Boxer briefs (sometimes spelled boxer-briefs or called tight boxers, also known as A-Fronts) are a hybrid type of men's

undergarment Undergarments, underclothing, or underwear are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer garments from being soiled o ...

which are long in the leg, similar to boxer shorts, but tight-fitting like briefs. They emerged as a style in the 1990s and are commonly worn for sports and as every-day underwear.

Etymology

The term derives from the elasticated shorts worn by participants in the sport of boxing. Boxer briefs are also called "trunks" in the United Kingdom and Australia. A variant that reaches to the knee or near it is marketed by

Jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

as "midway briefs". Another variant are boxer briefs that have shorter leg sections than the standard type, called "trunk briefs" or "trunks".

History

Boxer briefs were once commonly thought to have been pioneered by designer John Varvatos during his 1990–1995 stint at

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

as head of menswear design. However, the style was available much earlier, as designed by

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...

and as worn by Richard Gere in the 1980 film ''

American Gigolo ''American Gigolo'' is a 1980 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. It tells the story about a high-priced escort in Los Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically ...

''. Made famous by a series of 1992 print ads featuring Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg, they have been called "one of the greatest apparel revolutions of the century". Of their creation Varvatos said in 2010, "We just cut off a pair of

long johns Long underwear, also called long johns or thermal underwear, is a style of two-piece underwear with long legs and long sleeves that is normally worn during cold weather. It is commonly worn by people under their clothes in cold countries. In t ...

and thought, this could be cool..."

Design

The boxer brief design provides form-fitting coverage for the midsection from the

waist The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On people with slim bodies, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso. ''Waistline'' refers to the horizontal line where the waist is narrowest, or to the general appearan ...

to the

thigh In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone ...

s and are worn on the

. They are usually made of a combination of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and spandex,

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...

, or a soft, woven flannel material. Boxer brief designs can have either a

keyhole fly A Fly is an opening on the crotch area of trousers, closed by a zip or buttons. On men's garments the fly always opens to the right. On women's garments it may open either to the left or to the right. Trousers have varied historically in whether ...

, button (snap) front, pouch, or no fly at all. The waistband is usually a separate band of elastic material, often in a contrasting color to the main material. The elastic band often has the name of the manufacturer printed on it. There may also be additional elastic sewn around the bottom end of the thigh portion of the garment. Some boxer briefs have stitching on the rear to outline the buttocks and avoid a central seam. Boxer briefs are commonly used in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

instead of, or in addition to, a jockstrap, but are common for everyday use as well.

Possible effect on male fertility

Some studies have suggested that tight underpants like boxer briefs and high temperature are not optimally conductive for

sperm Sperm is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum, whi ...

production. The

testicles A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testostero ...

are outside the body for cooling because they operate for sperm production at a slightly lower temperature than the rest of the body, and boxer shorts allow the testicles to operate within the required temperature range. The compression of the genitals in boxer briefs, briefs, thongs, etc. may cause the temperature to rise and sperm production to fall. There is a similar theory regarding

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an u ...

risk. Other sources dispute this theory. A study in the October 1998 ''Journal of Urology'', for example, concluded that underwear type is unlikely to have a significant effect on male fertility.

Image gallery

Image:boxer 002.jpg, Several pairs of boxer briefs compared with loose boxer shorts. Image:Boxerbriefs-black-Floque-20080508.jpg, A man wearing a pair of boxer briefs. Image:Rear_boxers.JPG, Rear stitching on these boxer briefs avoids a central seam and outlines the buttocks.

References

External links

* {{Clothing 1990s fashion Undergarments Men's culture