The history of underwear

superman01

History of Men's Underwear boxer

1970s and 1980s
Commercial interest in sport meant men’s underpants became body enhancing and like women's designs, the newest and hottest styles were almost totally seamless. The thong was very popular in Brazil and worn by the beach Adonis crowd. Fashion crossover into underwear meant the thong became popular as underwear not only for its erotic appeal, but because it gave a smooth and rounded finish to bottoms encased under tight trousers.
In ‘Saturday Night’s Fever’, John Travolta’s physique was enhanced with no visible panty line and this resulted in briefs and thongs being worn by the disco generation. Meantime men’s briefs got briefer and became the preserve of designers such as Calvin Klein. Underwear was a fashion statement available in unusual fabrics and wonderful colours and combinations. Sex appeal was the main selling point for major advertising campaigns.

When in the 80s Nick Kamen unbuttoned his Levi 501s revealing a pair of white boxers to the tune of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’, it was thought by many to be the end for the Y-front. Not a lot of people know the Kamen’s Levi commercial would have featured the model in a pair of Y-fronts but the advertising censors decreed them indecent.

cxvwqd
xvqw

1990’s
Again medical scares of impotency due to tight underpants may well have influenced some, but certainly boxer shorts made a comeback into fashion in the 90’s. No longer baggy the new boxers maintained the tightness of briefs. Pouch boxer briefs had a pocket for the genitals rather than an access flap and athletic and bike-style boxers were generally skin-tight, usually with no access pouch or flap. These were like short tights.


Post time: Sep-26-2021