Presenting part 6 in the series by Daniel Milijkovic, designer for the men’s underwear brand Obviously, on the 10 things that make men’s underwear comfortable

Part Six: Seperation

Welcome to the active man’s worst nightmare – chafing

I had always thought it was a horrible word, and wondered where it came from and exactly what it meant.

So I looked it up; Wikipedia had it listed as a nautical term describing the ‘process of wear on a line or sail caused by constant rubbing against a hard, usually metallic, surface’ – ouch!

Dictionary.com has a big closer to the mark listing chafing as ‘to wear or abrade by rubbing’, or ‘to make sore by rubbing’. Now I know your cringing.

Back to the point of this article: separation. Most guys chafe between the the thighs or between their testicles and their inner thighs (sorry for the imagery there). Runners, cyclist, sportsmen alike know full well that there is no way you can concentrate on the game, the race or whatever the task at hand might be when you’re chafing yourself raw down below.

The obvious solution is to eliminate the contact between the thighs and this has been achieved by the introduction of the fitted boxer shorts, which provide a layer of fabric that separates the skin and avoids the rubbing. Chaffing between the testicles and thighs are a bit harder to solve but there are a number of ways that it can be done. The first is to wear underwear that lifts your genitals up and away from between your thighs. Traditional briefs will do this as well as a number of new pouch designs that lift and project and enhance your package.

The other option was the approach we took when designing Obviously underwear and that was to encase your genitals in fabric, providing full separation from any rubbing between the thighs, while still allowing your bits to hang downwards as nature intended. This design eliminates any possibility of chafing and allows you to get on with your day – what ever you choose to do with it.

Presenting part 5 in the series by Daniel Milijkovic, designer for the men’s underwear brand Obviously, on the 10 things that make men’s underwear comfortable

Part Five: Non-irritating Labels

I never did understand care labels. I mean I understand why they exist, but I have no idea why they are so big and obtrusive. In most countries they are a legal requirement, but the reality is they may get looked at once when you first buy something new, then you spend the rest of the time cursing their annoyance. It’s not bad for men’s underwear but women’s underwear always had me confused as to why such a small piece of material needed to have such a big tag.

Most underwear has a big annoying label right at the center of the back of the garment that digs in every time you sit down and lean back. It’s annoying and quite often the only thing you achieve but cutting or tearing it out creating a hole in your new underwear.

in addition to this there have been some reported cases of allergic or irritant reactions to those care labels due to the materials and chemical additives that are used when they are created.

So what’s the solution? Getting rid of them altogether for one; unfortunately not one we’re allowed to do. The other is to do away with the care labels that are sewn onto the garment and use heat pressed care labels instead.

When designing the range of Obviously underwear sew-on care labels were the first to go. Our focus on comfort led to the development of heat pressed care labels (similar to iron on patches) which display all the care instructions you require, but that you’d never know were then had you have your underwear on.

A fair compromise on the path to more comfortable underwear, obviously.

Presenting part 4 in the series by Daniel Milijkovic, designer for the men’s underwear brand Obviously, on the 10 things that make men’s underwear comfortable

Part Four: Sweat Absorption

Most people hate sweating at the best of times, everyone hates sweating in their underwear.

But the reality is that we do sweat, its unavoidable particularly in our underwear but fortunately there area  number of things you can do to improve the comfort when you sweat.

First a look at the problems that sweating can cause. To combat the heat build=up I talked about in Part Two: Breathable, Natural Fibers the body will begin to sweat to cool itself off.

This sweating obviously leads to moisture and if the material that your underwear is made from is not water absorbent you leave yourself open to all kinds of fungal infections including the most common: jock itch.

While all materials and fabrics will absorb some level of moisture the trick is to look for fibers that have high hygroscopic properties, which means the material will absorb surrounding moisture.

Generally the natural fibers are better at this then synthetic ones. For a number of years cotton has done a great job of absorbing unwanted moisture and reducing the discomfort of sweating. More recently the emergency of Modal fabric has further reduced the discomfort caused by sweating as it is 50% more hygroscopic then cotton.

Naturally when designing our Obviously for Men range we took the hygroscopicity of the fabric into consideration, and our selection of Modal ensures that sweating in your underwear is a thing of the past.

Presenting part 3 in the series by Daniel Milijkovic, designer for the men’s underwear brand Obviously, on the 10 things that make men’s underwear comfortable

Part Three: Soft Materials

Following on from part 2 on breathable, natural fibers, part 3 is all about the softness of the materials used in underwear construction

Let’s face it; underwear spends its time rubbing against some of the most sensitive areas of your body for at least 10-15 hours a day. Any material that itches, scratches or rubs at your skin is going to cause all sorts of problems, irritations and annoyances.

A rough, course or heavy material will give you nothing but trouble and should be cast away in favor of softer, sleeker, natural materials such as Modal or Cotton as discussed in part 2. These materials are extremely soft on the skin and are least likely to cause discomfort

Another thing to consider is that we tend to spend large amount of our time each day sitting down. This means that the back of your underwear is pulled tight while the bend in your legs causes the front of the underwear to crease and become bunched. Wearing underwear that is made from a soft, light-weight material will ensure that any fabric that does end up bunched in your leg crease will not be bulky enough to cause any dramas.

The softness of the material used in the Obviously for Men range is one of the things our customers really love. The Modal material used in all Obviously underwear products is marketed by its developers, Lenzing, as the softest fiber in the world and an integral ingredient in designing the world’s most comfortable underwear.