I don’t know what it is but white briefs look perfect with dark colored jeans whether they be blue jeans as in the pictures above or with black jeans. It’s a totally traditional look but still sexy and wholesome and somehow mysterious. To see a pair of jeans and white briefs left casually by their owner on the floor of a bedroom or the gym just speaks of American style: casual, carefree, intimate, everyday and a little bit naughty. Most men and boys have been taught to hide their white briefs inside their jeans when they get undressed as if it’s being immodest to have someone see them. Well maybe it is immodest but it’s fun to display your wears so to speak and truly no one is harmed by it. From Tom Cruise in the film Risky Business to David Beckham in a current print ad to Michael Jackson’s white Calvin Klein Briefs being shown in the tabloids—briefs are made to be shown off with jeans! So show your colors or your whites to the world.
So lets pretend in 1957, you just purchased or received your first briefs and they just so happened to have the double-seat. At first you're not sure what to think, but you are aware that there is something special with how they look and feel. After researching the catalogs and departments stores, you realize that this is a common feature in both men's and boys briefs. When the opportunity rises, you notice others in the gym locker room that wear briefs that sometimes has this extra layer of thickness.
Adding to the confusion, you're wondering why you even care!
With the start of a new decade, you see that there is a new trend emerging. More and more "Baby-Boomers" are moving away from the "Silent Generation" era of white and pastel boxers. As the 1960's developed in to the hippie generation, any kid would be ridiculed if he was seen wearing his old man boxers. By 1979, wearing boxers was social suicide to most boys entering high school. Unless you had a very strong disposition at such an early age, it was just easier to fit in than face ridicule among your peers.
By the early 80's, briefs had captured the underwear market and nothing was going to stop it......
Part 2:
Remember the push in the early 80's to look for "Made in the USA" label when purchasing your clothing?
During the 1970's with rapid inflation, China had entered the US market with its more affordable clothing. Owners and CEO's from all sectors of the east coast apparel industry saw the writing on the wall and immediately started cutting jobs and quality. In 1978, the underwear giant JC Penney slowly started to eliminate the double-seat in the boy's sizes (8-20). In 1989, JCP eliminated the men's double-seat brief from their catalogs and by the early 90's, double-seat briefs had disappeared entirely from the market. They simply had to, in order to stay competitive until they had time to set-up new manufacturing plants in foreign countries where the cost of labor was cheaper.
During this same period of cheapening of men's and boy's basics there started to be a swing from briefs back to boxers. By the late 1980's, Generation X was now making their own purchases and looked at the white briefs as the sorry basic that they had become. No longer being full cut (with or without the double-seat) and an uncomfortable waistband, they had no interest in wearing these sorry little briefs. The aging Baby Boomers were also disappointed with what had happened to their favorite brief and wondering what the heck happened!
Part 3:
The rise and fall of quality men's briefs has given birth to several new underwear industries. Tiger Underwear came online in 2007 finally filling a void with the double-seat brief that was missing for so many years. Understanding that they have entered a market driven by a younger demographic, they will continue to have a following that finds this style and cut desirable for its comfort and fit.
We would like to see other companies examine what Tiger Underwear has done. Tiger has shown that they can sell double-seat briefs at $24.99 each and continue to grow in a very difficult and competitive market. It's time for JC Penney and others brands to have a "Gold" or top of the line brief that is full cut and with an optional double seat. Certainly it would be more affordable to the every day consumer and if they do, they just might bring back briefs as the new favorite for the Generation Y (The Millennial Generation).
We certainly wish no ill will on Tiger and we doubt JC Penney or any other will take us up on our challenge. Tiger assures us their pricing is in fact in line with other smaller niche companies and that their cost are high do to the fact they can't produce on the same level that Jockey or other industry giants can.
We begin the journey with these first steps of creating a blog that consumers, parents and clothing industry professionals will find informative and engaging.
We are not totally objective as we were responsible for getting Tiger Underwear up and running, however we are dedicated to honesty and integrity. We will provide useful information relevant to purchasing men's and boys underwear and to the real business of manufacturing and merchandising men's and boys underwear.
We also want to make it known that the 25% discount on Tiger blue dash double-seat briefs will be ending at the end of this month. Starting June these briefs will cost $24.99, in par with the red-dash Tiger double-seat briefs.
So anyone out there remember the days, before political correctness? When I look back at it, it's obvious that it was certainly a different world. Above is an ad from a department catalog from the 1960's or early 70's. Many children from the Generation X and later would be shocked today to see such advertising. Tiger Underwear has not only brought back a style of brief that was very commonly worn among men and boys of that era, but also an updated version of marketing that would have existed and been much more common today had in not been for political correctness. PC did away with boys advertising white briefs in the mid 80's. There was no law that was ever passed down, simply a "conservative" movement in this country that I believe pressured large companies to be labeled as a questionable organization if they didn't stop there marketing practices. I assume most businesses thought it was easier to surrender some of their marketing concepts in order to avoid pressure or boycott.
