Victoria Secrets Versus Dull Underwear

Two words: Victoria Secrets! Bronzed goddesses sashaying down a theatrical catwalk and little more than pieces of dental floss are heralded as ambassadors of beauty and sexual allure. Granted women’s underwear is a greatly successful and lucrative business, but why do we instinctively objectify women, as being the only gender that can be sexual. Men alike in recent years have fallen proud to the gym bug, working out to gain rippling muscles and bulging glutes, to then slip into a pasty grey pair of trunks. This to me seems somewhat of a missed opportunity, when men’s underwear has the opportunity to monopolise, on this growing vanity trend.

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The Thong

If you were to think of a man’s thong, for instance, the likelihood is two things will happen; you will either chortle at the thought or secondly condemn the wearer to be effeminate or de-masculine. Similarly, a jockstrap to most men is a necessity for use, during certain sports, for keeping the mouse in the house, but they can also be a very alluring and provocative way, of wearing underwear. A prime example of ingenuity in design and desirability is lickstyle.com. To sit alongside the obligatory briefs and boxers sits the mentioned jockstrap, which provides a focal point, for those squat ruined glutes.

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Lace Underwear For Men

As a designer I guess I have a very direct ideal, of how I expect men’s underwear to be, or translate into, which isn’t necessarily the requirements of many other consumers. I would love to see more expression and the use of fabrics such a lace, mesh and even delicate trims, to accent areas of sexualisation. I guess as a society we often only pigeonhole women, as being the sexier of the genders, with the now national treasure of the pin-up girl. Men need to get themselves in on the action and have just as much right to feel sexy and sensual in their underwear, whether it’s in the bedroom or simply an alternative for a daily slog.

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Don’t Be Afraid to Push the Boundaries

If we can learn anything from this, it’s don’t be afraid to push the boundaries and allow ourselves to provoke and surprise. If your partner can’t handle you in a jockstrap, or a pair of mesh boxers as an example, then quite frankly they’re obviously duller than a wet flannel and need to alter their ignorant perceptions of male sexual desirability. This shift in the norm will hopefully allow all men of varying shapes and sizes, freedom of expression and give a much-needed boost, to the often stagnant underwear category.