Let’s set the scene. It’s event season. You’ve got a handful of weddings this spring, or after parties, or black tie ceremonies. Whatever the case may be — chances are, you ’re going to have to wear a suit. And we over at The Underwear Expert want to make sure you’ve got all your bases covered while dressed to the nines, which means starting with your underwear.

If teen magazines are to be believed, period accidents can happen to anyone, at any time, to extreme effect. While many of the stories of errant tampons or leaky pads printed in those magazines are likely embellished, any person who’s had a period knows that even thorough preparation doesn’t guarantee a life without leaks or stains or slips. Many people even have “period underwear” — a generallyratty pair of panties you don’t mind getting ruined. But in the last few years several new companies have cropped up, offering underwear to help hold pads, wick moisture, and even replace tampons. Here ’s how they work.

There are two types of period underwear out there right now. One type is more of a physical aid: panties that help hold pads in place. The other relies on special materials to help absorb and wick away leakage, or even replace tampons or pads for your lighter days.

Along with her terrific music and electric performance at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2017, Katy Perry showed off a bit more that what we expected.

The ?Roar? hit-maker, who wore a sparkling silver mini dress with a matching blazer, flashed her white underwear onstage while squatting during her performance, reports E! Online.

She teamed her metallic look with white sneakers and dangling earrings.

The ?Bon App?tit? singer also dedicated an acoustic version of her song ?Part of Me? to the victims of last week’s Manchester attack, after an Ariana Grande concert.

“I think that you guys are extremely beautiful and I think that we’re all extremely brave and we’re all in this together, aren’t we?” Perry said. “And you know what? We will still dance, we will still sing, we will still make music. This next one goes out to Manchester and to all the people that know what it means to love music and be a community because of it.”

“If you haven’t kindly touched the person to our right or left just do that. Just a little connection,” the 32-year-old singer added. “Social media can’t do that, can it? This is a part of us that they’ll never take away from us. Rest in peace, Manchester.”
We love this white undershirt by Equmen, which is composed from a blend of 73% polyester cationi, 13% nylon, and 14% spandex for premium comfort and flexibility. This v-neck also helps build your posture and reduce back pain by pulling your shoulders back.

For even more under formalwear picks, make your way over to The Underwear Expert.

Women’s underwear has always been a source of fascination, contention and debate. In the Victorian era, dress reformers declared that restrictive garments prevented women living healthy lives, and dared to argue that underwear should not ‘exceed seven pounds in weight.’ In recent decades, its been hailed as a source of female sexual empowerment and scorned as a symbol of patriarchal oppression.

Underwear gives us a glimpse into a larger story: the expectations, limitations and status afforded to women throughout history.

For hundreds of years, they were an essential part of every woman’s wardrobe and daily life. From childhood, women wore corsets as a kind of second skeleton: to support their bodies and create a gendered silhouette. In the late Georgian period a long silhouette was favoured, whereas in the Edwardian era, corsets which bent the body into an ‘S’ shaped called a ‘Grecian curve’ were most desirable. They also provided a framework for other undergarments, such as petticoats and crinolines.

on Sunday night, Ruby Rose showed off her underwear as she attended the Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Oscar viewing party.
The 30-year-old cut a very slender figure in a completely see-through white and silver gown with built-in undergarments.

The barely there frock also revealed Ruby’s extensive array of tattoos on her arms, back and chest.

The brunette beauty boosted her height with a pair of silver stilettos and let her dress do the talking by wearing some simple silver jewels.

Like many other celebrities on the night, Ruby rocked the smokey eye and nude lips combination and had her short crop of locks slicked back.

Noticeably missing from the event was her Ruby’s girlfriend Jessica Origliasso, who had attended a pre-Oscar event with The Orange Is The New Black star last week. The loved-up pair were hand in hand posing for the cameras at Kari Feinstein’s Pre-Oscar Style Lounge at the Andaz Hotel on Friday.

Ruby has been busy in Atlanta filming the third installment of musical comedy Pitch Perfect.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight the actress opened about her relationship to the singer calling her ‘the most amazing person’ and her ‘moral compass’.

