What to wear?

[sebbie]

The case for Tighty Whiteys

I “came of age” (so to speak) in the very late 1950s. But even before that, I knew I had a “thing” for garments that fit really snug in the groin area. This was a period of time when briefs made of ribbed cotton dominated the underwear market for men and boys. Even the idea of a brief made from nylon, was a “girlie” thing, as in a panty for females not a brief. It was not until the 70s until men's briefs as underwear were marketed to any degree that were not made from ribbed cotton.

Indeed, ribbed cotton briefs totally dominated the male underwear market, and by the time I was in college a decade later, living in a men’s dorm, nearly every male still wore ribbed cotton briefs.

There were alternatives, but they were difficult to find, most notably what was sold as a “mid-length brief” which was basically just a ribbed cotton brief with an additional two inches added to the legs. These were tough to find in any local store, but mom always thought I should wear briefs with longer legs (they were warmer for winter, she said) and she ordered them through “the catalog” (Sears or Wards). Of course, the real winter wear was the long john, which you can think of as an undergarment made of the same ribbed cotton but extending to the ankles (a running tight made from ribbed cotton?) and fitting comfortably under jeans or dress pants in the wintertime.

Me? I still longed to be able to wear real triangular-shaped briefs not the mid-length versions. Swimming suits for guys at the time were typically plaid boxers, but nearly ever boxer suit featured a brief-style “liner” that was made of a loose knit nylon material that was there so body parts did not accidentally emerge from the boxer trunk while swimming. I loved the fact that under the trunk was this snugger brief, and I had lots of wonderful times in my youth taking this a step (or two) farther, enjoying myself in that brief liner under the boxer in other ways that I won’t need to explain further. Let me just say that I did this often, but instead of washing the suit I just put it back in the drawer. Stuff accumulated then dried over and over. With this ongoing process, the nylon liner eventually gave way entirely and was now full of big holes. That ended that, but I was on my way to doing other fun stuff.

Another interesting idea was what the guys who needed to wear a strap as a required piece of equipment for athletics and sport. Around the same time, this was the classic Jock Strap (cupped or not) with the ribbed rubberized pouch, elastic leg straps and three-inch wide waist band. What bugged guys the most about wearing a strap in the locker room was that they would be-butt naked along with the other guys in the locker room. So, in order to deal with this it was common to wear a pair of tighty whiteys as a first layer UNDER the strap. Guys claimed that this was more “comfortable” than just the strap, but I think the fear of being seminude with their male peers really was the main reason.

I am doing exactly that this morning. I have a snug-fitting tighty whitey that went on as a first layer, then I pulled on a traditional “school boy” strap with the wide waist band over the top. I have more layers too including a pair of blue compression shorts followed by a pair of loose-fitting sweat pants.

What can I say? I still love the fit and feel of a somewhat undersized pair of tighty whiteys, the ones I have on this morning fit just tight enough so that I can put my flaccid penis in an “up” position and it stays there. But the rubberized ribbed pouch essentially doubles the fun as the underside of my penis resoundingly tells me it would like some attention. Of course, the snug-fitting compression shorts add another dimension too, and from a distance I simply look like an old dude wearing a loose-fitting pair of sweat pants.

Increasingly over time, I have had difficulty finding tighty whiteys that provide the fit I want in the local department stores. The only ones available are in men’s sizes, and nowadays a Men’s SM is a huge garment and not fun to wear at all. I am much happier (and stiffer) in a Boys LG or even a Boys MED tighty whitey. But tighty whiteys in boys' sizes have all but disappeared in local stores. I do still find them in on-line stores such as eBay, and have a supply stash.

I appreciate that you have read this, just another episode in my long-term essay series on things that are great fun to do by, with and to yourself!

All the best!

[singletlover]

Thank you for the read.

[sebbie]

Originally Posted by singletlover

Thank you for the read.

You are welcome!

[sebbie]

Coming of Age

I grew up in a remote rural area, 60 miles from any store that would have carried boys’ clothing. We relied on mail-order companies for a lot of items that were not available locally, mainly Sears and Montgomery Wards. Most of my clothing I wore in these days were found on the pages of a Sears or Wards catalog. Early on, mom made all the purchase decisions only occasionally letting me express a preference.

Growing up, parents are always thinking about whether or not a child will likely wear out a garment first or, more likely, grow out of it. This concern applied not only to outer garments but to everything else including underwear and (gasp) swimming trunks. Best to order everything a size or two too big, as he may be able to wear the garment next year as well. Children, but boys in particular, need to always buy and wear clothes a size or two too big.

