Men’s Underwear Styles – More then Boxers or Briefs
Is it boxers or briefs? Isn’t that the question you hear when people talk about men’s underwear. Do people ask women a two option question when asked about their underwear? Are we even supposed to talk about the unmentionables? Obviously, I do a lot of talking or at least typing about them.
Why do guys only have two options? Someone seemed to have decided that is what men wear it seems. That someone had a big marketing budget I guess and now we only seem to have limited underwear options from the big unmentionables makers. Luckily we have the smaller guys out there that know men want more underwear options like our women counterparts. Our choices have grown thanks to them. Let’s take a look at some men’s underwear styles.
Men’s Briefs
Probably the style that most kids start in. Full coverage above the thighs and one of the options people have you choose from. Most people think of Tighty Whities when they hear briefs. Though guys have better options than the Fruit of the Looms and Hanes these days if they want to pay a little more money. Also more variety in brief cuts like fashion and sports briefs available.
Boxer Briefs for Men
I think these are most likely the most popular men’s underwear style today. Basically tight shorts of different leg lengths. Again there are more fashionable ones available out there over FOTL and Hanes. Think ones with decent pouches and better fabrics than what most stores offer.
Men’s Boxers
Boxers to me are not a good underwear option. Not sure how loose fitting shorts do much for you other than a layer between your outerwear. You get no support for the package and hard to stuff under your pants.. Not really a style that can be made very fashionable, but it is the other option in the boxers or briefs question.
Bikinis for Guys
Bikinis use to be a brick and mortar store underwear options, but they have seemed to disappear. Bikinis are like briefs, but with at least less side coverage. A lot of times a bit less coverage front and back too. Actually there is quite the variety of coverage when it comes to bikinis. In my opinion this is the style that should be most popular. They support well, not restrictive on the thighs, and typically I feel flatter the body better. Let me tell you the first time I tried a pair on I knew they were for me.
Men’s Thongs
Probably the scariest style for both men and women is the infamous thong. The fabric between the cheeks is a deal breaker for many. Though they really should be given a fair try, since they can be a very comfortable option. This style has been growing in availability for men over the years. There is quite the selection of cuts, pouches, back styles, and fabrics to choose from. The support you can get is superb from thongs. It’s a great alternative to the following style for sports.
Jockstraps
Most think of sports with jockstraps. For me I think gym class, which was when we were supposed to wear them in school. A jock is basically a front pouch for the package with two pieces of elastic attached to the base of the pouch and the other ends attached to the waistband near the sides. Kind of a backless brief/bikini. A lot of people probably think of the brand Bike for jockstraps. It seemed to be the option during my gym days. Over the years brands have made the jockstrap more fashionable and probably more comfortable. Still not a style that interests me.
There are other styles out there for men though you can probably group them with some of the above. We have cheeky options that seem to have really become popular with women. There are g-strings, c-strings, jock briefs, bodysuits, and more. As you can see people need to stop asking men boxers or briefs? Why not just what is your underwear preference? Or should people really be asking at all? Do people ask women their preference?
Ways to Support The Bottom Drawer by Shopping
Great post. I have every style of underwear. The boxers I have (2) are silk meant for lounging . I would never wear them out and about. I enjoy the change in styles and colors that men’s undies have now. I lean hard towards the ones with a well defined pouch. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boxer brief, bikini, jock, brief, or thong. I don’t understand the comments about guys in speedos at the beach. A woman can walk by with a thong bikini and it’s completely acceptable. Even in underwear guys are expected to conform to what most other people are wearing. Society will change eventually but it’s still a ways off where guys on thongs are considered normal.
Thanks! Options are always good. Nice thing today there is actually quite a variety in all the styles though you normally have to go the online route for the better fitting stuff. My experience wearing a swim brief places for the most part is people typically mind their own business. I feel most of the time there is a toleration of them. Some places are better than others, but we should be able to wear similar to what women wear. Don’t know if we’ll get to guys in thongs as normal, but time will tell. At least we have options out there!
Well done.
Thanks!
The pouch styles are the best for me.
Nice round up, I only wear bikinis (small), thongs and G-Strings, I literally don’t own any other the others, as I’ve gotten older I wear what I like and what my wife likes. I regularly wear G-Strings and thongs to the beach now. If girls can wears micro thongs, so can I, I really don’t care what others think.
Thanks. My drawer hasn’t seen anything other than bikinis and thongs probably since college. Not counting a fashion brief a brand sent to me to review. Now I have more coverage in my swimwear, but for me as long as they’re smaller than trunks I’m happy.
Great site and blog. I’m a 46 yo dad who pretty much only wears white briefs and men’s bikinis. Unceasingly I find the bikini the only way to go though it depends on what I’m physically doing. Loved your review of the hanes men’s string bikinis which were recently discontinued. What other basic brand of bikini do you recommend?
Thanks and welcome to it. I don’t have any good basic ones like the Hanes. Since my favorite brand shut their doors for retirement, I haven’t found a bikini cut that quite reaches my expectation at a reasonable price. Then a lot of the other ones I own and like are no longer available either!
You could check out Kiniki, but they stopped making a lot of the bikinis I liked from them too. Their Contour Brief (their image horribly misrepresent the cut) is a nice fuller cut bikini. You can read my review of the Contour Brief here. My favorite they still carry though maybe on the way out is their Harry Narrow Front Brief, since only two color choices. It’s a skimpier cut. You can read my review of the Harry Bikini here. You can also get 10% off with my affiliate code TBDRAWER. They typically have sales fairly often too. You can check out their tanga section if want a string bikini, but they don’t carry the ones I really liked anymore. They moved to thicker brand waistbands on a lot of them.
