Boxers or briefs?  Well, we all know now;  Jake Gyllenhaal is definitely a briefs man. And we know this because of a picture that surfaced recently with him in a very specific and popular pose.

It all started when Kanye West posted a photo of his girlfriend, Amber Rose, in the iconic pose made famous by Grace Jones on the cover of her  ‘Island Life’ album.  This photo then set off a firestorm of interpreters in all shapes and sizes contorting into the same pose and posting themselves on Twitter.

So, which tightie whities is Jake wearing?  According to my men’s buyer, Jake is sporting a pair of Polo Ralph Lauren Stretch Cotton Jersey Briefs PO82.  As for those socks that seem to match the carpet…  We’re looking the other way.

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In a recent New York Daily News article, an interesting statistic was given: 40% of men’s underwear sales in 2010 were for boxer briefs.  Less than 30% were for the traditional boxer.

This is quite a shift.  Boxer briefs have been gaining, but the traditional brief has always held the top spot.  So, why the change?  I think women have had a lot to do with this.  We simply like men in boxer briefs over tighty whities. 

From a practical perspective, men probably feel it’s more acceptable to walk around in their boxer briefs rather than just briefs, and boxer briefs tend to work a little better under jeans anyway.  But whatever they buy, I’m just glad they are back and buying.  2009 was a tough retail year for men’s underwear – they just weren’t buying.  But 2010 was strong, ending with a 10.7% increase.  2011 has also started off with a bang.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Find boxer briefs and all other styles of men’s underwear at HisRoom

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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.

Shop for men’s underwear at HisRoom.

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With over 30,000 votes cast, the Undie Awards for men and women’s underwear are in.  For the 4th year, men and women have voted on their favorite styles which we present along with our Select winners. Select winners are staff picks which highlight smaller brands or up-and-coming styles. For the 1st time, a raceback bra, Vanity Fair Body Sleeks Flexi Back Front Close, won favorite overall bra for average figures. In another surprise, a brief–Bali Skimp Skamp Brief 2633, which was 2008′s favorite brief–won for best overall panty. So here they are–this year’s winners.

This year’s overall winning bra for the average figure is  Vanity Fair Body Sleeks Flexi Back Front Close, Racerback Bra 75263. Everyone agrees that that the seamless cups are invisible under clothing and that the raceback design provides great support.

This year’s overall winning bra for full figure is Goddess’s Keira Banded Underwire Bra 6090. Customers love how comfortable it is along with its perfect fit. This bra is designed for maximum support and comes in sizes 36DD-46N.

One of our best sellers, and the 2008 winner for best brief, Bali Skimp Skamp Brief 2633, is this year’s overall favorite panty. With its great fit and generous coverage, this is Bali’s best-selling panty in the US.

The 2010 overall winner for shapewear, Flexees Fat Free Dressing Tank Top 3266, does double duty as both outerware and shapewear. Wear it as a tank top while the hidden liner smoothes and shapes the tummy.

In the voting for men’s favorites, the 2010 Undie Award winner for best boxer is making its second appearance as the top choice. Calvin Klein’s Slim Fit Woven Boxer U1513 is slim-fitting without the excess fabric of some boxers. But it doesn’t cling like boxer briefs. Voters love the soft cotton fabric too.

You can see all of the 2010 Undie Award winners and Select winners for both men and women by visiting The Undies. And it’s never too early to vote for your faves for 2011.

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Late last year, the Emporio Armani underwear was introduced with provocative images of David Beckham lounging in nothing more than his knickers.  It was a sensation.  So, they next  brought in Victoria Beckham, and together they represented the Emporio Armani line of underwear and lingerie.  Well, not any more.

 Megan Fox, that 23 year old who has become every teen boy’s dream girl, is the new face of Emporio Armani lingerie.  Apparently, Victoria Beckham decided to go off and have a line of lingerie designed with her name on it.  So Marilyn Monroe-tattooed Fox is stepping in to fill her… well, boobs.

As for David Beckham, there is no scoop out as to why he is gone, but my guess is that it’s tied to his wife leaving.  Regardless, we have new eye-candy in Portugal’s hunky soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. Not only famous in soccer, this guy’s known for strutting around in rump-enhancing fluoro hotpants while on holiday in Los Angeles.  But with his buff body, he can pull it off.

So, congratulations to Armani.  He has snagged two fabulous, sexy and over-the-top good-looking people to represent his underwear lines.

Seems every time Armani introduces a new campaign, there’s been quite a buzz. See other articles about the Armani campaigns and David and Victoria Beckham’s ads for Armani.

Find Emporio Armani lingerie at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties

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I have an incredibly creative team at Andra Group, and I am very proud of them.  Recently, they have developed two very impressive and entertaining videos for two lines of men’s underwear that we carry at HisRoom – Diesel and Obviously.

Many people on our team participated, but two individuals deserve a special "shout out" for their work and imagination – James Bowdon and Lizzy Creazzo.  Thanks to both of you for a great job.