Of course, all of this is happening when a guy is deep into a discovery mode about the excellent sensations that can be experienced in the groin area, and that a lot of these super neat sensations are brought about and enhanced by wearing something snug fitting there. For young males, the groin area is like a candy store of sorts, but an even better candy store if the garment covering it is snug fitting, and optimally made of a super slick, perhaps even stretchy material.

That garment, of course, is exemplified by a swim brief, perhaps then made from a slick nylon, but even more so one made of a blend of fabric materials including the DuPont Lycra. Lycra in the fabric not only guaranteed that the fabric would stretch to fit beven if undersized ut also fit skin tight.

Of course, there was a down-side to all of this. By the time a guy was old enough to realize how much fun it would be to wear a stretchy Lycra-enhanced swim brief he was also old enough to realize that wearing one in public could lead to some embarrassing “appearance issues” as his penis was going to be delighted to just be in such a garment, and the guy soon realized that anything could happen, and that his penis was not easily taken off course even his brain told him that in public that is probably not where any guy wanted to be.

The Summer sale catalogs from Sears and Wards carried an assortment of swimwear for both boys and men, and among the myriad of plaid boxers there was always a brief or two. I desperately wanted one of these briefs, settling for a series of plaid boxers, each with the woven nylon brief-style inner liner, but I never convinced mom of that, and had to wait until college to be able to buy what I wanted, and even then I needed to be somewhat secret.

I have often thought that coming of age for a young male should be at the point in time where the guy tells his parents that he is old enough to be able to pick out the clothing he would like to wear, but in particular the underwear and swimwear he wants, but this never happened that way for me. A lot of this is also related to a young male recognizing that some private time is important on the way to adulthood, but for me, that was limited as well. The upshot for me was that an adult living away from my family home, I have always placed high value on having private time, and the idea of being alone and then lonely does not compute.

For a lot of guys, what I am talking about here leads right into having a relationship with what might become a sexual partner, and this then leads directly into thoughts such as “how do I get my partner aroused?” and then “what shape and size of underwear would my partner like to see me wearing?” On the swimwear front, there comes this issue of whether or not the swimwear will be worn in a place where others might see me in it. And, of course, whether or not the swimwear might reveal a bulge in a provocative place etc etc.

For straight guys, will my girlfriend like seeing me in a Speedo? Or does this question actually have two different answers depending on whether the guy is with his girl in private or if the guy is wearing the Speedo in a public or semi-public place where other females might ogle.

Gay men are generally used to seeing other gay men in tight-fitting swim briefs, so this is less of an issue for them, if at all. Still, I have often tried to rationalize why so many women seem angry at even the thought of a guy wearing a Speedo. After all, women routinely wear skimpy, revealing clothing clothing in public settings, and I am not aware that guys normally would complain and even get angry about that. But a female freaking out because a guy is in a Speedo in public goes against the female instinct that says her guy is her own, not still some target for other women to ogle over.

Somehow I managed my way through a lot of this, and looking back I have no regrets. Ultimately I got to do what I wanted to do even with some obstacles along the way. Unlike a lot of other guys, I never concluded that a sexual relationship is the ultimate path to happiness over a lifetime, in part because I would probably have had to give up a lot of activities that have made me very, very happy. I like things just the way they are, and I am equally happy that so much of what I have written on the subjects have proven to be such popular reads for others.

All is well!

[sebbie]

Strapped and Cupped

I am celebrating my birthday today by spending the day fully strapped and cupped. Today I started by pulling on a little old school cotton blend bikini brief sold as underwear that I probably purchased over two decades ago, positioning myself upward, so the underside is pressing against the pouch.

I have an assortment of old school cups and straps. Today I am applying a Futuro brand strap and cup I purchased over two decades ago, with the traditional flat cup that causes school athletes so much consternation and is designed to keep important things firmly in one place.

The fit and feel of the combination with the penis underside pressing against the hard cup is a real treat.

Of course, I can’t stop there. Over that goes a really snug pair of the old starter brand Compression shorts, size SM in a bright Kelly green. These hold the strap and cup firmly in place, and make certain that the underside of my penis is in relentless contact with the inside of the hard cup no matter what I am doing. A great fit and feel to be sure.