In fact, the work of Dr Gustav Jaegar, a German naturalist who endorsed underwear made from animal fibres, had a bigger impact on the design of underwear. He recommended combination garments made from wool to help regulate body temperature and promote sweating. These garments were less structured, paving the way for the rise of the liberty bodice at the turn of the century – a sleeveless vest made from fleece which kept the body warm without compressing it.

But it would take the seismic cultural upheavals of the 20th Century for women to shed the many layers of undergarments acquired over centuries of fashion history.

Engineers in the US have designed a smart, mechanised undergarment that may help prevent lower back pain by reducing muscle fatigue.

While solutions for back pain are aplenty, most of them have at least one of three problems — they are unproven, unworkable or just plain unattractive.

“People are often trying to capitalise on a huge societal problem with devices that are unproven or unviable,” said co-investigator Aaron Yang from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, US.

“This smart clothing concept is different. I see a lot of health care workers or other professionals with jobs that require standing or leaning for long periods. Smart clothing may help offload some of those forces and reduce muscle fatigue,” Yang said.

The device, unveiled at the Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics in Brisbane, Australia, consists of two fabric sections, made of nylon canvas, Lycra, polyester and other materials, for the chest and legs.

The sections are connected by sturdy straps across the middle back, with natural rubber pieces at the lower back and glutes.

The device is designed so that users engage it only when they need it. A simple double tap to the shirt engages the straps.

The Vanderbilt University engineers have created an undergarment that eases stress on the low back and activates only when a wearer needs it.

“I’m sick of Tony Stark [the fictional Iron Man] and Bruce Wayne [Batman’s alter ego] being the only ones with performance-boosting supersuits. We, the masses, want our own,” Karl Zelik, principal investigator on the project, quipped in a university news release. “The difference is that I’m not fighting crime. I’m fighting the odds that I’ll strain my back this week trying to lift my 2-year-old.”

That same kind of back strain got the assistant professor of mechanical engineering thinking about wearable tech solutions.

Made of nylon canvas, Lycra, polyester and other materials, the “smart” underwear feels and behaves like regular clothes, according to researchers.

It has one section for the chest and another for the legs. The sections are connected by straps across the middle back, with natural rubber pieces at the lower back and glutes.

When the task is done, another double tap releases the straps so the user can sit down, and the device feels and behaves like normal clothes.

The device also can be controlled by an app that the team created – users tap their phones to engage the smart clothing wirelessly via Bluetooth.

In experiments, the participants tested the device leaning forward and lifting 11-kg and 25-kg weights while holding their position at 30, 60 and 90 degrees.

Using motion capture, force plates and electromyography, the team demonstrated that the device reduced activity in the lower back extensor muscles by an average of 15 to 45 per cent for each task.

The focus of this new technology is not for treating those with existing back pain but focuses on prevention by reducing stress and fatigue on the low back muscles, Yang said.

What have your undies done for you today? They may blanket your behind, pad your periods, or even filter your flatulence. But if Karl Zelik has anything to do with it, underwear of the future may also help prevent back pain.

Zelik is a biomedical engineer at Vanderbilt University who researches lower limb biomechanics and prosthetics. Before his current research, he says, “I’ve never really thought about spine biomechanics or lower back pain in any depth.”

But two years ago, his life changed; He became a father.

Since that eventful day, his son has grown increasingly heavy, and lifting him has taken a toll on Zelik’s back. So he turned this pain into productivity, and began investigating pain prevention using a concealable wearable gadget. Now after several years of research and hundreds of iterations, his so-called “smart underwear”—which he and the team have filed to patent—is making its U.S. debut this week at the American Society of Biomechanics conference in Boulder, Colorado.

Boxers or briefs? Boxer briefs? Commando? Men’s underwear is not something I give much thought to unless I’m stealing my husband’s to sleep in. But for couples who want to have a child, it can become a topic of discussion. Is your man’s choice of underwear important when it comes to sperm quality? What kind of underwear should men wear when trying to conceive?

