I know, I know, I'm disappointed in the first half of my cliched title too. I could moonlight as a headline writer for Cosmoplitan, clearly. 

 I received a message last week from the PR Team for Jac5, a new underwear brand that just launched their first store in Hong Kong. They offered me a chance to try a free pair (review coming once they arrive), but that's not why I'm writing this. In fact, if anything they only reminded me that I've been meaning to write something on underwear for a long time. I think about underwear all the time! In fact, a friend of mine and I were discussing opening a men's underwear store at one point that we were going to call 'The Junk Drawer'. Frequently my thoughts turn to ladies lingerie, but I'm also of the opinion that guys don't pay nearly enough attention to what they wrap their junk in and I'm glad to see that someone is doing something about it. I checked out Jac5's website and I like a lot of what they're doing as far as designs go. The "Barking Mad" waistband is sort of interesting, but for me the struggle with designer underwear has always been finding something comfortable. Only time will tell if Jac5 is all talk when it comes to comfort or if they can actually deliver the full package.

Now, Jac5 isn't the first company to get into this field. There's stiff competition:  Bjorn Borg, Ted Baker and Diesel, to name a few. It's still a growing market but I'm hoping that more guys will take an interest in trying something cool instead of picking up another six-pack of Stanfield's at Wal-Mart. For me, underwear, along with socks, are the one area that I like to go balls-out crazy. I don't try to match it with my style to create any sort of complete aesthetic. I just buy stuff that I think is cool, like art, and the girls always seem to like it. If you consider yourself a fashionable guy and haven't tried a pair of designer underwear yet, it's worth giving it a shot. I think it adds a little more personality to a look even if only the lucky girls get to see it.

My personal favourite so far is Bjorn Borg (skip past the advertising for ladies), who I'd consider the current king of the designer underwear market, but I'm interested in seeing how Jac5 stacks up as the new guy on the block. As I said above, many designers make some cool looking underwear, but so many get the fit wrong. I consider my Diesel pair practically unwearable. 

I'll post more on this once a sample arrives from Jac5, but in the mean time you can check out their site, and if you want to go balls deep you can order a pair for yourself and support the underdog. Apparently they have free international shipping, which is pretty sweet if you ask me.

More coming soon with my "Building Style From the Ground Up" Series. Thanks for reading!

- Mr. S