My Evolution of Underwear (Tumblr Repost)...Vintage Underwear Ads Part 1

Here is a Tumblr post that I originally made on August 19, 2018.  It details a bit of my underwear journey including a vintage Jockey ad that a profound impact on an impressionable boy.

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Evolution of My Underwear…

In this post I am wearing an A-shirt by Evolve (an offshoot of 2xist which is sold at Target stores). The underwear is Jack Adams (Fargo Brief, a favorite of mine). And finally the socks are a very sheer hose by P&R Sub. 

Much like the shirt I am sporting, I think it’s appropriate to say that my tastes have evolved over the years when it comes to undergarments. As a kid I wore undershirts and tighty whities, mostly because that’s about all that existed at the time. 

I think we are all familiar with Hanes and Fruit of the Loom like in the pics below.

When Underoos were introduced to the market in 1978, it opened a new world for kids like me who were entrenched in superheroes and Star Wars. Apparently Hanes rejected Larry Weiss’s offer to license the product, so FTL moved forward with the kids’ line. I remember thinking it was fun to sport Underoos in my youth. I don’t recall exactly which pairs I had, but I know I had both superheros and Star Wars. I was big into both Superman and SW at the time.  Christopher Reeve, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill were some of my heroes at the time. 

Today, Underoos have resurfaced and are even marketed for adults who are yearning for that nostalgia from their youth. 

My interest in underwear really piqued in my teens when I noted a Jockey ad campaign featuring baseball player Jim Palmer. I found him incredibly attractive. At this time in my life, I was doing my own clothes shopping and laundry so it gave me the freedom to branch out and do some creative underwear shopping.

I loved this ad so much I went out and bought this brief and other Jockey briefs as well. I had no idea who Jim Palmer was, but he had piercing blue eyes and looked very sexy and attractive to me. I was probably 15 years old or so at the time.  I remember feeling slightly embarrassed to buy these are the mall, but it was worth it.  

My taste in underwear eventually settled down as I didn’t want to stick out in the the locker room and such in school. So when boxer briefs became popular, I started to wear them exclusively. CK model Mark Wahlberg made them look pretty good. His CK ad campaign was highly successful. At the time I stuck with the Hanes or FTL variety of boxer brief since I was a relatively poor college student.  I liked the boxer brief style because I did not feel confident in my skinny body; I felt the added coverage was best.  I remember thinking briefs were too revealing if I were changing at the gym in front of other guys. And I really didn’t want to stand out as different.

Some other notable CK models I drooled over were Antonio Sabato Jr. of General Hospital fame and Michael Bergin who was on Baywatch. 

Boxer briefs eventually gave way to trunks.  My preference was the Evolve style trunks and wore these for several years.  I still have these in my drawers. They are nice for the price. 

Over the last 4 to 5 years I have returned to wearing briefs. It was a sort of gradual process.  I started to wear briefs when exercising.  I remembered how comfortable they were.  I thought it would be “okay” to start wearing them for everyday use.  This was followed by jockstraps to use for running and then later for everyday use. And from there, I just started to expand my underwear repertroire.  At this point in my life, I don’t care too much what others think of my underwear selections. 

So now while my underwear includes boxerbriefs, trunks, briefs, jockstraps, thongs, and jockbriefs, my go to is generally briefs followed by jockstraps.  I hardly ever wear trunks any longer.  

Here is is a picture of my collection (almost all of it) which I took today.  I am always looking for new brands and/or styles.  Sometimes I worry I am developing a problem/addiction ;-)  After all, I have six pair of AussieBum Billy Briefs I am eagerly awaiting as I draft this post.  But for now I will continue to have fun…after all, my new motto is “Undies for Life”.  

P.S.  The over the calf socks are new for me.  So look for more socks in the future.
Update as of 29-April 2019:  I have burned many of the Evolve trunks in my backyard bonfire.  So they are no longer part of my collection.  And thongs seem to be slowly replacing jockstraps as my number 2 choice after briefs when it comes to my underwear selection these days.