When shopping for men’s underwear there are a few areas that you need to really pay attention to, to ensure that you measure up. The only actual measurement needed are the inches around the waist, the remaining items all pertain to the underwear style.
On the waistband, there are three types of waistbands, the sewn on waistband, this usually carries a signature logo and is made of elastic, the encased elastic waistband and the sewn inside elastic waistband. The sewn on waistband is the most commonly seen waistband in men’s underwear now. It is extremely comfortable and offers an excellent location for the manufacturer to brand their product. The encased elastic and the sewn inside elastic waistbands can both be found on boxer shorts. The sewn inside elastic is folded over at the waist to make the sleeve for the elastic.
The next consideration is the fly. Statistically, very few men want to be bothered with a fly; a faux fly will work just fine. Approximately 80% of men do not use it at all, indicating that it is merely decorative. On boxers, the fly will always remain, on other styles it may or may not be there and there may or may not be a faux fly in it’s place.
The inseam has undergone serious changes over the years, fortunately the changes have resulted in improved fit and comfort. In lieu of intersecting of the front, back and leg seams in the crotch area, now gussets are being used and becoming more and more popular. A gusset is merely a diamond, triangle or rectangle shaped piece of fabric added to a garment for increased space and comfort.
The back seam is also of great importance to the underwear design. Many underwear designs no longer have a back seam. This is an excellent feature, as too short of a seam leads to wedgies and too long feels like an abundance of fabric.
Finally, the leg openings are important as well. There are high cut and regular cut. Feeling as if their movement is restricted or that they need to adjust their underwear will make him miserable.