Now, sit back, and enjoy these two very clever and fun videos which can also be seen on the HisRoom YouTube Channel:

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You know, I always thought  this, but recently my instincts were legitimized.  Fifteen years ago, Alan Greenspan began tracking sales of men’s underwear because he had a hunch that consumer spending in this category predicted overall consumer spending trends.

What he found is that men’s underwear sales are consistent and predictable and never drop.  That is until men start to feel pinched for cash.  Then, they hold on to their underwear and don’t replace it for a while.  It became known as "briefonomics."

So, here’s some good news.  Men’s underwear sales are up this year on my HisRoom site.  And, the latest men’s underwear sales nationally showed a 4.7% increase for the first half of 2009.  Hopefully, this strong trend means we are nearing the end of the recession.  Or, at the very least, the end of threadbare undies on the men in our lives.

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It’s been fun watching the launch of Emporio Armani underwear for men and the recent Emporio Armani lingerie lines because the marketing buzz it has created has been fresh and exciting.

The latest buzz was that Armani had signed up David Beckham and Angelina Jolie for the next round of ads.  One can only imagine how fabulous it would have been to see both of them sporting Emporio Armani underwear as well as their tattoos.  And I wonder if the Armani marketing team thought about putting the men’s items on Angie and the women’s on David?

Well, all my fabulous fantasies of this pairing were dashed today when US Weekly quoted Beckham on the topic as saying "I don’t think that’s true.  I definitely don’t think that’s true."  Oh well…

However, on this same topic, I came across a great video to share with you–Emporio Armani’s behind-the-scenes video on YouTube of David and Victoria Beckham during one of their joint photoshoots in underwear and lingerie, Definitely worth a gander.

And, of course, you can purchase both men’s and women’s Emporio Armani underwear lines at  HisRoom and HerRoom.

There is a new test available to clothing manufacturers to determine if a garment is hypoallergenic.

The Hohenstein Institute, based in Germany, has figured out how to analyze a fabric’s interaction with living skin cells and determine if that fabric will induce an allergic reaction or skin irritation to the wearer.

HerRoom.com and HisRoom.com are constantly contacted by people with latex allergies looking for underwear and lingerie they can wear without irritation.  Though we do our best to identify items the manufacturers have told us qualify, read any of the customer reviews on these items and you will see people complaining that they don’t work.

I contacted Sam Moore from the Institute and had a fascinating conversation with him.  First, he is not aware of any underwear/lingerie brands on the market that are free of latex and spandex.  Without either fiber, a garment would only have as much support as a draw-string could deliver.

I asked Sam about products containing latex and/or spandex where the offending fiber is covered by another fabric, cotton for example.  Why wouldn’t  this type of garment work for consumers?  His answer was enlightening.  Both latex and spandex break down in the wash.  Therefore, small particles of the offending fiber will work their way out of the casing and eventually wind up on the surface of the fabric covering them.  So, even if latex or spandex is covered, the wearer is not protected and an outbreak will occur.

The Hohenstein Certification on products will be of great interest to those consumers with skin sensitivities and allergies. Scientists have identified more than 3,700 substances that are skin allergens.

The Hohenstein test currently costs about $3000 per garment.  At that price, it’s prohibitive for a retailer such as myself to have the test conducted on everything I sell.  However, manufacturers could find great financial benefit in having their products Hohenstein certifiied.  As of this writing, Fruit of the Loom has made an inquiry.

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Your votes are in!  This year we received more than 20,000 votes from women and men telling us their favorite undergarments.  Some are repeats from last year, but there are also some fresh new designs.  So, for the third year in a row, here are the 2009 Undie Awards Winners:

This year’s Overall bra winner for average figure goes to the Vanity Fair Body Sleeks Contour Stretch Bra 75-266.   This is the second year in a row that this bra has won this award.  Bottom line: this bra is just plain comfortable with a very simple t-shirt design.

This year’s Overall bra winner for full figure goes to the Panache Superbra Tango Underwire Balconnet bra 3251.  A pretty and flattering bra, it is also very supportive.  Its cup sizing goes up to a JJ.

The Overall Panty winner was the Olga Secret Hug Nylon Scoop Halfpant 913.  Over the three years of this award, most of the panty winners have had a center back seam.  This center back seam gives a much better fit and shape while keeping the panty from riding up.

In the Men’s category, the Overall Favorite Boxers went to Calvin Klein Slim Fit Woven Boxer U1513 for the Woven category, and the Calvin Klein Cotton Knit Boxer U3008 for the knit category.  Both have a devoted following because neither has too much or too little fabric. Both fit just right.

In total, there are 36 Undie Awards given out in the Woman’s category, and 14 Undie Awards given out in the Men’s category.  For a full list of winners, go to TheUndies.com and click on the 2009 Winners. And, while you’re there, go ahead and cast your vote for your favorites.  You could be wearing the next Undie Award Winner!

Find Undie Award-winning lingerie and more at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Panties

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