And, since I might have visitors today, I pulled a pair of sweat pants over everything. No one else is wiser as to what I am really up to.

All of this is a great way to celebrate today, and I can and will be horny all day long.

Something else to celebrate. Between my two big posts “What to Wear” and “Thoughts on Just Being a Guy” I am now approaching 500,000 total reads. While this is not 500,000 individual readers, this count still means that a lot of guys have followed what I write and keep coming back for more. If even a small portion of my readers find the information useful and interesting, I still am very happy.

All the best from Sebbie!

[Lap Counter]

Happy Birthday, Sebbie!
Keep everything tightly strapped.

[sebbie]

On Fitness and Briefs, Worldwide

In the United States, we have long engaged in endless debates as to whether or not it was appropriate for any American to appear in public in a swim brief, and if so, under what circumstances might this be appropriate. I have been watching local TV news reports relating to high school swim meets in part to determine if in recent years swim briefs have made a comeback or not. My general conclusion is that at these meets, nowadays, anywhere from 30-50 percent of the school-age male swimmers nowadays are wearing briefs not jammers, but this is up from a zero percentage maybe as recently as a decade ago. Still, in the US it is rare to see a guy wearing a swim brief in public outside of a competitive swim meet situation. And the guys at swim meets generally are wearing somber black briefs.

Interestingly, once you get on short Reels videos created on Tik Tok and other video sites, guys showing themselves off in the videos wearing a swim brief are quite commonplace. Generally, the guys in these videos are in their late teens and early to mid 20s, and are quite trim and fit, though not muscular to the degree a competitive bodybuilder would be. Everyone has an image of a bodybuilder wearing a very skimpy brief designed to show off his muscles. In the Reels videos, the briefs tend to be snug-fitting, but not really skimpy.

Another “feature” I notice in these videos is that they often are made of guys located not in the US but in some part of Asia. In particular, there are many videos made from contests held in the Philippines, and involve contests with maybe 15 or 20 Filipino men that appear to be typically in their late teens or early 20s. In at least some of these videos all the men appear to be wearing identical swim briefs with the same cut and color. For example, in one of these videos, all the guys are wearing the exact same brief (maybe varying only by size) in a bright yellow color. So, there are twenty fit guys showing their bodies off in front of an audience.

The videos do not pan over the audience, and I keep wondering if the audience is mostly female, mostly male, or more or less evenly divided. Apparently, these contests draw a sizable audience, or there would be no reason to do them. It also strikes me that these guys have no issue whatsoever about being seen in public in a skimpy brief. But there are lots and lots of guys who individually post photos of themselves in reels-style videos, the videos would not be considered pornographic though invariably they show a nice bulge in the groin area.

As part of growing up, I was always fascinated by how and the circumstances under which an erection happens, but this quickly evolves into questions relating to how other guys cope with a situation whereby an erection is beginning, and such a thing might quickly occur when a guy pulls on a snug-fitting brief of any sort be the brief be underwear or designed for swimming. In the Filipino videos, there are 15 or more guys all in tight-fitting briefs and all showing a significant bulge in the pouch area of the briefs, but not TOO significant.

In the US, it used to be that females held bathing beauty contests, in which 15 or 20 women clad in skimpy bikinis would stand on stage to be judged by designated judges and evaluated by the audience. In the big contests, such as the Miss America contest, there was the interview where the contestant had to answer questions from the judges, the talent event, where the contestant presented some unique talent, the evening-gown competition, and the bathing-suit competition. But the bathing suit competition was eliminated some years ago in the quest to be “politically correct” nowadays.

In these contests in the Philippines and probably other places young men are doing something very similar to what the contestant females no longer are willing to do. And the young men are not being judged based or brains or talents, but only on their bodies. The guys have bulges in different places than the females, but they are bulges nonetheless.

What all of this says about the various cultures in different parts of the world is most interesting. I doubt that neither Filipino women nor women from many other parts of Asia complain that the men in these contests are simply showing “too much”, nor do the men participating in these contests worry that they are showing too much or they would not be participating in these contests at all. Part of the fun for each contestant is to see how the other contestants are able to cope with the situation. But also, from a very early age realizing that there is nothing inherently wrong or bad about being in public wearing a skimpy brief and indeed all of this is very normal. Americans seem to still be hung up on the idea that any guy wearing a brief in public is “likely gay” which of course is not the case, but this acts as a deterrent for guys who would like to wear briefs in public in the US.