Josie Azocar, founder of Tuck It Up, discusses the challenges and successes of creating a brand that specializes in underwear for the trans community. She shares her personal journey and the need she felt to find underwear that suited her needs. Josie explains the concept of talking panties and how they help trans women achieve a more affirming appearance. She emphasizes the importance of inclusive brands and the need for more options in the market. Josie also discusses the challenges of promoting her brand on social media platforms and the arbitrary nature of their policies. Despite these challenges, she remains committed to expanding her brand and meeting the diverse needs of her customers. In this conversation, Josie Azocar discusses the expansion of her brand into lingerie and the importance of matching sets. She also shares where to find her brand online and the resources available for learning how to use the product. The conversation concludes with a discussion of future plans and the invitation to explore the brand further.
Takeaways
The brand is expanding into lingerie and focusing on matching sets.
The brand can be found online at www.talkitup.com.
There are explicit and non-explicit videos available on YouTube and other platforms to learn how to use the product.
Josie Azocar plans to continue expanding the brand and hopes to be back on the podcast in the future.
In this episode, the hosts review the BodyAware Glow Tanga. They discuss their first impressions of the neon yellow color and the softness of the fabric. The hosts share their experiences wearing the underwear in different settings, such as lounging at home and wearing it to work. They also discuss the sizing and fit of the underwear, as well as the construction and design. Overall, the hosts are impressed with the Glow Tanga and would recommend it to others. In this conversation, the hosts discuss underwear reviews and the importance of seeing how a pair fits on the body. They encourage listeners to follow the social media accounts of underwear reviewers who provide multiple angles of the underwear. They also mention the upcoming release of a surprise review show on Christmas day. The hosts express their desire to have more reviews and invite listeners to support the podcast through Patreon.
Takeaways
The BodyAware Glow Tanga is a fun and playful underwear option with a unique Tanga cut.
The fabric is soft and comfortable, and the sizing is accurate.
The underwear is suitable for everyday wear and can also be worn for more special occasions.
The neon yellow color is vibrant and eye-catching.
The pouch may not provide as much support as some individuals prefer.
The waistband is comfortable and stays in place throughout the day.
The Glow Tanga is part of a larger Glow collection, which includes various styles and colors.
In this conversation, Marino Coco and UNB Tim discuss the challenges of living double lives, particularly in relation to sexuality and personal identity. They explore the exhaustion and admiration associated with maintaining a double identity, as well as the importance of coming out on one’s own terms. They also delve into the confidence-boosting effects of wearing underwear and the joy of wearing swim briefs. The conversation concludes with a discussion on where to find Marino Coco online.
Takeaways
Living a double life can be exhausting and challenging, particularly for individuals who are hiding their true selves due to societal expectations or personal circumstances.
Coming out on one’s own terms is important and should be respected. It is a personal journey that requires readiness and a sense of safety.
Wearing underwear, particularly styles that make one feel confident and comfortable, can have a positive impact on self-esteem.
Swim briefs can be a source of joy and self-expression, allowing individuals to feel confident and attractive at the beach or pool.
Finding a community of like-minded individuals who share similar interests and experiences can be fulfilling and provide a sense of belonging.
In this episode, Tim interviews Josh, a podcast listener and underwear enthusiast. They discuss Josh’s love for underwear, his early experiences with different styles and colors, and his favorite brands. Josh also shares his experience working at Calvin Klein and the interesting customer interactions he had. The episode provides insights into the world of underwear and the passion that many people have for this often overlooked garment.
Also in this conversation, Tim and Josh discuss the role of underwear in relationships. Josh shares his experience of introducing his partner to his extensive underwear collection and the fun and excitement that comes with it. They also talk about the joy of buying underwear for others and the confidence boost that comes from wearing comfortable and stylish underwear. Josh shares some funny and embarrassing underwear stories, and they discuss the impact of social media on the underwear community. Overall, the conversation highlights the importance of self-expression and confidence through underwear
Takeaways
Underwear can play a significant role in relationships, adding excitement and fun.
Buying underwear for your partner can be a thoughtful and intimate gesture.
Wearing comfortable and stylish underwear can boost confidence and make you feel good about yourself.
Underwear can be a conversation starter and a way to express your personality and style.
Social media platforms like Instagram can be a great way to connect with the underwear community and discover new brands and styles.
