[sebbie]

Changes in clothing design for men and boys have been rather drastic over the past 5 years or so with this happening on a bunch of different levels. Take denim jeans for example. Not that long ago, guys were all wearing very loose-fitting jeans through the butt; thigh and leg, with very wide leg openings, 17 inches and larger, often much larger, and practically everything said “Relaxed fit” on it. Same with shirts. Nothing was labeled as form-fitting or athletic fit, and all the shirts you could find seemed to be designed to accommodate a guy whose waist size was bigger than his chest size, often far bigger.

Then take the subject of adding Spandex® to denim, so that the denim stretched a bit and as a consequence became more form-fitting. Not that long ago, the discussion centered on the notion that only women would “accept” that idea and it was a “girly” thing to do. But as jeans got slimmer and snugger for men, this taboo was lifted as well. And it is now commonplace to find men’s skinny jeans with leg openings as narrow as 11 inches,,,just big enough to pull over your feet!

So, why am I writing all of this here? I got to thinking about what works or doesn’t work as an undergarment UNDER jeans that fit so snug and tight. With loose-fitting jeans, it was commonplace for guys to wear loose-fitting boxers underneath. This wasn’t any real problem. But try to wear that style with snug-fitting skinny jeans and you can see the potential problem. You don’t want to be able to see the outline of whatever you are wearing underneath as clumps of lumpy cloth.

So, where I come out on all of this is that snug-fitting jeans go hand-in-hand with undergarments that are much more form-fitting than before. I know a lot of jokes are made about the old school “tighty whitey” briefs, but in many ways they are a whole lot more suitable for wearing under skinny jeans than the loose-fitting cotton boxers. But there are other snug-fitting possibilities as well, maybe even leading to resurgence in the popularity of men’s thong underwear.

What about a swim brief worn as underwear under skinny jeans? A swim brief would actually work quite well for that purpose. We are seeing a resurgence in the appearance of swim briefs as the appropriate garb for swim teams, again something that only a few years ago would have been all but unheard of. Maybe even an “old school” jock strap, though that may be pushing it just a bit.

Form-fitting clothing seems to be once again becoming commonplace for guys irrespective of age or sexual orientation. This is a good thing for a host of reasons, starting with the idea that it was probably unwise to attempt to discern a guy’s sexual orientation based solely on the fit of his clothes. But there are other subtle effects. For example, there is a lot of concern over the fact that people of both sexes over a long period of time have been becoming less fit with poor high fat and sugar-laden diets and a lack of exercise. If wearing the latest clothing styles also entails improving one’s fitness and diets, there could be some positive psychological benefits.

For that matter, looking good in a swim brief probably entails focusing on much the same diet and fitness goals. I don’t mean to suggest here that swim briefs are for only the fittest among us, but merely to suggest that if one chooses to follow a better diet and fitness program in order to look better in a swim brief, that is certainly a positive psychological incentive to make the necessary lifestyle changes,

And then there are the other kinds of gear, the compression tees and shorts, the running tights etc, the gear that Dylan and Josh are messing with right now. Same deal, pretty much.

The recent increased popularity of skinny jeans has perhaps set off a host of changes not only what many guys ordinarily wear as jeans, but also possible change is what guys ordinarily wear UNDER their new jeans. And, to the extent that these trends tend to move guys into a “let me try and be fitter” mode of thinking, that can be good as well, not to mention mixing up the antiquated ideas about what a guy’s sexual orientation might be based on the clothes he chooses to wear.

To be continued….