Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Boxers or Briefs?

The infamous question asked of Michael Jordan in the Hanes commercial now 10 years ago. Since that time, Michael has been a phenomenon in the underwear world. There are even ads of other famous personalities (namely Cuba Gooding, Jr., Kevin Bacon, Matthew Perry, and Charlie Sheen) playing on the coolness that obviously Hanes has made Michael. I personally like Michael Jordan. I remember watching him face off with Dominique Wilkins in 1988 in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. It was where ‘air’ was born. Anyway, I digress.

So, does a woman really care if her man, the man she likes, or any man she sees for that matter wears boxers, briefs, or (Allah forbid) bikinis? In the original commercial, you can’t see the men that the ladies are grading, but you can imagine. So what does the type of underwear that a man dons tell you about him? Let’s look at the basic types and maybe we can tell.

First, the brief. These are the traditional underwear of men. These have a Y-shaped fly for obvious reasons, and no not that. The waist and legs have elastic bands to ensure a snug fit. The traditional color is white, hence the term ‘tightie-whities’, but these tend to come in most colors under the rainbow and various printed designs (my little boy wears ‘Cars’ themed undies).

Next, boxer shorts, or boxers. These have an elastic waist but the legs are loose fitting similar to shorts. There usually is a fly with or without buttons, again for obvious reasons. This type of underwear is looser fitting and does not offer the ‘support’ that a brief does. Boxers are available in colors, patterns, pictures, logos, and slogans. Boxers are also made of various materials such as spun cotton, flannel, knit cotton, and silk.

I want to mention a hybrid-type of underwear that has become more mainstream in recent years, the boxer brief. Boxer briefs try to take the best of traditional briefs and boxer shorts and make them into one piece. They are form fitting similar to briefs (and may or may not have a fly, but why they wouldn’t I am not sure…go figure) but the legs are generally longer like those of boxers; think cycling shorts but with shorter legs, and probably no hot pink, yellow, or green stripes.

Lastly are the bikinis. These usually have small pieces of material in the front and possible in the bank connected by an elastic band. There may or may not be any material that covers any of the sides of the leg. No fly. Again colors are various as well as prints (animal is very popular especially zebra). Materials tend to be cotton or synthetic but also silk.

Who chooses what and why is for anyone to guess. This would be a good poll. For me, I prefer boxers as they are the most comfortable. But I am also a fan of the boxer brief which also is comfortable and a little more vogue today. And the bikinis…not for this post. lol

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