On this episode we are joined by Jai, he is no stranger to the wrold of underwear!
Jai, a creative director, shares his passion for underwear on the Brief Talk podcast episode. He discusses his childhood discovery of underwear and how it shaped his love for the garment, the evolution of men’s underwear over time, the significance of fit and style, the growing popularity of pink underwear for men, and his own extensive underwear collection. The episode offers valuable insights into the role of underwear as a tool for self-expression and confidence, emphasizing the importance of both comfort and aesthetics in underwear selection. Additionally, it highlights the increasing acceptance and embrace of a wider range of underwear styles and colors among men.
Today we are joined by a fellow Atlanta guy Steve taurus. We met on Twitter and I got him on the podcast to tell everyone about how he discovered and fell in love with underwear. It’s a super fun story that he shares. We hope you enjoy this brief tale
Steve Taurus is a 34-year-old gay man who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been wearing underwear since he was a teenager and has always been interested in different styles and brands. His first pair of Calvin Klein underwear was a turning point for him, and he has been a fan of the brand ever since. He has also experimented with other brands, such as Screw, Man Store, N2M Bodywear, and Two Arrows. Steve believes that it is important to buy quality underwear that fits well and makes you feel confident. He also enjoys trying out new styles and brands.
Thanks for listening to this quick podcast about 2024! Here are some things I have planned! Also take out the survey – https://forms.gle/7VKMpUjG5C363DjC9
We bring you the second edition of the White Brief show. I am joined by our two white brief guys, Jock Embarassedd and Eric aka TheJockerRoom. Our main topic is: what exactly is a pair of Tighty Whities? What must a pair have in order to be considered? “tighy whities” No surprise, we all have different definitions.
We talk about the white briefs culture and the passion behind the guys who are in love with this style. It’s a pair that is overlooked by the mainstream underwear guys. However, it is one of the pairs that have a deep history and a whole fetish culture around the pair.
This week’s podcast has an opening podcast about body image. I brought two guys together, Crimson Ginger, aka Chris, and Texas Renegade, aka Wayne, to discuss issues we all face in the world of underwear. I answer why I don’t post pics of myself.
This is going to be the first of many podcasts discussing Body Image. We definitely want your feedback on what you want to hear on future episodes, what questions you want answered, and what else we should add.
I have wanted to do a show talking to OF creators who are also underwear lovers. We have had all three of these guys on the show, and now we have them in one conversation. It was an interesting talk about content creation for an audience for spicy content.
I am joined by Down Under Bri, Jock Embarrassed, and Brief Bro aka Lee. Each one of these does different things on OF. One goes full-on, the other has a more niche kink audience, and the other does solo content.
We may be doing a Brief Talk Podcast After DArk that is more adult-themed and spicy. I”m still debating that.
If you are an avid listener to the Brief Talk Podcast, you can now join Patreon as a free member and be a part of the community! This is a new feature that Patreon has released and we can interact with you guys in one place. So what do you have to go?
Go to our Patreon Page – HTTP://www.patreon.com/unbblog
Go to the right order below the picture (the guy in the red boxer briefs if on desktop) and click the three dots.
You will see “join for free” and click and Join!
There is no credit card needed to be a part of the community. I will start doing regular posts for members and free members.
I encourage you guys to go over and join so I can talk to you guys who love the podcast. I hope to have our guys on as well. and answer questions as they come up per episode. I may start posting questions after the episode goes live for you guys.
Today, we are joined by Bobby. I have been trying to get him on the podcast for a while. He’s almost a neighbor of mine in Atlanta, a firefighter, a pool boy, and all around underwear lover. Plus he’s an openly bisexual father and isn’t ashamed to share his love of underwear with the world on our podcast
He’s not on a lot of social media, and the only link he is sharing is his FetLife account. Follow him there or send me a message to pass along.
Today we are joined by Conrad aka Abearinundies. He’s got a very interesting story to tell about how he came to discover his love of underwear. He even mentions that he goes underwear shopping with friends.
It’s a great convo and he did a deep dive into the Brief Talk Podcast before he came on the show. He was a lot of fun to talk with and I hope we get him back soon.
We are joined by Ed from Raw Studio Designs. If you aren’t familiar with his brand, he’s based out of Canada and makes some amazing jocks, socks (not the kind you are thinking), swimwear, and more.