Semen is a funny thing. According to The Journal of Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, spermatogenesis, or the generation of sperm inside the testes, is a fickle process heavily influenced by external factors. Things like weight, diet, alcohol and drug use, sleep, occupation, and yes, clothing, all help determine the strength and the motion of the sperm.

Concerning spermatogenesis and clothing, there is a problem called testicular heat stress that can adversely affect the motility, count, and shape of sperm in the semen, according to the Journal of Fertility and Sterility. Normally, a man’s bits are pretty good at self-regulating their heat, according to The Journal of Male Infertility, but just a little external pressure is needed to throw them all out of sorts, heat wise. (This must be why my husband whines so much when I set the thermostat up a few degrees when he’s looking the other way.) If their stones are so sensitive, what kind of underwear should men wear when trying to conceive?

Neck and back pain have become the “leading global cause of disability” in most countries. Up to 80 percent of people experience back pain at some point during their lifetime. And as injury rates soar, so has the use of back belts, but there is insufficient evidence these actually help prevent back injury, according to the Centers for Disease Control website.

Enter Zelik. He hopes to tackle the problem of back pain with a wearable, assistive device that can help with lifting, but doesn’t require a bulky Ironman-like exoskeleton. In brief, the smart underwear consists of a vest and a pair of bike-short-like bottoms, connected by a set of straps that criss-cross from shoulder to shorts along the back. Each of these straps has two sections: a stretchy upper elastic and a lower firm, rubber-like material.

The device contains a tiny motor, smaller than a tube of lip balm, housed in the front pocket of the vest. If you bend over while the device is in the “off” position, the stretchy elastic moves with your body. “It would just feel like normal clothing,” says Zelik. When it’s switched on, however, a pair of “clutches” prevents the elastic from stretching. When you bend over, the tough, rubber-like material attached to the thighs becomes taut, taking off some of the pressure that would otherwise be placed on your muscles.

Should you wear underwear when trying on swimsuits? Even though it might seem counterintuitive, the answer is a hands-down, resounding yes. Please. Do not drop your panties.

The purpose of trying on clothing in the first place is to make sure the size is right before you buy it, and that means you want to try it on with the most accurate fit possible, so you might be inclined to take off your undies because it’s not like you’re going to wear the suit with anything under it — but don’t. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Leave your underwear on. They might feel a little bunched, but your underwear isn’t going to alter the fit that much, and it’s far more sanitary to leave them on. Being hygienic is worth having to endure the diaper feeling during your try-on sesh. Trust.

Until now that is. With an entire day dedicated to readdressing your smalls, it’s time to consider whether your bras are giving you double boob, your pants are too tight and if your whites aren’t quite as dazzling as they used to be.

You see, the key to looking and feeling great in your clothes is really to strip back and concentrate on the basics. Get your underwear right, and you can enhance, flatter and feel instantly more confident.

That being said, with such a minefield of styles on offer, knowing what bra or bottoms will best suit your body shape can be confusing but, that’s where we come in.

Here, we take a look at the best lingerie styles to help instantly upgrade your knicker drawer.

For ladies with the coveted hourglass silhouette, apple shapes and those with bigger busts, there are luckily a whole host of brands specialising in lingerie to help make the most of you assets.

The key is to remember that while you’ve been blessed with bigger breasts, they’re not all the same shape so after figuring out your size, think about the style that will best support and flatter your chest.

If you have a very full breast, opt for a full cup while those who carry more underneath or to the side should consider a plunge bra to help create a natural-looking cleavage. Either way, the right support is an absolute must.

For bottoms, if you’re tummy conscious opt for a figure-flattering high waist to nip you in at your smallest part or a pair of lacy briefs.

Women who carry more weight on their bottom half get the added benefit of being able to mix and match their sets – think colour blocking, prints and bra’s that scream “look at me”.

In addition, opting for a push-up will help to even out your figure, while delicate triangle bras offer comfort as well as being oh-so pretty.

If you have wider hips, brief style underwear will flatter and a thong made from soft, feminine fabric will draw attention to your derriere in the best way possible.

