Original post by texasprince88I'm 28 years old and have worn briefs my entire life, so I obviously feel that briefs ARE acceptable to wear. In all honesty though, boys/men should wear what they want and what they find most comfortable to them and not let society dictate their underwear preference. At some point in the late 80s or early 90s, society started telling guys that briefs and "tighty whities" were only worn by little boys and old men, and that by wearing them they were a geek or nerd...which simply isn't true. But somewhere along the way boxers became a much more popular choice among guys. Until the early 50s, boxers were king...but pretty soon briefs overtook boxers in popularity and remained there until the early 90s.
I grew up in a small town in Texas (population <1,200) where the nearest Walmart/Target is over 45 minutes away. There were 2 small clothing stores in town, only one of which sold men's clothes...and it had very little variety. Not kidding, when it came to boys/mens underwear, the only options the store had were either classic/plain white cotton Fruit of the Loom briefs and Jockey y-front briefs, or plain white loose-fitting boxers that were some cheap off-brand that isn't very well known. While my family was not poor, we were still frugal and saved money where we could. I have 2 brothers: Preston who is 2 years older than me and Peyton who is 2 years younger, and since our parents liked to save money where they could, me and Peyton usually ended up wearing hand-me-down underwear...I wore Preston's old white Fruit of the Loom briefs while Peyton wore mine. Our parents still bought each of us new underwear when we needed it, but for the most part we continued to wear each other's tighty whities as long as they were in good condition. When Preston started his junior year of high school, he was playing football and basketball and had gotten a lot taller and more muscular, but I was a freshman and kind of skinny and after which meant that Preston's hand-me-down white briefs were too big/loose for me to wear, so our parents bought me my own briefs. However, since Peyton was in 7th grade and he and I wore similar sizes, he continued to get my hand-me-down underwear. While some people who didn't grow up in a small town or with frugal parents might think it's weird for brothers to wear each other's tighty whities, it was actually VERY common where we lived. Most if not all of my guy friends that had older brothers wore underwear that their brothers had outgrown...and 95% of the time the style of underwear worn by boys and men was plain white full cut Hanes, Fruit of the Loom or Jockey briefs. While there was a very small number of guys that wore boxers or colored briefs, the VAST MAJORITY of boys I went to school with wore plain white briefs and nothing else. While most boys living in the early 2000s had already switched to boxers or boxer briefs, boys I went to school with continued to wear classic tighty whities all through junior high and high school. Like my older and younger brothers I played multiple sports and participated in extra-curricular activities like 4H and Boy Scouts...all with the same friends and many of the same leaders/coaches. Walking into our high school boys locker room before and after practice or a game, it probably would've surprised outsiders to find boys ages 15-18 all wearing plain white briefs instead of boxers and boxer briefs. Since nearly all of us boys were rocking tighty whities, thee wasn't much teasing or jokes made about each other's supposedly "geeky" underwear. When I was a senior, a new kid started school with us and played baseball. His name was Evan, and even though many of us were 17-18 years old, he was the first guy that most of us knew who wore boxer briefs. We'd all seen boxer briefs advertised on TV and the internet, but Evan was the first guy we knew personally who actually wore them. I remember Evan's first time changing clothes in the locker room...he was given the empty locker next to mine as we changed into our practice uniforms I remember seeing his grey boxer briefs as he took off his jeans. But I honestly think that he was more surprised at seeing the rest of us wearing tighty whities. Evan and I became pretty good friends and once when he was over at my house playing Madden, my mom came into my room with a laundry basket full of my clean underwear. She dropped it on the ground in front of me and told me to fold and put them away right then. We paused our game and Evan sat there watching as I folded my underwear. There was probably 10-15 pairs of white Fruit of the Loom briefs in the basket and after I had folded maybe 3 pairs, Evan asked "You always wear tighty whities bro?" and I told him something like "Yeah, they're all I wear."
Once I got to college and saw guys wearing a wide variety of underwear, I tried wearing both boxers and boxer briefs...but by that point my underwear preference was well established and I found that I hated the loose feel of boxers nor could I stand the extra leg fabric of both styles. So I quickly went back to wearing the same type and brand of underwear I've worn since I was a kid...plain white cotton Fruit of the Loom briefs. I still wear only briefs to this day and am totally fine wearing them. The white cotton fabric is soft and comfortable, and they hold everything just right and give good support all around. I like that briefs fit snugly around my waist, bottom and crotch and are tight without being constricting. Briefs just work so much better for me and my active lifestyle as a coach and daily runner. So yes...briefs are still an acceptable choice of underwear for boys and men to wear.