It is interesting that International Male and Undergear didn't impress you as a gay store. It was my thought from the beginning that they were both directed at the gay male. However, my thoughts were stilted by the fact that I visited their shops in West Hollywood -- the gay mecca of Los Angeles.
Years before there had been AhMen that was one of the first to offer really skimpy underwear underwear out of soft and sexy fabrics. (I was very young when I saw an AhMen catalog at a friends house and I was fascinated and wondered from then on if that is what his father wore) It was a small shop on Santa Monica Blvd that eventually expanded into a full line clothing store with a huge inventory of bikini swim and underwear. Unfortunately the owning partners broke up and the store closed. In its place went International Male -- a store based in San Diego. (UnderGear was an off shoot of them) At the same time Parr of Arizona opened (now nu-parr) so in a few blocks of Santa Monica Blvd were several shops focusing on skimpy male attire. Having shopped in the stores I can attest that the staff was all gay and somewhat too helpful at times.
Having seen the catalogs from all the above mentioned I would not automatically assume that they were gay if I hadn't been in the stores. I think that, unfortunately, if there are bikini swimsuits and/or underwear in a shop it is automatically assumed gay.
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