Visible Underwear Lines aka Visible Panty Lines
Is having visible underwear lines (I’ll call it VUL) really a fashion faux pas? Well, it probably depends on who you ask. Ask fashion gurus and VPL (visible panty lines) for women is probably high on their list as a no no. With the trend in leggings and form fitting pants in general for women, we can get a feel of what they think. Go out and keep an eye out for VPL or VUL then you might notice it doesn’t really seem to be at the top of a lot of women’s lists of not to do. I always see plenty of them. Personally, it doesn’t bother me. I like seeing if I can spot some sexy underwear cuts.
I never hear visible underwear lines discussed for us guys. Is it fine for guys to show their wrinkled up boxers or boxer brief lines under their pants. How about briefs? Can I mention bikinis? It seems the trend for guys is to show off their underwear above their pants waist. To me that is a worse fashion faux pas than VUL. Seems a bit tacky and frumpy to me. Why are women’s standards higher than that for guys? They have to dress this way or wear that.
As I mentioned above, I’m all for visible underwear lines (well I’m more for sexy undie lines). I’m fine with none, because that makes it a challenge for me to figure out if a thong is being worn, commando, or a really good vanishing bikini/brief cut. This game only works with the ladies. Haven’t spotted any skimpy underwear lines on guys.
Of course if you want to reduce VUL then thongs or g-strings are the way to go. G-strings are going to really be the best at eliminating lines. I can usually still spot thong lines unless a shirt is covering that portion of the butt. Okay maybe sometimes I assume a thong too.
As a guy that wears bikinis and thongs should I be concerned about visible underwear lines? If I should be, I’m not. Of course, I don’t normally wear form fitting clothes, so less likely for lines to show. There are some items I have that could and do show lines, which I’ll touch on a bit shortly. My thoughts is if I were to show lines, I highly doubt anyone would say anything. If anyone did notice I’d hope it would get them thinking or wondering about the styles for men. I’m always thinking of ways to try and promote bikinis and thongs for men that might not be seeking them out. Maybe showing underwear lines is a way to do so.
I’ve kind of played with this idea many years ago once. Pretty sure it was my college years. I had a pair of unlined red wind pants. I wore a blue string bikini under them, which was pretty visible through the fabric. I don’t recall what I was doing that day other than I was out and about in public. I would have imagined people would have noticed. Should I consider something like that again for promoting the style (it is even possible those pants are still around somewhere)?
I do have some items nowadays I wear that would show underwear lines. One is some of my athletic pants, especially the gray pairs. Guess some shorts, but most are black so harder to notice. With form fitting items that would be my bike shorts and tights, which I know you are not supposed to wear underwear with. I break the rule, because I like wearing the styles. Plus it is an opportunity to show some VUL, so kind of a game I play. My most recent purchase has been some lightweight tights/leggings mainly for riding the spin bike at the house, but I have also worn them hiking some. As you can see from the picture at the top, they can show underwear lines pretty well.
You probably figured it out, but I don’t think we really need to care about visible underwear lines. That is not one of the reasons why I choose to wear thongs. I don’t think it should be someone’s top reason for wearing a thong. We should wear thongs because we find them comfortable. If you prefer the smooth butt look under your form fitting clothes then wear that thong or g-string. Otherwise wear whatever you want. So do you aim for the no VUL look or do you like to try and show them or do a little of both?
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Your pics are pretty transparent and you see a lot of bikers whose biking shorts look similar. At my gym a lot of the women appear to wear their tights without anything under and evidently get waxed down also. Since Covid, some guys have started coming in tights also and no shorts over them, as in the past, and some vpl’s are there, but mostly not. They do wear a short tops which covers them when standing, but when working out, the goods are evident.
I agree that the boxers showing above the waist is tacky and frumpy. When I was in high school back in the 80’s, men were not only allowed to look their best, they were expected to. Of course, we had plenty of guys who made fun of guys who cared about how they looked, but they were the minority. How was one going to attract a female looking frumpy? But now scars and tattoos and back hair are all the rage – even nasty beards.
