Still Binary After All These Years

(WSJ illustration)

For men's underwear it's still a boxers vs. briefs world, but now there's a multiplicity of colors, materials, and shapes:

Tom Patterson, CEO and co-founder of New York City brand Tommy John, also suggests guys no longer feel the need to stay in traditional underwear lanes. “The ‘boxer or brief’ paradox is no longer as relevant…because there are so many more options to choose from,” said Mr. Patterson, whose brand offers six (six!) above-the-knee cuts, from 8-inch boxer-briefs to skimpy briefs in a breathable pima-cotton blend...

If you feel like mixing things up, which styles should you pull on—and when? Damien Paul, head of menswear at retailer MatchesFashion, recommends men sync their underwear with their trousers silhouette. It’s a like-for-like situation: Neat tailored pants go best with snug briefs, he said, because the high-cut, immune-to-bunching underwear is invisible beneath the trim trousers. Flowier pants, on the other hand, accommodate “a looser fit such as a boxer.”

Of course, there's the option of going commando, which seems to have health benefits. The problem with the latter is that no one wants to associate with boomers (plus-59-year-olds) who do so.

I'm sticking with boxers or briefs in basic cotton.