Please give me your opinion. Give us your age so we know what generation you represent. The MensAndBoysUnderwearBlog is dedicated to the safety of children and want to promote the very best underwear products for men and boys.
Below is a video snippet of an adult and two boys from 2007. This video and other material can be found in the Archives at Tiger Underwear. We also have a video snippet of "Harold", staring Spencer Breslin and Cuba Gooding Jr. and of course product placement of Tiger Underwear! Note the "Special Thanks" at the end credits and you'll see Tiger Underwear listed right above Dickies, Victoria Secret and Levis!
Our official blog writer for the MensAndBoysWunderwearBlog is on assignment and will not be available for the next few weeks. He will try to email us articles for us to share to you, but we may still have days with no updates. We appreciate your patience and look forward to his safe return.
Clever use of words that has real meaning. Tiger Underwear has no interest in using their customers as billboards. The red or blue dashes (lines apart) identifies the company without shouting to world what brand your wearing. Clever marketing or Reverse Psychology, the point is Tiger is different! Not only does the double-seat adds comfort and longer wear but an unique style that really does separates this company from any other underwear manufacturer and makes Tiger lines apart!
Please tell us what makes Tiger Underwear your choice.
Review of Tiger 100% Cotton Blue Dash Briefs
It is risky when we try to review a product we had a hand in bringing to market but we intend to tell the truth about Tiger Underwear 100% cotton briefs and let the consumer make up their own mind.
The Tiger Blue Dash brief is a full rise brief, meaning that it covers more of the torso from a little lower on the leg to almost the belly button. Full rise briefs are not like boxer briefs–they don’t cover the whole upper leg. This is the style of brief that was made popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s by all the department stores including Wards, Sears, JC Penney and many other lesser brands. The advantage of these full rise briefs has always been their comfort JC Penney still makes the Stafford Brief which is full rise. We will review those another time.
The Tiger 100% cotton brief comes with a blue dashed waistband that mimics the high quality elastic used in the past. For vintage brief fans these will be a bonanza because they look and feel just like the briefs from the dept store hay days. The cotton is excellent quality. The briefs also come in single back , double back and four panel “training briefs”. We reviewed only the double back and found them to be unusually well fitting and comfortable. Two of blog readers are mothers who have purchased these briefs for their sons and they have contributed to this review.
Something about the construction of two back seams combined with more cotton on the double seat made these indeed a great wear for boys and men! Men have noticed however that the blue dash briefs ran a bit small. The (34-36) we got were more like (32-34). The boy's small seemed to fit younger boys however very accurately. Tiger Underwear has been running a sale on the blue dash brief for a while but they tell me it ends on June 1.
We give them four out of five stars! The sizing issue is the only thing that keeps us from giving them our coveted five stars GOLDEN BRIEF AWARD. The staff at TigerUnderwearStore.Com assures me that we will want to give the GOLDEN BRIEF to their 50% Poly/Cotton Red Dash Brief. We shall see.
Tiger Underwear has taken the concept of thickness and absorbency to a new level with the introduction of the Tiger Training Pants last winter. Tiger training pants provide a four panel seat and of course a four panel front to make the entire brief more absorbent. With the introduction yesterday of optional plastic pants, cleverly named as "Step-Ins", some folks might be thinking how did this all come about.
David Anderson, owner of Tiger Underwear told us that the original design of the cotton four panel seat brief was a last minute decision several years ago. "We had just started reviewing the proto-types of the new blue dash double-seat brief in 2006 and realized how simple it would be to add just another few layer in the seat for additional comfort." It was an exciting moment for us, David explained. "We already had a single-seat version of the blue dash brief and with the addition of a four panel seat brief, we would be looking now at three styles of comfort to offer our customers."
The Tiger four panel seat briefs were made in just a limited quantity because David had no idea if there would be a demand for something so unique. "Looking back, I wish we had made more." "We sold out of the boy's sizes almost immediately and to my surprise they actually out sold the single seat briefs in 2007." David emphasize, "there was no doubt the double-seat brief was our bread and butter but I was shocked by the success of four panel seat briefs." "However, many of our customers wanted additional absorbency in the front and so we promised them an even more absorbent brief or training brief 2008."
Tiger Training Pants success led to another immediate issue, wetness control! David believed that a training pant was suppose to be just that, something that could be offered to aid bed wetters that were beginning to stay dry through the night but still absorbent enough to handle small accidents. "We kept hearing from customers that they wanted us to have plastic pants available for additional protection." "So in 2009, we started looking for a supplier that had the same level of quality and commitment that our customers have come to expect from us."