What really gets me is the thing about biker shorts. We are fine with biker shorts – if a man is riding a bike. We are fine with WWE wrestlers, but no other man is allowed to wear such “bikinis” (which is essentially what they wear, although they are not skimpy).
I finally found men’s leggings that don’t look like underwear (meaning, the stitching that makes them appear to be underwear). I get them from Tommie Copper. They are expensive even on major sales. I don’t believe they work as far as the copper is concerned. But they are men’s and not women’s and they have the seam down the center like women’s and they don’t have stitching to make them appear to be underwear. I did have a pair of Tommie Coppers that do look like underwear, but they had a cool color pattern that was “sectioned”. I wore it once and people called police to the Target I was at. Nothing happened, but I noticed the sudden increase in security and the police outside. If I remember correctly, that was also the time when an officer walked in as I was walking out.
Oh the double-standards. Men have to band together and fight. That’s why I appreciate this site. I don’t know why homosexual men aren’t making a bigger deal out of this. I would think they love to wear stuff like this.
I do care about visible lines. I specifically want them to know I am wearing a thong.
This is so interesting, I really appreciate being able to chat with like minded guys about this sort of thing, keep it up.
When I was in the corporate world, I used to worry about whether my thong could be seen by anyone, I used to wear pretty tight trousers, that would show anything, but I learnt to just not be bothered about what people saw or said. Generally it was only the girls that noticed anything.
Now I’m in a different career, building and construction, I’m able to wear anything I want, when I want. I’m older now and just don’t care what anyone sees or thinks. If someone happens to see a bit if thong or G-string, so what?
I do a lot of walking and go to the gym regularly, I always wear a G-string to a workout, I simply don’t care what others may see, what’s under my shorts is my business and no one else’s. I wear LuluLemon shorts to the gym, they are super thin and also have a slightly see through panel at the back, wearing a G-string or a thong would be clearly visible if anyone looked, again, I don’t care, I feel good wearing what I want to wear, it’s not in your face, I’m not ashamed of wearing thongs, but no one has commented, so I guess people are just accepting.
That said, if I wore tights as thin and see through as your photo above, I’d either wear a G-string with very narrow sides rather than a bikini, just my thoughts….
I typically go with a thong under the tights in my photo unless feeling a little adventurous and bold. I was just experimenting to see what they showed with my photography attempts. Different colors would show less along with lighting would change up how well you could see through them. Women don’t seem to mind what is visible, so why should we.
Ill definitely be buying some exercise tights, just need to get the transparency factor right, I want a little see through, but not totally. Ill only wear G Strings with them.
Thanks for the tip
There are so many facets to this particular topic and every person probably has their own individual take on what is acceptable or not as the case may be. The main aim of this blog is to promote the wearing of underwear and swimwear that many in society don’t believe should be worn by any man regardless of his age, size, or body shape, but for the purposes of this topic, I will stick to underwear, which unlike swimwear, is not generally on show.
My own personal dislikes include guys who wear their jeans below their buttocks which invariably display either truly hideous grey trunks or baggy plaid boxer shorts. I know it is a cultural thing for some guys, but it looks ridiculous and you never see a bikini or something similar on display. I don’t like to see the thick outline of long trunks on the thighs of a guy wearing tight slacks, probably because I don’t like trunks full stop! From these two examples you see the extreme of blatantly showing off your underwear, to probably not being aware that people can tell your wearing long trunks. I don’t have a problem with guys unknowingly flashing their underwear when bending down to pick something from a supermarket shelf or indulging in manual labour, but I do wish more of them wore something skimpier that the all too common boxers or trunks(lol).
When it comes to wearing white or other light coloured shorts or slacks/trousers, how many of us choose underwear that is less likely to be seen? Nate admits that there have been times when he’s worn underwear that could clearly be seen through his pants/trousers in order to promote a particular bikini style. I remember many, many moons ago wearing light coloured trousers to work and some of the girls telling me they could see my blue bikini briefs through the fabric. It didn’t bother me in the slightest and it wasn’t the last time I wore light coloured trousers with my underwear showing, but when I started wearing thongs and eventually G-strings almost exclusively, that was no longer an issue.