He talks about his awesome company and gives a hint at what’s coming, and if you know me, this is some spandex goodness (HMM wonder what it could be?) We will have him on again and talk more! Maybe a jockstrap Show!
Go shop at www.rawstudiodesigns.com
Support UNB For ongoing support, join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one-time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/. You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
I take a few minutes to talk to you guys about the podcast, what schedule we will go by (prob no shows after major holidays), and how scheduling will sometimes have a week without a podcast. You will he happy I didn’t divert from my focus, no tangents.
I am joined by StuartinStuart from Instagram. I stumbled across his profile on IG and thought he would be an amazing interview. The first reason is that he looks awesome in his gear. Second, he’s a man of a certain age (hear the podcast to find out the age). And he just started wearing swim briefs in the last six months!!!
We had a very fun and interesting talk. I hope you guys will enjoy listening to it as much as I did making this podcast.
We have JockEmbarrassed join us for this Brief Tale. He talks about how he discovered his love of underwear and white briefs! He started an Only Fans account for embarrassing content in white briefs. This includes wedgies, exposing his white briefs, and more.
This talk builds on our recent white brief show, where we addressed some of the kinks around white briefs. However, he doesn’t just like white briefs. He wears many other styles as well. Listen to this underwear lover; we hope you enjoy his story.
Find Jock at
Twitter – https://twitter.com/JockEmbarrassed Only Fans – onlyfans.com/jockembarrassed Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jockembarrassed/
Support UNB For ongoing support, join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one-time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/. You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
We are back with a thong show finally! We have Andy, Erik, and Chris aka Crimson Ginger back to answer listener questions. Andy & Eric asked their followers to send in questions for the show. We answered some of them but will answer more in future shows. You guys asked a lot of great questions!
Today we bring back the group shows and the topic is “Popularity of Swim Briefs” CNN in June ran an article saying that swim briefs are gaining in popularity around the world and also the US. (https://www.cnn.com/style/speedos-comeback-fashion). Joining the group show is the OG Erk, Wayne (Texas Renegade), Chris (Crimson Ginger), and John (John Drinks Burbon).
We talk about the aritcle, what our favorite swimwear brands are, when did we first wear a swim brief/thong for the first time, and more! It’s a great convo I think you guys will love!
Follow our guys
Erik Twitter – https://www.twitter.com/undiesgeek85 IG – https:www.instagram.com/undiesgeek85
John IG – https://www.instagram.com/johndrinksburbon
Chris Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/crimson.ginger IG: https://twitter.com/_crimsonginger
Wayne Twitter – https://twitter.com/tejas_renegade IG – https://www.instagram.com/texan_renegade/ Tumblr – https://www.tumblr.com/texan-renegade
Support UNB For ongoing support, join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one-time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/. You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
Today, we bring you something a little different. We have David, one of the co-founders of an event in Atlanta called Kink Down South. A kink event held in June brought the world of kink to the south. We talked about the event, how successful the first year was, and how little time they had to plan it. We also learned that kink is what you make and should be open to all. It’s refreshing to hear this; we fully support them and their mission. Lastly, we discussed some of David’s favorite gear and what he liked about them. David is a fantastic guest that I want to have on the show for other kink-focused shows! And maybe a singlet show! Find and Follow Kink Down Southwebsite – www.kinkdownsouth.comTwitter – www.twitter.com/kinkdownsouthInstagram – www.instagram.com/kinkdownsouth Support UNBFor ongoing support, join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblogFor one-time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/. You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.comFollow me on Twitter and IG @UNBBlog.
We are joined today by Brian aka Downunder Bri on social media. He is a great guy out of Melbourne Australia who loves undies and has been on my list for a while to interview! We are so glad he’s on and had an amazing conversation and found out more bout Brian and the amazing brands he loves in Australia.
Support UNB For on going support join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/ You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
Follow unb on Twitter and IG @UNBBlog
Follow me on all social media as: @unbtim
www.twitter.com/unbtim
www.instagram.com/unbtim
unbtim@kinky.business on Mastadon Support UNB For on going support join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/ You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
Follow unb on Twitter and IG @UNBBlog
UNB Tim: Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of the Brief Talk Podcast. We have a brief tell for you from someone down under. You may know him from Instagram and Twitter and maybe his spicier side. Um, it is Down Under Bright. Welcome.
