Cup-Sized Underwear for Men
There’s a curious reality to men’s underwear sizing; It assumes all men who wear the same size underwear have the same size…er, private parts. So, to put this in bra terms, it’s like thinking that all woman with a 36 band size, for example, have the same cup size. And we know that’s not true.
I discovered this fact back in 2002 when I first went live with HisRoom. I interviewed some mens underwear manufacturers and asked how a man is supposed to size his jock strap and thongs for a document I was creating. Naively, I just assumed it was a similar system to a woman’s bra. A few questions into my interviews, I found out I was wrong. All the jock manufacturers told me that if a man’s "package" didn’t fit in the cup, he would need to go up a size (e.g. from a medium to a large) to get a larger cup – even if that meant his waistband would now be too big.
I admit I was surprised by this because it didn’t make sense to me. Men are already size conscious when it comes to their package. Why wouldn’t they have a sizing system in place to accomodate this? Since over the years, HisRoom received very few comments on this subject, I chalked it up to sizing and fit not being a big deal with men.
So now, along comes a new men’s underwear line, HARDDRIVE, with an attempt to address this issue. They claim to have created proportion fit underwear for men, and it’s sized by both a man’s waist AND cup size.
When I saw this my mind immediately started racing… How are they determining cup size? I jumped to their size chart, found their "How to Find the Perfect Fit" instructions, and let out a howl that brought my dogs running to my office. Here is what it says:
"First, measure length. Next, measure girth. Multiply length & girth." And, I particularly loved the footnote: "Remember… always measure yourself in the state of mind that you expect to be in while wearing." At last, giving men worldwide a legitimate reason to measure.
Not being one to totally dismiss an "out-of-the-box" idea, I decided to do a little research. Searching on "average penis size" I found that this apendage averages 6 inches long with a girth of 3.5-4 inches when at rest. Their calculation therefore concludes that the average guy is a 21-24 measurment. And, according to their size chart, this would be an "A" cup. Oh, did I mention they decided to match the letters given to womens bra cup sizing? At least I would have thought they would have chosen something more "guy-friendly" like, I don’t know, maybe coffee sizes… regular, tall, venti? Or, maybe a car analogy like Boxter, Cayman, 911 and Panamera? Oh, what about hamburgers: Junior burger, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder and Angus Delux? But, I digress.
Feeling that further research was needed, I grabbed a tape measure and headed for my pantry. I wanted to find examples that represented the various cup sizes they are porporting in their size chart. Here’s what I found: a can of tuna fish qualifies as an A cup. A traditional soup can is a C cup. A 16 oz. water bottle is a D cup. And a mayonnaise jar or larger is a DD cup.
And this final suggestion from a male friend re naming the sizes: there’s no such thing as Small and Medium. Just start with Large and go up from there.
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This is a riot and a half! Brilliant deduction, to size mens’ underwear accordingly.
Great job! Love this article.
Comment by Rhonda
July 20th, 2010 @ 6:16 pm
OMG, this is hilarious. But it does make a lot of sense to have this option available for men who have trouble finding the right fit. Having talked a fair amount with men about underwear (long story!), I know that some guys who are skinny through the waist but larger than average down below end up wearing boxers all the time.
Comment by Amanda
July 21st, 2010 @ 1:41 pm
That is SUCH great idea! I laughed when I read their little size chart, but it really does make sense. I’d expect the male “cup size” would be a pressing issue for those who are at either extreme end of the sizing spectrum; I’ll watch this company with interest to see if it takes off!
Comment by Daria
July 23rd, 2010 @ 1:50 pm
I love being able to find amazing mens underwear online for so cheap. I have saved so much money by using the internet over the years.
Comment by Brad
September 8th, 2010 @ 4:25 pm
Very interesting, but their brand doesn’t seem to take testicles into account. Speaking as man who has seen some, they are often a bigger problem in a jockstrap than a flaccid penis. Some men are “all potatoes, no meat” to borrow a phrase.
Comment by Duper
September 25th, 2010 @ 7:32 am
This might make sense for men whose cocks dangle to their knees and are as thick as a toddlers leg. But for most of us the issue of underwear fit is all about BALLSACK. A flaccid cock can generally be folded & compacted any which ways with no ill effects, but having the scrotum packed even a little too tightly can be excruciatingly painful. One can’t conveniently measure the scrotum with a tape measure. Its more about volume and than dimensions. Maybe measurement via fluid displacement?
Comment by e. stephen
September 25th, 2010 @ 7:46 am
“…nor will it be harvested.” That’s good – hadn’t heard that term in the e-mail context before… Tomima, I think you may want to consider going back to the drawing board and researching size a bit more. First, the comments above about “the boys” often being more crucial in determining pocket size needs are right on. And regarding unit size, 6 inches length at rest on average I don’t think jibes with the stats and seems more than a bit long; in fact, that’s slightly above the objective reported average of tumescent length – check out studies available online, starting with Wiki. There undoubtedly are some men like that, but that goes to the heart of the problem – as the old saying goes, some men are show-ers and some are growers. Not only that, but as any man and many women could tell you, environmental and stress conditions induce a great variability in the size of the accordian at any one time in the at-rest state, and to a much lesser but still noticeable degree when not at rest… Lastly, sizing for tumescent size doesn’t make sense except perhaps for “special occasion” wear!…
Cheers, and keep up your good work!
Comment by Peter
December 28th, 2010 @ 2:40 pm
That is hilarious! According to the company most men are average and fit the smallest “A” cup. Hmm. They may want to rethink their strategy.
Most ‘average’ men I know don’t think of themselves as average at all, much less able to fit in the smallest cup there is.
If it’s between them selecting the ‘smallest’ A cup jockstrap or choosing the regular “large” jockstrap they will go for the large one every time.
Comment by Kelly
October 26th, 2011 @ 3:55 pm