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Culinary

What are Some Different Styles of Men's Underwear?

By Sheri Cyprus
Updated May 17, 2024
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Today's underwear styles for men are available in both classic and modern styles. The fit varies from fairly loose to close-fitting. Some of the most popular men's undergarment styles are boxer, boxer brief, brief, trunk and bikini.

Boxer shorts offer the loosest fit and cover the body from the waist to about mid-thigh. They often have an elastic waist with a fly front. Boxer shorts are modeled after the shorts that professional boxers wear in the boxing ring. Some of the men's underwear boxer shorts are made of silk, while others are made of synthetic materials. Boxer shorts may be worn as pajamas.

Boxer briefs are a bit shorter than boxer shorts and also fit closer to the body. The fit is similar to bike shorts. The boxer brief style is a versatile type of men's underwear suitable for all builds. Trunk styles of men's underwear are a lot like the boxer briefs except the leg length is shorter. Trunk underwear is modeled after and named after the men's swim trunks popular in the 1950s.

Briefs fit from the waist to the top of the thigh and are the classic style of men's underwear. The sides are wider than bikinis and the length is shorter than boxer briefs. Low rise briefs fit lower in the waist than regular briefs and the side fabric is also narrower.

Bikini styles of men's underwear are high cut at the legs with narrow strips of fabric at the sides. The top of bikini underwear is usually high cut and sits on the hip bone. Bikini men's underwear styles don't have a usable fly. String bikinis have very narrow sides. G-string, jock strap and thong styles are similar to string bikini men's underwear, but don't have any fabric in the back. Long johns, or long underwear, fit the entire leg often to the ankle to allow an extra layer of warmth under trousers during cold weather.

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Discussion Comments

By anon309490 — On Dec 17, 2012

I prefer men's G strings and hiphuggers. The skimpier the better, but it has to be made for men. Not into ladies undies.

By Deal Ethan — On Sep 08, 2011

This article is definitely a good overview of the many different types of men's underwear available on the market. I was particularly pleased to see the more unusual types like long johns, bike shorts and g-strings mentioned. But how about even more interesting ones like men's enhancement underwear and even pouch underwear?

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