Boxer shorts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boxer shorts (also known as loose boxers or, imprecisely, as boxers) are a type of underwear, worn by men. The term is used in English since 1944 for all-around-elastic shorts, so named after the shorts worn by pugilists, for whom unhindered leg movement ('footwork') is almost as important as the completely free arm movement of the barechested fighters.
[edit] History
In 1925, Jacob Golomb, founder of Everlast, designed elastic-waist trunks to replace the leather-belted trunks then worn by boxers. These trunks, now known as "boxer trunks", immediately became famous, but were obscured by the popular briefs. Around 1947, boxers started to gain in popularity.[citation needed]
Boxer shorts gained massive popularity in 1985 when English model and musician Nick Kamen dressed down till only wearing white boxers in a 1950s style "Laundrette" in a Levis advertisement.[citation needed] Although briefs outsell boxer shorts, it is apparent that more and more young men prefer the latter.[citation needed] Since the 1990s, many men also opt for boxer briefs as a compromise between the two.
Most boxer shorts have flies which allow the penis to be extracted without removing the garment. Boxer shorts manufacturers have different designs for closing up the fly. Some styles include a button or a metal clasp for the fly. However, many boxer shorts on the market do not have a mechanism to close up the fly.
Two less common forms of boxer shorts are "gripper" boxers and "yoke front" boxers. Gripper boxers have an elastic waistband like regular boxers but have snaps, usually 3, on the fly and on the waistband so that they open up completely. Yoke front boxers are similar to gripper boxers in that they have snaps, or buttons, on the fly and the waistband, but Yoke front boxers have no elastic waistband; they were very common during World War II, when the rubber needed for elastic waistbands had to be used for military purposes.
Usually, they are available in solid colors, but they also come in a variety of patterns and prints. Boxer shorts are typically produced from various fabrics including all cotton, cotton/polyester blends, jersey knits and silk. Most television programs prefer displaying men in boxer shorts rather than other types of underwear. This is mainly because it is the more socially acceptable underwear type to see in mass media.
In 1975, an advertisement for boxer shorts created a recurring urban legend. The fall/winter Sears catalogue displayed two underwear models, one wearing briefs and another wearing boxer shorts. The model wearing the boxer shorts appears to have part of his penis (some sources say a testicle) exposed. At the time, this caused a stir because of possible indecent exposure. However, Sears states that it is a printing defect and the same ad reappeared in color in a later catalogue, where no penis is shown. Despite the publicity, Sears did not release a copy of the colored ad to allow the public to verify its statement. Without the proof, the urban legend still persists in popular culture. [1]