DownUnder Bri: Thank you for having me, very excited
UNB Tim: It’s
DownUnder Bri: to be here.
UNB Tim: good to have you here. He is not a podcasting virgin. He’s done podcasting before. And it’s good to have him on here. I know we’ve been talking for a while and time zones
DownUnder Bri: about the time zones, isn’t
UNB Tim: suck.
DownUnder Bri: it? This is
UNB Tim: It’s
DownUnder Bri: actually
UNB Tim: just.
DownUnder Bri: a pretty good time zone, I think. I think it’s, you know, it’s not too early in the morning for me and not too early in the evening for you.
UNB Tim: Now the east coast of Australia does well for me. So anytime I do Sydney or Melbourne, I’m good. I’m like, okay, we can make this work. One of us is either gonna be up, you know, nine-ish, you know,
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, respectable.
UNB Tim: seven at night. It’s not bad. Not like where it’s like, oh, Jesus, one of us is gonna be up at 2 a.m. and it’s
DownUnder Bri: Yeah,
UNB Tim: usually me.
DownUnder Bri: no
UNB Tim: But
DownUnder Bri: thank you.
UNB Tim: so no, this is a good time zone. We have you here. Great to be here with you and finally get you on here. We’ve talked forever.
DownUnder Bri: Hooray!
UNB Tim: We have some things in common. We were talking beforehand and underwear is one of them. Yay.
DownUnder Bri: Hehehehe
UNB Tim: We love underwear. So first off, tell our listeners who may not be familiar with you a little bit about you.
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, well, Down Under Bri is my username on pretty much any platform you could think of. Brian is my name. I feel like I’m too old to come up with a pseudonym that is different. So I’m happy to go by Bri or Brian. Based in Melbourne, Australia and currently, oh, should I say? Yeah, currently 41 years old and yeah, enjoying life.
UNB Tim: You are way older than I thought you were.
DownUnder Bri: I’m
UNB Tim: I’m just
DownUnder Bri: that is
UNB Tim: saying.
DownUnder Bri: the perfect that I really enjoy that reaction. So keep it coming is all I say.
UNB Tim: I get the same reaction when people find out. It’s one of my friend’s husbands found out my age and he’s just like, what? I go, yeah. He goes, no. And I’m going, you wanna see the driver’s license?
DownUnder Bri: Yeah,
UNB Tim: Here
DownUnder Bri: good
UNB Tim: you go.
DownUnder Bri: reactions like that please. Shock and awe about how good my skin is, is more than welcome.
UNB Tim: And it’s just like, um, I thought you were like 15 years younger than you were. And I’m like, love you. You’re sticking around.
DownUnder Bri: The
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: trick is not to go outside is all I say.
UNB Tim: Well, that’s been mine in the last, like, 20 years. It’s like, I don’t go outside. Everyone’s like, don’t you go to the beach? And I’m like, I haven’t been to the beach since the 90s, so no.
DownUnder Bri: and don’t underestimate the power of low watt lighting. Ha
UNB Tim: Well, and,
DownUnder Bri: ha ha!
UNB Tim: and staying and making sure they have like, best lean over the glasses and you’re great.
DownUnder Bri: Oh,
UNB Tim: So
DownUnder Bri: that season
UNB Tim: just be
DownUnder Bri: one
UNB Tim: like,
DownUnder Bri: RuPaul filter? No thank you.
UNB Tim: so, but yeah, so you’re down under, it’s great to have more Aussie guys on the show because
DownUnder Bri: Yes.
UNB Tim: as I was telling you, you have such an amazing swimwear and underwear market there. that
DownUnder Bri: Great.
UNB Tim: makes me so jealous because every time you turn around, there’s a new Australian brand in either swimwear, underwear or both.
DownUnder Bri: Yep.
UNB Tim: And
DownUnder Bri: Look,
UNB Tim: they’re so amazing.
DownUnder Bri: it definitely reflects back in US as well. There’s a lot of US brands that I would love to purchase, but unfortunately, yeah, the shipping can be sometimes horrendous to get it over there. So look, one day we’ll find out a way to make it a lot cheaper for us to send things over.