Finally, in these days of leggings and tights being worn in gyms and as outerwear, we see the double standards that men face. Walk down any street and you will see women and girls wearing leggings that clearly show their underwear, but how often do you see a guy doing the same, and imagine the outcry if he did! It used to be that men wore running tights without outer shorts while jogging, but that seems less common now. I wonder why(lol). Social media seems to be a place where guys can usually get away with wearing revealing tights with or without underwear, but especially in a gym setting, although they can show their naked butts through their tights, they have to cover up their package with a long t-shirt, or risk being deleted or banned from the site.
I regularly wear leggings to the gym without shorts over them. And I do wear a thing under them. I don’t care that it’s seen. I do however get a lot of compliments from the ladies about how sex it looks. And even guys say I’ve given them the confidence to wear a thong to the gym. We’re growing the trend here!!!
Probably a stupid question but what are wind pants? Also i love wearing thongs in general but I also find speedos really comfortable under tights
Wind pants are made out of like a nylon material or something plastic like. Kind of noisy to when you moved in some of them. I think they are suppose to help break the wind from passing through to your body. The ones I have were for wearing over my soccer (football) uniform before games or when not playing on the field. Really I mainly wore the ones with lining in them that were warmer.
Nate do you have a link for the leggings that are on the title?
Randy, They’re a cheap pair I got off of Amazon. Here is the link https://amzn.to/3nXD5qi
I wore thong underwear for years, and while bending down my pants would reveal my thong or G string. I had a few people ask what are you wearing. I would say something very comfortable.
Tightie whites would make me break out around the legs at my glutes. Thong wouldn’t do that plus it was it was cooler working in a paper mill.
As for leggings I wear nothing under them, be it working out or out on the town. I like the look of my smooth cheeks and the shape of my man hood to show. I also try to wear a long top of some sort hoodie, long T or a flannel shirt with a tail. I like hoodies because of the front pouch for wallet and phones while eating out. The other day I was at a restaurant and two ladies came in both had leggings on and one had the standard bikini underwear on, the other had a longer top and I couldn’t see what she was wearing.
I have 3″ inseam nylon UZZI running shorts I wear for cover up to and from the pool at hotels. (When I wear them back toy room)😇 I have a neon orange pair that are see through, oh I cut the liner out of all of them so I could use them as cover ups. I will use them to workout in the hotel fitness rooms with a thong or string bikini under them.
I wear leggings just about everywhere I go anymore, because all I see in every add or workout video that has male and female. The female is skin tight and the male is baggy/saggy. I work hard trying to keep my body in good shape I’m going to make sure everyone see’s it.
I’m glad to see new members posting to the blog and forums. Let’s get keep getting the word out and wear it proud.
I have running shorts with I think half split sides. Can’t remember the inseam on them. Not more than 3″ inches for sure. Like you I cut the liner out and just wear underwear under them. I was hoping they would motivate me to run, but didn’t work very well. Maybe I should see if they will now, since it has been many years ago I got them. I typically wear athletic shorts that are above the knee as a cover up for my swimwear. Makes people think I’m wearing conservative until I drop them.
I have four pairs of the Nike running shorts with 2 inch inseams and I absolutely love them. I cut out the inner lining and wear it with underwear. If it is a thong, it tends to get caught between my cheeks, but not with a bikini. They are slightly mesh, so only slightly see-thru. And they are Nike! Way to go Nike!!!
https://www.nike.com/t/fast-mens-2-running-shorts-MQRW80/CJ7845-010?nikemt=true&cp=81742485461_search_%7CPRODUCT_GROUP%7CGOOGLE%7C71700000052538341%7CAll_X_X_X_X-Device_X_Nike-FullPrice_X%7C%7Cc&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItf-ZztD68wIVFCM4Ch0XmAevEAYYASABEgL9XvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Thanks for that Arun, I’ll check them out and order some online
I love to drop my running shorts and show my REAL suit! I have never said anything to anyone in the pool or at the beach before I remove them.
Here is a link to shorts I’m talking about.
https://uzzi.com/product/uzzi-unisex-running-shorts-1830/
These look good as well. The ones I showed honestly don’t look great in the photo (I think the model is too skinny for those shorts), but I love how they look on me. But I might try out this Uzzi.
