Presenting part 7 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 Seven : Leg Openings

So after the last part in our series chafing I decided this series would stick to a safer, and less graphic topic; that of leg openings.

Leg opening size and shape can be significantly contributing factor to the comfort of your underwear. There are a number of factors to considering so I thought I would examine them on a style by style basis.

Briefs and Bikini/Sports Briefs
These underwear designs traditionally have small band of elastic in the leg opening to hold it in place on your body. When selecting briefs for comfort, care must be taken to ensure that the elastic is not so tight that it will cut off circulation or be uncomfortable, but at the same time it won’t be able to serve its function if its too loose.

Boxer Brief
irrespective of the leg length of these fitted designs it is important that the opening has enough give to ensure that the thigh muscle is able to flex properly and that the boxer brief legs don’t inhibit movement. The other factor to consider is that while the legs on the boxer briefs do not generally contain elastic, they are hemmed and this hemming should provide enough elasticity in its design that the legs don’t ride up.

Boxer Shorts
As long as there is an overall loose fit to the boxer shorts you won’t have any problems with the leg opening on these.

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.