles. They’re an excellent choice for men who opt
to wear tighter pants or low-rise pants. They are perfect for
men who work at a desk all day, because they end in the
natural crease between the body and leg. With the
development of lower rise pants such as jeans becoming
more popular with men, there are also mid-rise and low-
rise briefs which sit at the belly button or three inches
below the waist (respectively).
Boxer Briefs & Trunks
Boxer briefs are hardly a compromise as they represent are
the best of both types of underwear. They are cut like a
tapered boxer with the snug and supportive fit of the briefs.
Similar to a brief, boxer briefs maintain their comfortable fit
all day long. They are excellent for physical activity and
look especially good even if you are not in your best shape.
Underarmor introduced a compression trunk, which is good
for workouts at the gym, and therefore it makes sense to
switch underwear or to put on a compression trunk if you
know you will work out that day.
Thongs, Bikinis & G-Strings
There are men who enjoy the feel and look of a thong, bikini
or g-string, but it is not for everybody. Typically all of
these styles work best for men with exceptionally well-
sculpted bodies relish the look of it.
The bikini is a smaller style of the brief, also called a micro
brief. They expose the entire thigh, still managing to cover
the buttocks with a small front pouch.
The thong , similar to the bikini, offers a confined space in
the front connected by thin fabric strips, leaving the
buttocks exposed.
The g-string is a minimalist version of the thong that shows
as much skin as possible. Usually made of spandex or
nylon, they can be slightly more expensive than the other
styles due to the materials used.
No comments:
Post a Comment