What to wear in Underwear

It seems as if Calvin Klein is no longer the first name in the underwear game. The New York Times has an article about the recent explosion of novelty and specialty underwear. A far cry from basic boxers and white briefs the new trend is graphic prints, cartoonish animations, and in-you-face color combinations all allowing men too express themselves another way that many on-lookers on the street won’t even notice.

This matters not apparently as sales continue to rise briskly. Not just men are the ones buying as women buy the bulk of underwear for the men in their lives.

The trend has gained momentum the past few years.

“From 2004 to 2006, sales of men’s knit underwear rose 5.3 percent, to 397 million pairs …In 2006, white’s share of the market dipped below 50 percent for the first time in decades, if not ever.”

Specialty boutiques are doing well online and in the real world. One in particular is International Jock. Department stores have also heard the call and stocked up on designer underwear. And as Michael Macko, men’s fashion director for Saks Fifth Avenue says, “It’s absolutely not a gay thing…Straight guys want to be sexy, too.”

But What if You Get Hit by a Taxi? [NYT]