Anatomy of men’s underwear – briefs

This explains the various features of men’s underwear or briefs like fabric, waistband, the elastic, the fly, inseam, gusset, back seam, leg opening, Jock cups etc.

Features of men’s underwear

• Waistband

  Basically, there are 3 types of waistbands on men’s underwear:

  1. the encased elastic waistband,
  2. the sewn inside the elastic waistband, and
  3. the sewn on (usually logoed) elastic waistband.

  The encased elastic waistband is found mostly in boxers. Like in elastic-waisted pants, the boxer fabric is folded over at the waist to create a casing. The elastic is threaded through the casing and causes the boxer fabric to gather. This is a great solution for men who are allergic to latex, sometimes found inelastic. However, this waistband usually leaves vertical red imprints on the body.

  Elastic can also be sewn inside the waistline of a boxer. This way, the boxer looks like an encased waistband, but from the inside, the elastic is exposed to the body. This style gives a smoother feel against the skin and eliminates the vertical red imprint marks on the body.

  The sewn on the elastic waistband is pretty much the norm now on briefs and many other men’s underwear styles. It’s comfortable against the body, leaves very little if any red marks, and provides a great location for the manufacturer to brand his product. Several manufacturers are also making their elastic waistbands with microfiber or having the inside brushed. This gives a softer feel to the body and even greater comfort.

• The Fly

  Here’s an interesting fact. Fewer than 20% of men actually use their fly. That’s right; the majority of men simply go up and over. A few even go down and out. Thus the fly is more of a decoration than a functional feature. Regardless of whether it’s used or not, a fly will always be a stock feature on men’s boxers. Some have a centre button or snap on the fly.

  This helps to keep the fly closed. Lately, the traditional brief has made quite a few changes to its flight. More and more, the traditional double – layered cross – overfly is disappearing. Initially invented by Jockey, this traditional brief fly tends to flatten out natural contours and gives a man no definition. A “contour pouch” is quickly replacing the old design. This pouch actually provides more room, gives the man a more normal silhouette, and provides comfortable support.

  Boxer briefs and trunks will almost always have a brief style fly treatment. This makes sense when you think about it because both are made in a knit. There are a few boxer briefs with a traditional boxer fly; however, the fly has multiple buttons or snaps in order to ensure closure.

• Inseam

  Recently, a lot of design changes have occurred between a man’s, inseam legs. For increased comfort and improved fit, there is less and less of the traditional intersecting of back, front, and leg seams in the crotch area. Instead, gussets and panels are becoming more popular, and are a whole lot more comfortable

• Gusset

  A gusset is a piece of fabric, generally in a diamond, rectangle or triangle shape, inserted in a garment to allow for more space and greater ease of movement. In men’s underwear, the gusset appears along and around the inseams. They not only provide an improved fit but allow the garment to have fewer seams. The underwear is thus formed – fitting and comfortable.

  Inseams are also becoming shorter. Boxer briefs have been all the rage. However, when their inseams are too long, the leg tends to creep up and needs frequent adjusting throughout the day. This symptom is particularly apparent in men with muscular thighs. Men who enjoy the support of the boxer brief, but not the creeping are turning to the new underwear style known as trunks. It’s really a boxer brief with a 1″ – 2″ inseam and looks like the swimming trunks worn in the ’50s. They are very flattering, don’t creep, and their lines do not show through pants.

• Back Seam

  The back seam (or absence of it) is a very important issue to most men. Too short, and this team will create a wedgy feeling. And, many men just don’t like sitting on top of a back seat all day. There are a couple of solutions on the market. Many brands design underwear without a back seam. They’ll use a gusset design to shape the garment instead. There’s also a construction technique called the 3 panel back seaming or balloon back. Basically, there are two seams in the back that run down the centre back of each leg

• Leg Openings

  This issue primarily concerns boxers and boxer briefs. Men want freedom of movement without feeling that their stride is limited, or that their underwear legs need to be constantly adjusted. Men know that running in boxers just don’t work – the boxer leg binds them from reaching a running stride. However, for everyday wear, a boxer leg can be perfectly comfortable without binding.

  For woven boxers, look for boxers with plackets or slits on the side. These slits are usually 1 1/2″ ? 2″ tall. Men with well – developed thighs should not only look for packets but also boxers with front pleats. These pleats give even more leg room. And, of course, don’t overlook the popular knit boxers. Though they rarely come with side plackets, the fact that they are knit allows the boxer to stretch. Many wearers of woven boxers have switched to knit boxers simply because they are more comfortable.

  When it comes to leg openings on boxer briefs, men have found there is a delicate balance. Too tight, and the leg will keep creeping up your leg and need to be adjusted throughout the day. Too loose, and you’ll feel like you have less support. If the boxer brief is all cotton with no elastic around the legs, this boxer brief will be stretched out at the end of the day.

  It simply won’t look as nice as it did in the morning. The secret is to find a boxer brief with a little elastic in the leg hem. This elastic should be just enough to be form-fitting, but not too tight so that it will creep up as you stand and sit throughout the day. Boxer briefs with a little elastic will also look better on you at the end of the day. One should really look at wearing a brief because the leg opening is not an issue in the brief style.

• Jock Cups

  Here’s an interesting and rather whimsical fact about jock straps. The size of the cup gets larger as you go up in waistband size. This, of course, makes no sense because there is absolutely no correlation between a man’s waist size and the size of his package. So, why does the industry do this? Well, I spoke with several jock manufacturers and all confirmed this sizing to be the industry practice. Why? Because men are unwilling to assign a cup size to their “package.” Women do it all the time with breast size, but men simply won’t. So, fit men with an admirable package must either get a jock with too big a waistband, or one with too small a cup. At least, now you know how a jock’s cup is sized.

• Silhouette

  The trend in men’s underwear is that it be attractive and show off a man’s physique. Men’s underwear should fit the body without binding or bagging, regardless of a man’s size. Underwear that binds is uncomfortable. But baggy underwear can be just as bad. Too big, and you have too much fabric to tuck in and arrange. It can also feel hot and create a lumpy look. Don’t buy underwear too big assuming it will shrink. Underwear today is cut to fit and will not shrink wash after wash. So, look at yourself in the mirror while wearing your underwear. You could go down at least one size and look better.

• Fabric

  The fabric is the most important feature in men’s underwear. Feel is probably the most important criterion for most men – underwear needs to be soft. This is why most men’s underwear is made of high-quality cotton with long fibres. The softest highest quality cotton is Pima cotton, Supima cotton, and Egyptian cotton. Microfiber is another very soft fabric for men’s underwear.

  Microfiber is man-made and is thinner than silk (the thinnest natural fibre you can find). And, the thinner the fibre, the softer the fabric. Often, microfibers have wicking properties built into them as well. This means that the fabric is not only soft, but wicks moisture away from the body, and dries quickly. Some elastic waistbands on men’s underwear are made from microfiber. They’re very soft and feel great against a man’s skin.

Men’s Underwear Fitting Standards

Some Standard Underwear fitting is as follows:

Standard Men’s Brief sizes