Style Me DUGG: Fashion Trends - Materials

While cotton has long been a staple material in the construction of men’s underwear and, for decades, we’ve been blending Spandex and elastane into everything that we want to wear close to our skin, new materials are getting some attention in the fashion world and being used more frequently in the construction of underwear for men. We’ll start with a little chat about cotton, because that’s our long-time favorite and first love, by talking about some of the more popular and contemporary uses of the cotton plant.

Cotton

Without a doubt, cotton is the most common fabric that is used in many styles of mens underwear including briefs, trunks, jock straps, and thongs, and is often blended with other fabrics, such as Spandex or elastane, to add stretchable resilience.

If you’re a cotton boxers kind of guy, no matter what your style, you’ll find something perfect to add to your undies drawer in the collections of boxer shorts from Davenport. Available in solid colours, plaids, and stripes, with gathered elastic waistband or logo waistband, Davenport men’s boxers are designed for comfort and every day wear.

For a dash of subtle colour in a more youthful look that brings out the best of your personal shapes, check out the C-in2 Pop Color Collection, which offers a seasonal change in colours. Available in jock and no-show brief and trunk styles, the collection is made from soft 100% cotton and features microfiber waistbands and soft leg seams, some with flattering contour pouches.

If you’re looking for the good’ole-fashioned muscle shirt tank top, you can’t go wrong with the 2(X)IST Essentials Athletic Shirt, which is available in white and black. Made of 100% ring-spun combed pima cotton, it is breathable and lightweight with a soft stretch that will conform to your shape - perfect for working out, lounging, and layering.

Bamboo

Fast becoming a popular choice of material for many items, from building materials to garments, bamboo is showing up in mens underwear collections because of its soft texture as well as its potentially sustainable and renewable sourcing. Alone, or blended with other fabrics like cotton, bamboo underwear is comfortable and breathable.

Andrew Christian underwear for men blends bamboo with Spandex and rayon in the NanoFit and Almost Naked collections to add a sleek, somewhat glossy appearance while providing body-hugging comfort and enhancement.

The Male Power Bamboo mens underwear collection features a comfortable blend of bamboo and 5% Spandex to create a cool and light freedom of movement, featuring a logo waistband and a fly front. The same proportions of bamboo and Spandex are can be found in the Male Power Bamboo Power Sock, which has only a waist strap and supportive front pouch sock to give you that nearly wearing nothing look and feel, or the Male Power Bamboo Micro Thong that adds a thong strap to the power sock design.

Even mens socks are available in bamboo and bamboo blended fabrics. The sports ankle socks from Calvin Klein are made from a bamboo blend and feature a cushion sole and flat lock seam and the Calvin Klein log on a soft comfort cuff.

Micro Fiber

Mens underwear that is made with microfiber, may feature it as a blend with other fabrics such as cotton or nylon that is used for the body of the undergarment or for construction of its waistband. 

The term “microfiber” usually used in reference to the synthetics of which the fabric is made that is less than 1.3 dienier (or decitex) per thread (or 1/100th of human hair’s diameter and 1/20 of a strand of silk. Synthetic fabrics that are used to create microfiber may be derived from polyesters or polyamides or a combination of the two with polypropylene. The result is soft, durable, absorptive, water repellant, and offer filtering capabilities.

Microfiber waistbands on mens underwear are soft on the skin and resilient in stretch, and can be seen in many styles of mens underwear from G-Star and swimwear and underwear from SUPAWEAR. Sly Underwear features the most contemporary take on the microfiber waistband, incorporating bold and graphic logo designs on shiny solid background colours. Most of the trunks and briefs from Sly are made from cotton and Spandex blended fabric with bold prints and vibrant colours.