The Style-Conscious Man’s Guide To Underwear

 

In the 1999 feature film American Beauty, Kevin Spacey’s character, Lester Burnham’s crush on his daughter’s school friend motivates him to discover some rusty old weights in his garage and start to work out. Professing to his gay neighbours “I want to look good naked”, this could be said to be the dawn of our current ‘spornosexual’ era – when men started to work out not only for themselves but to impress other men.
Today, a search for #Abs on Instagram reveals over nine million results of guys flaunting their ripped torsos and flashing their underwear waistbands for the world to see. Those protein shakes and hours of gym time have quickly prompted a revolution in men’s underwear.
Gone are the days when men had their underwear bought for them from Marks & Spencer by somebody else, whether it be their mother, wife or girlfriend. A recent survey of a thousand men by Canadian underwear brand Garçon Model found 90 per cent of guys are now buying their own underwear, with 70 per cent buying online.
According to those surveyed, the gym is where most men are influenced in their choice of underwear. Undressing to impress, two thirds of guys surveyed even went as far as to say they wear different underwear at the gym.

The Men’s Underwear Industry

Today, the men’s underwear industry is estimated to be worth $6.5 billion. Those surveyed cited a fairly even split between styles with 41 per cent wearing briefs, 37 per cent wearing trunks and 22 per cent wearing boxers.
The majority of guys own between fifteen to twenty pairs and buy underwear three times or more per year – with the average male holding onto his underwear for three to four years. Perhaps not surprisingly, single men own three times more underwear than those that are married/partnered, who said comfort is their number one priority.
It used to be a choice between anonymous Marks & Spencer or heavily branded Calvin Klein, with not much else in between. Now we have endless new men’s underwear brands appearing and big sports stars such as David Beckham (Hamp;M) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Armani and his CR7 brand) adding sex appeal to this lucrative section of the menswear market.

David Beckham Bodywear

August 2014 marked the launch of David Beckham’s sixth Bodywear range for H&M. The new round of the best-selling line is its biggest to date with a number of new pieces being welcomed into the fold.
Checked pyjama bottoms, wool-cotton mix long johns, chunky knit cotton boot socks and even beanies now feature alongside the high street chain’s acclaimed selection of underwear, t-shirts and shorts.
The core focus for the brand has always been fit – with factors such as comfort, design and function all being thoroughly considered throughout the design process. With prices starting from just £19.99 for a three-pack of boxer shorts, it’s no wonder the line continues to go from strength to strength.

CR7 Underwear

Capitalising on his global popularity, Cristiano Ronaldo followed in Beckham’s footsteps last year with the launch of his own CR7 underwear line.
Designed in close co-operation with New York-based designer Richard Chai and Danish underwear manufacturer JBS Textile Group, the new AW14 CR7 collection consists of four different lines, including boxers, briefs, long johns and trunks for men.
Coming in fashion and luxury styles, the former features a wide variety of boldly colour/printed designs made from stretch cotton while the latter takes a more muted, minimal approach, utilising the finest pima cotton and cut for the ultimate fit and comfort.

David Gandy For M&S

One of the bastions of the male undergarment, Marks & Spencer is finally getting some sex appeal after the recent launch of its new David Gandy underwear range for Autograph.
The 28-piece collection is available in over 350 stores worldwide and online and has been designed by the male supermodel and London Collections: Men ambassador.
Made with luxury performance fabrics in Supima cotton, for a softer feel, and including Lycra FREEF!T to engineer shape retention and support, Gandy worked with M&S’s underwear experts to develop an exclusive slim-fit underwear block, with a lower rise and shorter short, in four key underwear styles: boxers, trunks, hipsters and briefs.
Inspired by the attention to detail traditionally found on men’s tailoring, the cut and shape of the underwear – as well as the four vests and eight pieces of nightwear – is considered and refined, much like the man himself.

Subscription Services

Those too lazy or time poor to shop for underwear regularly can now even consider subscription services (a rising trend within online retail), such as MensPackage.
A rising trend within online retail, particularly menswear, the company will send you a new pair of underwear every month. The service works in a similar way to curated clothing/online personal stylist companies.
Supplying only premium brands such as Richard James, Andrew Christian and 2(x)ist, you either tell the club your sizes and preferences (such as underwear cut) or, if you’re a bit more daring, leave it as mixed to get a real surprise every four weeks.

The Key Cuts

The concept of modern men’s underwear was formed during the 1930s, when the world’s first briefs were sold in Chicago. Designed by an ‘apparel engineer’ named Arthur Kneibler, the briefs dispensed with leg sections and had a Y-shaped overlapping fly.
The company dubbed this design the ‘Jockey’, since it offered a degree of support that had previously only been available from the jockstrap. Jockey briefs proved so popular that over 30,000 pairs were sold within three months of their introduction. In 1938, when Jockeys were introduced in the UK, they sold at the rate of 3,000 a week.