I use my running shorts as a pool coverup.
If I lose this battle with the restraining order (which is all about me wearing bikinis at the pool), I will do what the women do and I will just wear my bikini to the pool and I won’t ride a scooter or drive my car – I will walk to the pool in my bikini. I will “threaten” them with it in court.
I also have a beef with the police officer I called to talk to about this whole situation. In the police report, she described me as wearing “short mesh running shorts”. I will nail her on this in court, but her entire intent is to make me out to be a pervert. None of the male officers or detectives even saw fit to describe me in any way. If you do, shouldn’t you describe salient features of the person that cannot be changed – like skin color or tattoos or scars? Clothes can be changed. If your intent is to describe the person so you can ascertain their identity, then describe the person, not their clothes.
Oh the discrimination against men!
I like wearing a thong underneath leggings because I think it shapes it nicely. It keeps it up and centered, which is more comfortable for me. Aesthetically, I think it looks good that way.
I used to wear women’s leggings because there were none for men. Anything for men that I found had that stitching that made it look like they are meant to be underwear. But that is just an illusion – in reality, they are far more conservative than what women are wearing. But Tommie Copper introduced items that were similar to women’s. Plus, they have one in gray. I like simple, understated colors. So I like to have a black top, gray bottoms and black shoes. A gray top with black bottoms and black shoes is good as well and was the original, but then you have black-on-black with the bottoms and the shoes. With the opposite, all colors are separated by the opposite color. Best of all, the gray bottoms don’t suck up the light like black does.
All I wear is thongs/g-strings and I have a special assortment of them just for the gym. They are mainly the ones I deemed not sexy and tailor-made for working out. I always wear them under my leggings and to my knowledge, only a couple will show what I’m wearing underneath. However, you would have to look real hard to see it. I’ve been wearing this type of underwear and swimwear for years now and I’m at the point that I have a really don’t care what people think kind of an attitude anymore. If they see it then so what. Yes, it’s a thong/g-string not first contact (I’m a big-time Trekkie, lol). I just want people to be an adult, which I know some can’t or won’t. What they do need to be is respectful of my choice or even better have no say at all. And yeah I do feel sexy working out with them on. I get a good workout for my health and I do it in my style of choice. I’m going to always do me.
That trying to catch a glimpse of any VPL with women is a good game, it’s a good challenge to be able to look without being caught by any one. I’d agree with you that they are far more obvious now, but not say 20 years ago. I think they went to quite extreme lengths so that nothing would show. hence partly the reason for the g-string craze at that time, and even not wearing any undies under tight jeans (and also more low-rise then as well).
Whilst I do not go out of my way to show anything, or hide it either, I don’t care if anything I wear is visible. If it makes someone’s day, all the better.
I wear thongs most of the time with half-back or cheeky cuts the rest of the time. I wear form fitting pants that would show lines and I love the feel of those lines against my butt.
When not at work, I usually wear short tights or leggings both to the gym as well as other casual stuff like the mall and coffee shops. It’s normal street wear and I love to be able to show no lines or high cut/cheeky lines. If the tights material are thin, I would choose a contrast colour underneath. However to moderate all this, I wear tank tops, t-shirts or Polo shirts with a rounded hem that extends a bit longer than a normal shirt to partially cover my crotch and bulge. This makes it fairly decent and can also serve as a tease. “Cuts”, “Rise” are a couple of brands that have this style.
Another outfit that’s perfect for lines/no lines is a wrestling suit or unitard. Worn mostly at the gym, nothing is left to the imagination. Depending on your confidence level, can be worn with thongs, 3/4, 1/2 backs or just going commando. But here’s a tip: you need to be lean and muscles defined to pull it off. Otherwise, pull a tee shirt over the top. But the lines/no lines adventure remains the same.
I’ve had quite a few known (and probably countless unknown) VUL situations, even to this day. I tend to favor the Kiniki 1/2 back or 3/4 back tangas so with the right slacks, I’m sure they can be seen pretty readily. I do wear thongs from time to time, but not often…I try to avoid the VUL but sometimes there are errors!