You know that plastic liner inside the bottom for sanitary reasons? Yeah, it might protect the future owner once they remove it, but if everyone else is trying it on with the liner without undies, you’re still going to pass on the same bacteria.

Bacteria and crabs aside, you could get the swimsuit bottoms dirty (no need to go into
how…), so just leave your underwear on to make sure everything is clean in case you
don’t buy it.

If someone was infected with crabs and tried on a swimsuit, the next person to try it on sans-undies could fall victim to them. You have been warned.

If you’re trying it on without underwear, odds are someone before you did, and you can pass on and collect bacteria. Don’t believe me? Dr. Philip Tierno from New York University did a study that collected clothing from retail stores, and underwear and swimwear contained the highest amount of bacteria. Gross.

Just to reinforce the point, here are a few reasons you absolutely need to wear underwear when trying on swimwear. The person trying it on after will totally thank you for it.

Negative body image is something we read about regularly; catwalk models being too thin, airbrushed magazine photos presenting an unreal version of reality and the effects on girls and young women. But actually it can create a negative effect for anyone.

I know that it can also be a serious issue for men too – but I want to focus on women for this piece – particularly, mothers and older women because we are also not immune.

In fact, by the time we have become mothers, and got to our forties and beyond, the world at large thinks we should have our shit together, but body images issues can lie latent in our psyche for years, ready to cut us down at any time.

My post pregnancy stretch marks and loose skin are sometimes all I see. It’s not as debilitating as it is for others, but certainly enough to effect my self esteem and dent my self-confidence.

My rational brain knows not pay any notice to external influences, but as I age, I do have moments, days or weeks when my emotional brain takes over. And the knock on effect can last a while.

There’s something about the feel of lovely lingerie that seems to trigger a pathway right into my brain.

Though, of course plastic surgery is matter of choice, I am not a fan. I believe surgery should be reserved for necessary cases only and I know that there is a place for plastic surgery in this way.

And to be honest – I’m scared of having plastic surgery. There is always a risk associated with a general anaesthetic – and my father was hospitalised due to a negligent operation so, a tummy tuck is out of the question for me.

So I need other solutions. A way to create a positive feeling for me without taking drastic action.

Wearing lovely underwear is about making you feel good about yourself. Not hiding away or beating yourself up about what you perceive to be your negatives but accentuating your positives – and we all have positive parts of our bodies.

I love the fact that as we age we do gain confidence in many ways in general, but as I said at the beginning we are not immune to those moments of doubting how we look and that affecting how we feel.

As we know in so many areas of life – mind-set is everything. So if we enjoy the way we look in a lovely set of lingerie and it helps our self-esteem, then it feels like a good thing to take note of.

Whether it’s the softness of lace, the sensuality of silk or even just the floral aroma of the gentle soap flakes I use to wash them, when I pick out the underwear I’m going to wear each morning, I instantly forget my age and remember only that I am a woman.

At this time of year, exquisite lace or delicate embroidery lifts the spirits, when it’s dreary outside and you feel swamped and frumpy beneath your winter clothes.

We all know that wearing the same pair of pants two days in a row is a big no-no however, it seems that there are plenty of other mistakes you can make when it comes to knickers. Experts have revealed the major underwear faux pas that we are all occasionally guilty of committing.

Speaking to Seventeen Octavia Cannon, DO, a board-certified OBGYN (Obstetrics and Gynecology), says that there are six major mistakes women make when it comes to their knicker drawer.

We asked lingerie experts to weigh in on common undie issues and how to fix them. Now you can say goodbye to your panty problems for good!