David would like to put the training brief and optional plastic pants now on auto-pilot and focus on other business objectives. "I'm happy to have made a product like our Tiger Training Pant for those that wanted to have another choice." "Disposable diapers is never a good choice for those that need just a little protection." He stresses that Tiger Training Pants are not cloth diapers that looks like a brief but instead be viewed as an absorbent brief that can handle small accident much better than a traditional brief ever could. If you need plastic pants for security and protection, well he has got you covered there as well!
Next on his list is a multi-color brief. "I really want to focus on men's and boy's briefs that still feature our double-seat but see it available in exciting new colors!" "Not that we will ever stray from our original white basics, after all that's what put us on the map but to see it in a variety of different colors sound very appealing!
It's my opinion that you don't have to have medical issues to enjoy the comfort of Tiger Training Pants. They don't actually look that much different from the Tiger's double-back briefs. It's only when you actually feel the weight of these briefs that you know they are not typical underwear. Any additional comfort that Tiger Training Pants offer is balanced with a sensation that your wearing something that you might not have worn since you were four years old. Personally, I notice they are a little heavy feeling but maybe in the winter they might feel more appropriate on those cold, chilly mornings.
Scroll Mouse Over Pictures For Other Viewing Options
I am traveling in Thailand and so it is time to bring some international flavor to our blog. By “Thai Boys” briefs I am referring to the underwear worn by older teen guys up to their late twenties. Thai guys are frequently called boys up to that age not as a put down but probably to us Westerners they look very young.
Boys here in Thailand still like briefs though it appears they are also wearing more colorful boxers and boxer briefs. As I was walking down the street of Pattaya in early morning I saw everyone’s laundry out of the street drying. Usually foreigners are not up early in Thailand so this was a good time for the Thais to dry their clothes in privacy. I could see that the vast majority of male underwear was briefs most of them white briefs from a wide variety of manufacturers including Calvin Klein www.calvinklein.com and some colors from Ginch Gonch www.ginchgonch.com, however most brands were not known to me. The Thai boy body looks best in small tight fitting clothes including underwear so I think that will be the norm here for the foreseeable future.
Enjoy the video slide-show by Tiger Underwear. It shows some classic pictures from the last couple of years. Let us hear from you your thoughts and comments. Please feel free to suggest any ideas you would like to see posted. Depending on your internet speed, it may take a few minutes for this to load and be viewable.
Tiger Underwear has just release its Summer 2009 photo shoot and is now available for everyone who signs up as a Tiger Member. Not only do you get a very cool catalog but you get a free brief with every purchase of four single or double-seat briefs! Tiger Membership last 12 months and you may take advantage of the free brief offer as many times as you wish! Tiger Underwear website was updated a few weeks ago and expect additional changes throughout the month of August
A Moment with past "Fruit of the Loom" Executive Vice President
Please take a moment for some interesting insight from a past Fruit of the Loom executive (Vice President of Sourcing for Sara Lee Underwear, now Hanes Brands) Lea Holder.
Currently Lea Holder, owner of Key Largo Underwear and Tiger Underwear founder David Anderson share common goals when it comes to running a new business.
Their styles differ as each have created their own niche in the market place, but Lea years of experience at Fruit of the Loom is now willing to share her deep knowledge of the industry in her new blog,
It really has the potential as a very informative site. I suggest checking her site out for those interested in someday becoming their own entrepreneur in this complicated industry.
I had a chance to interview Lea this last week and asked her:
Tell me about The Underwear Maven.
I started writing posts to The Underwear Maven blog in Jan. 2009 for several reasons. I spent 20 years in the knit and underwear business and much of that time was spent doing the actual supply chain functions like quality assurance, customs and transportation, planning, and government compliance programs. I discovered that the digital age made getting information required to do the job much easier, cheaper, faster and more accurate. It somewhat levels the playing field for the “little players”. The blog initially served as my way of organizing my thoughts and letting them reside in public on Google’s server.
What’s the reaction from your followers?
They have been very positive and I’ve had many special email requests especially from international viewers.
What are some of the special requests?
I’ve had several requests for help with classifying an item with it’s harmonized tariff Schedule number, the corresponding duty rates and historical import information from countries in quantity and dollars. Socks, Swimwear, Bed Sheets, Baby blankets and diapers are a few of the special requests. These guys find The Underwear Maven when they search on a posted topic like Apparel Classification.
Why do you do this?
It keeps me up to date and in good practice. And yes, I admit that it’s also a personal marketing tool for me and my line of underwear called Key Largo Underwear. I was downsized in 2005 as Vice President of Sourcing for Sara Lee Underwear, now Hanes Brands and I didn’t want to be pigeon holed as a typical corporate bureaucrat that doesn’t know how to actually do the work.
Any final comments ?
If you have any special requests or would like for me to cover an underwear topic for your Blog, just let me know. It would be fun! Maybe a topic like “Elastic Characteristics for men’s Briefs”. Let’s face it, once the elastic fails, the undies are rightfully tossed.