Another brand that is a little more money out of Mexico is Dietz. I’ve been happy with bikinis I have purchased from them in the pass. It’s been awhile, since I have bought from them. https://deliodietz.com/en/
Neither one is as basic as the Hanes. Kiniki is probably closest to a basic brand, but is good quality.
Thanks for the pro tips! I’m disappointed Hanes stopped making the men’s strings. Looks like jockey elance strings are gone too but they were 100% cotton and stretch out during the day whereas the Hanes always stay super tight to my body all day and night. I have tried some random ones from body aware and have some decent non string bikinis. But the string bikini feels great and looks fantastic front and back.
I think all the string bikinis I like are no longer being offered! Body Aware makes quality stuff, but a bit more money. Also usually more unique fabrics than basic and different pouches. I like some of their pouches, but not others. They were one of the original places I started ordering bikinis and thongs from when I got started.
I loved the Jockey Elance string bikini and I was sorely disappointed when they discontinued the 2X size and I could no longer wear them. And then they discontinued the style altogether.
The bottom line(no pun intended) is a great fitting G or brief is awesome! I still have some prevails which take meticulous care of and have found only a few companies to compare to Prevail. Magic silk comes close and a few other outfits. Never could figure out why Prevail went out of business?
I don’t get why no one took over after the original owner decided it was time to retire.
Certainly agree!
I ind this engaging, I grew up finding interest as well as the extreme comfort to want more of an open variety of styles of underwear. Even more so s I got more independent and less socially, out there to have insecurity being around or involved having to worry on being seen, judged and labeled for having smaller underwear.
Great post, Nate. I think the reason why you only see headings like boxers v briefs, when men’s underwear choices are being discussed, is because they tend to be the two styles available in the majority of high street stores. I can’t remember when I last saw an alternative to boxers/trunks or very conservative briefs in a local clothes shop. Changed days indeed when you could find thongs, string bikinis and even g-strings in large stores. I guess we need to be thankful that the skimpier styles are still available to buy online, but it would be nice to walk into a store and see our favourite styles next to the boring stuff.
Thanks. They are the only styles you’ll notice when passing the men’s underwear section for sure in a store. It is sad you can’t really even find a bikini cut these days either. Though I haven’t really looked very hard through the men’s underwear section of stores in a long time. Now walk by the women’s section and you’ll see all styles draped along the aisle or on mannequins. Oh well, the Internet it is for us.
I’ve actually tried all of these. The only one I didn’t like were jockstraps. I bought a pair out of curiosity and tried them, but I just didn’t like them after trying them on.
I grew up wearing briefs, then switched to boxers and boxer briefs in the 2000s and recently began to wear bikini briefs more regularly. I mostly wear briefs when working out or when I don’t have any other clean laundry.
I have kept my boxers for cold days and lounging around at home. While I tend to wear more boxer briefs, I find bikini briefs make me feel…sexier.
I forgot to mention on a previous post:
I have a few thongs. I rarely wear them and usually on very hot days.
I prefer summer because I can have a bit more fun with my underwear choices.
I’ve just worn string bikinis for day-wear and g-strings for sleeping for quite a few years now, and am happy with the choices of brands and styles. Just as I don’t like other people knocking my styles when they have not tried them, I don’t want to knock boxers or trunks since I have never tried them. I don’t like the amount of fabric in those styles, though there has been an earlier comment (David_NC ?) that thicker thighed men like the longer styles as they prevent chafing. I doubt I’ll ever try these other styles, since I am satisfied with what I have.
As for whether women discuss their underwear woes, just listen in to your wife’s conversations when she’s yacking to a mate. It’s not always about underwear of course, and there can be some eye-rolling stuff like the mate’s daughter’s new boyfriend. However, over the years I have heard conversations about underwear, though more typically about bras than panties. We’re the opposite, the discussions are about undies and we have never discussed singlets for instance. Panty talk has been about the latest style, the demise of a brand, or the daughters not wanting to wear string bikinis that were a favourite when the parents were teenagers. So it does occur. I do not remember any of their discussions being about men’s underwear though.
I’m sticking with the smaller styles too. Only style I still will knock some is the loose fitting boxer. I don’t like to hang loose (I did try them once probably in my teens and they didn’t stay on long). I think if you get away from most of the ones that department stores carry in the other styles then guys will be on the right track.
I haven’t heard my wife talk to others about underwear. I do know women like to shop together (my wife isn’t a shopper), so I’m sure they browse the underwear section together.
I didn’t mean to imply that they discuss such matters when I’m present. It’s more of a case where I might be working outside and can hear what’s being said.
One of the friends is a pleasant enough woman, but an utter air-head, so I tend to avoid her by working outside. If I’m working down the back then I can’t hear anything being discussed, but if I’m closer then I can hear through open doors or windows.
It’s certainly the case that if I have to remain indoors (say when raining) then there is no mention of underwear.
So overall, considering the small number of discussions that I have overheard over the years, I’d admit that underwear is not a common topic for discussion.
My favorite styles are bikini, string bikini and string thongs. I ditched the tighty whitie Y-fronts when I was 14. I tried converting my brother to bikinis, but he wasn’t interested. Sadly these days, middle age and diabetes has forced me to trade my skimpies for more absorbent options because of bladder leakage. I still have my skimpies, only now I wear them around the house.
Great article, I own most types of undies but certain prefer my thongs for daily wear. Boxers, I own for lounging but how individuals wear them for daily wear I just don’t get it. I like support. DonS, yes I have thick thighs and for example when we take the kids to the zoo and walk in the humid sweaty air, trunks help keep from chaffing. But it has to be a nice pair, good material with a good supportive pouch.