You think you’re looking smoking in that body-con dress, clingy skirts, or fitted pair of pants, then you catch a glimpse at your tush as you walk out the door. Oh, the dreaded VPL! The solution is a seamless thong that’s undetectable no matter what you wear over
it, says Lyn Lewis, CEO of Journelle. She recommends the company’s Estelle Thong. “It has a scalloped-edged back and thin microfiber front, so it lays flat against the body,” says Lyn Lewis, CEO of Journelle. If thongs aren’t your thing, don’t worry, there’s still a solution for you. “Sometimes, bigger is better,” says Larissa King, Senior Designer at Hanky Panky. “Full-cut briefs with low leg openings are practically invisible under clothes,” says Larissa King, senior designer at Hanky Panky. Look for a pair in which the front leg opening sits in the natural crease, between your hip and leg, and the back leg sits fully under your bum. Try: Chantelle Soft Stretch Seamless Full Brief or Hanky Panky Signature Lace Betty Brief. Once you get your undies under control, you’ll want to avoid these common bra mistakes, too.

Like everything else that was cool in the ‘90s, bodysuits are in the middle of a huge resurgence. ASOS sells them by the two-pack for around 30 bucks, while most luxury shops stock at least a few basic styles by brands like Wolford, Protagonist, or Khaite for upwards of $250.

At Racked, most of us can agree on the function of a bodysuit — they’re the easiest way to create a smooth, unfussy, tucked-in silhouette. But we’re 50/50 split on the garment ’s bottom half. To be specific: Should it be a thong, or should it absolutely not be a thong? Can a bodysuit serve the same smoothing purpose with full-coverage bottoms? And are thongs made even more uncomfortable by having a shirt attached?

Waistband cuts into your mid sectionThe best way to avoid having elastic cut into your hips is to avoid panties with heavy elastic trims. Opt for styles with wider waist bands or those that sit higher on the waist, which will help contain more of the midsection instead of cutting into it. Try: Warner’s No Pinching. No Problems Seamless Hi-Cut. “Also, undies trimmed with soft, stretchy spandex lace have enough give and hold to keep your panties in place, but are soft enough to keep from leaving harsh indentations in your skin,” explains King. Try: Hanky Panky Signature Lace V-Front Short.
Arthur Kneibler, executive and designer at Coopers, Inc., a Wisconsin hosiery company, gained inspiration from a postcard to create a new, and more comfortable, men’s fashion underwear design. After seeing the man pictured in a leg-bearing bathing suit, Kneibler envisioned a new legless underwear design. Created to be supportive and fitting, like a jockstrap, the undergarment by Coopers was named Jockey shorts and were sold in 1935, by Marshall Field’s, in Chicago.

Unlike the slow-moving boxer shorts, sales for the Jockey shorts took off, and 600 pairs were sold on the first day. Within three months, Coopers had sold 30,000 pairs. After years of success, gaining even more appeal for the modern briefs, in 1971, the company changed its name to Jockey. Men were not only discovering the groove of outer fashion in the 1970s, but also the allure of the fashion-forward undergarment.

Calvin Klein took notice introducing designer underwear that would certainly catch the attention of men’s fashion aficionados. In 1982, the designer took the white brief from behind the clothes to show it as a true men’s fashion statement. The photo of a model wearing the skimpy white underwear on a huge billboard stopped traffic in the center of New York City, in Times Square.

The controversial sexual photo was a hit, making underwear a must-want designer quality men’s fashion that would continue to grow with new designs. Fast forward to the 21st century, and it is fashionable among the younger crowd to showcase designer underwear
waste bands above their pants, with t-shirts tucked in.

Bumps and bulges,If your panty is creating problems (aka bumps and bulges), it’s time to toss ’em in lieu of a smoothing silhouette. Alicia Miller, fit expert at Chantelle, suggests a pair with a control panel at the front for some extra shaping to the lower abdomen. Try: Chantelle Hedona Smoothing Full Brief or Yummie By Heather Thomson Jasmina Shaping Thong. For more smoothing solutions, check out the best shapewear for every type of dress.

Undies falling downLike pretty much anything, if your panties are falling down, it probably means they’re too big—or they’ve stretched due to wear and improper care (more on that later). Try a size down and see if it solves the problem. (Hey, sometimes the simplest solutions are the most overlooked.) Wondering what undie style is going to suit you best? Find out the the best underwear for your butt shape.

Sweating down thereThis isn’t a glamorous topic, but hey it happens—particularly if you work out. If your panties offer no breathability and you feel like you’re sweating in your neither regions, Miller recommends switching to a cotton bottom or one with a cotton gusset and a moisture wicking fabric. Try: Eberjey Pima Goddess Low Rider Bikini. (Here are 13 things your vagina secretly wants you to know.)

TV infomercials offer a world of potential solutions for back pain, but most of them have at least one of three problems — they’re unproven, unworkable or just plain unattractive. A team of Vanderbilt University engineers is changing that with a design that combines the science of biomechanics and advances in wearable tech to create a smart, mechanized undergarment.
A performance-boosting super-suit is low-profile enough to fit underneath clothing (Joe Howell / Vanderbilt)Their device gets its U.S. debut Aug. 8-11 at an American Society of Biomechanics conference in Boulder, Colorado. The team unveiled itlast week at the Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics in Brisbane, Australia, garnering a Young Investigator Award for mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Erik Lamers (left), who helped develop the design.

Well over half of all adults will experience low back pain in their lifetimes, and the condition is estimated to cost $30 billion in medical expenses and more than $100 billion in lost productivity in the U.S. annually. Karl Zelik, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and the principal investigator on the project, experienced back pain himself repeatedly lifting his toddler son, which he said got him thinking about wearable tech solutions.

“I’m sick of Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne being the only ones with performance-boosting supersuits. We, the masses, want our own,” Zelik said. “The difference is that I’m not fighting crime. I’m fighting the odds that I’ll strain my back this week trying to lift my 2-year-old.”

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has urged voters in his home county – Kitui – not to let him down during tomorrow’s General Election and vote for all his party candidates.

“Since I will be the Deputy President of Kenya after the August 8 polls, failing to give me a Wiper governor, senator, woman representative, MPs and MCAs will make me appear like a man who is immaculately dressed in a suit but without underwear,” he said.

He addressed a rally at the Kyuso Stadium in his former Mwingi North constituency on Saturday. Present were NASA co-principals Moses Wetang’ula, Kitui Governor Julius Malombe and Wiper Mwingi North MP candidate Paul Nzengu.

Kalonzo urged voters to adopt the six-piece vote pattern.

He told residents to start by voting in NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga then vote for Wiper candidates for all other positions. Kalonzo said independents and Jubilee Party candidates must be rejected.

The device is designed so that users engage it only when they need it. A simple double tap to the shirt engages the straps. When the task is done, another double tap releases the straps so the user can sit down, and the device feels and behaves like normal clothes. The device also can be controlled by an app that the team created—users tap their phones to engage the smart clothing wirelessly via Bluetooth.

back of suit showing supportsThe back of Karl Zelik and Erik Lamers’ performance-boosting super-suit (Joe Howell / Vanderbilt)
Eight subjects tested the device leaning forward and lifting 25-pound and 55-pound weights while holding their position at 30, 60 and 90 degrees. Using motion capture, force plates and electromyography, Zelik’s team demonstrated that the device reduced
activity in the lower back extensor muscles by an average of 15 to 45 percent for each
task.

“The next idea is: Can we use sensors embedded in the clothing to monitor stress on the low back, and if it gets too high, can we automatically engage this smart clothing?” Zelik said.

People are often trying to capitalize on a huge societal problem with devices that are unproven or of health care workers or other professionals with jobs that require standing or leaning for long periods. Smart clothing may help offload some of those forces and reduce muscle fatigue.”

The project is funded by a Vanderbilt University Discovery Grant, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and a National Institutes of Health Career Development Award K12HD073945. A patent has been filed.

Should you wear underwear when trying on swimsuits? Even though it might seem counterintuitive, the answer is a hands-down, resounding yes. Please. Do not drop your panties.

The purpose of trying on clothing in the first place is to make sure the size is right before you buy it, and that means you want to try it on with the most accurate fit possible, so you might be inclined to take off your undies because it’s not like you’re going to wear the suit with anything under it — but don’t. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Leave your underwear on. They might feel a little bunched, but your underwear isn’t going to alter the fit that much, and it’s far more sanitary to leave them on. Being hygienic is worth having to endure the diaper feeling during your try-on sesh. Trust.

Just to reinforce the point, here are a few reasons you absolutely need to wear underwear when trying on swimwear. The person trying it on after will totally thank you for it.You may have been sporting the same worn-out boxers for the last couple of years but it’ s time for an underwear refresh.

Considering the amount of thought a lot of us men put into our clothes, little is spent on whats underneath. While a great outfit is a plus, no-one wants to strip a gent off to see grotty old boxers, so we’ve edited it down to the best styles to suit every body type. So whether you’re carrying some extra weight or ripped like a god, you can choose a style that will suit you the best.

While a lot of guys these days steer away from briefs to avoid feeling like they’re back in primary school, the new styles are modern and surprisingly flattering on the body. Briefs work well for a number of reasons if you’re shorter, the lack of coverage exposes more leg making you appear taller (and who doesn’t love a few extra inches). They’re also extremely supportive, so for you guys that live in the gym or are slightly more well endowed *insert aubergine emoji* they’re a great choice to keep everything in place.

Great for the athlete among you, jockstraps are originally intended to allow better support in the front and maximum movement in the back (hence the lack of fabric). However they’re also great for a bit of lift in the back, for those days when leg day is just not a thing.

The hybrid between boxers and briefs, boxer-briefs are tighter and hit the mid thigh – unlike their looser counterparts the boxer (which are neither flattering nor comfortable) they’re great for guys with a little more junk in the trunk or for you taller men out there as they provide a bit more coverage.

If briefs aren’t you thing but skinny jeans are then say hello to your new best friend. Slightly shorter than boxer-briefs, but with the same support as briefs, they’re especially kind to a good set of legs (thick thighs may see the fabric ride up as you walk) so slimmer legs are the best with this option.

Forget other people trying it on before you — you don’t know where else that swimsuit has been. It could have fallen on the floor or been bought, worn, and returned. There’s plenty of opportunity for grossness to end up on it that you haven’t even considered, so just wear underwear.

The male version of the female “one piece” has proven so popular for US brand Rufskin that they are now working on creating a swimwear version.

The form-fitted, body-hugging undergarment, known as the “Finwick”, has been described as a “multifunctional, masculine body suit” which “follows the shape of the male body ”.

Rufskin, the San Diego-based brand behind the pure white design, say the underwear “can be used as an undergarment as well as a top with the advantage of staying in place under one’s pants or shorts”.

Apparently, it’s also “ideal for support during any work out or just looking sharp at any time”.

Not all men’s underwear is created equally. Gone are the days when the only question was, “Boxers or briefs?” Now there are unmentionables for all occasions: sleeping, daily wear, the gym and more. But deciding which brand to pick can be tough — and
underwear shopping is drudgery. Enter the underwear subscription box: You can be a brand loyalist or try every style under the sun. With a new pair — or pairs — curated by the companies and arriving on your doorstep monthly, you’re certain to find a style you like without ever having to wade awkwardly through store shelves again. Here are some subscription services that have guys covered.

The material, a nylon microfibre, is said to come with a “superior stretch” and “ultra-soft hand”.

Douglas Coats, President of Rufskin, told news.com.au the brand has “done well with one-piece underwear styles now for quite some time”.

If you haven’t settled on a brand of choice, Underwear Expert is the box for you. The options seem limitless, and the site’s get-to-know-you quiz allows you to express all of your style preferences. Underwear Expert curates from more than 50 brands, so you’re not
tied to just one. But if you want to express preference, click “let me choose” when checking out, and you will get 15 minutes to call dibs on select pairs.

Based in San Antonio, Underwear Nation will keep you shopping in Texas. As with most boxes, the Nation lets you pick a style and size and opt in for monthly delivery. Membership also comes with perks, like a free pair on your subscription anniversary, a discount at the online shop and free exchanges if you don’t dig one of your deliveries.

And if that got you thinking about how comfy a pair would be, why not check out the brave couples who tried on each other’s UNDERWEAR for the first time – with hilarious results.