UNB Tim: We need that Star Trek transporter where he just pushes the button and he goes deeeeeeek
DownUnder Bri: tell
UNB Tim: and
DownUnder Bri: me
UNB Tim: there
DownUnder Bri: about
UNB Tim: it
DownUnder Bri: it, that’s
UNB Tim: is!
DownUnder Bri: exactly right. That’s the technology that I am waiting for.
UNB Tim: because I know there are many brands I want to order. And usually when we talk about US brands, End to End is right on the top of the list for a lot of people.
DownUnder Bri: Mm-hmm.
UNB Tim: And I’m like, oh my God, I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t have End to End. I think I would kill somebody.
DownUnder Bri: Oh god.
UNB Tim: Oh my God. It’s like my favorite. And I’m just like, I must have it.
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: So yeah, and our post offices for a while, they didn’t play well together
DownUnder Bri: No.
UNB Tim: because it was taking a couple of months to get things back and forth. And I’m like, What is this?
DownUnder Bri: It’s stupid. Yeah. Look, unfortunately, our Australia Post Service, we did have a partnership with a US Dropbox type situation, but they’ve since got rid of that. I think maybe because it was too expensive or something like that, but oh well, we just have to deal with it normally.
UNB Tim: The only one that does shipping really well to the US is Ozzy Bomb.
DownUnder Bri: Yep.
UNB Tim: And I don’t know what deal they have, what witchcraft they did, or who they cursed to get them to do it, but it’ll get here in a couple days. And I’m just
DownUnder Bri: Wow,
UNB Tim: like,
DownUnder Bri: that’s amazing.
UNB Tim: a couple days to a week, it depends on what you… But it’s like…
DownUnder Bri: That’s really good.
UNB Tim: Did you really come up with lots of voodoo dolls in your back room or something? Cause wow, even
DownUnder Bri: there’s
UNB Tim: in
DownUnder Bri: a
UNB Tim: the
DownUnder Bri: potential
UNB Tim: worst time
DownUnder Bri: secret sauce.
UNB Tim: there.
DownUnder Bri: There could be a potential secret sauce there somewhere. Maybe they do it where they have a factory in America maybe.
UNB Tim: Now, I know a couple of Australian brands have like, just, well, fulfillment centers here, because they don’t want to deal with it and it’s way easier, but theirs comes from Sydney, because
DownUnder Bri: Wow.
UNB Tim: I, because I tracked it before and I’m just like, how did you do that?
DownUnder Bri: Wow. Maybe it’s up to us Aussie boys to do that research on behalf of your blogs.
UNB Tim: Well, you know, I don’t order for much now, but it’s just like good for you people. I just wish the other ones would find that secret sauce because there’s,
DownUnder Bri: Yep.
UNB Tim: we won’t
DownUnder Bri: Hahaha.
UNB Tim: go there because if we spend time talking, we will have a show about Ozzy brand soon, but we won’t do it now because that would be like two hours worth of podcasts,
DownUnder Bri: Oh, could you imagine?
UNB Tim: so
DownUnder Bri: Talking two
UNB Tim: that would
DownUnder Bri: hours
UNB Tim: be
DownUnder Bri: about
UNB Tim: heavy.
DownUnder Bri: underway. How rude.
UNB Tim: Well, I’ve done it before and I’m sure
DownUnder Bri: Yes.
UNB Tim: I will do it again soon, but I’m trying to get more, more people to talk underwear. That’s what these shows are about. It’s like,
DownUnder Bri: That’s good.
UNB Tim: come on people, talk underwear, talk it with your friends. Come
DownUnder Bri: Do
UNB Tim: on,
DownUnder Bri: it. Make
UNB Tim: do
DownUnder Bri: it normal.
UNB Tim: it. That’s what I say. That’s, and guys seem to be enjoying the podcast. We keep growing. So
DownUnder Bri: Hooray!
UNB Tim: we’re keep doing it. People enjoying our Patreon before I forget because I keep forgetting to do it because of the kidney stone and I did not put it in other shows. And I have a special announcement. Uh, I’ll turn it at the end of the show. I’ll turn it on your show. We’ll have a special announcement at the end, but
DownUnder Bri: exciting.
UNB Tim: get us to 20 people. We’re at 16 now. We’re only four away. We’ve grown quite a bit, but we haven’t done anything. So there’s my speech in the middle of your podcast. Sorry about that.
DownUnder Bri: Hahaha
UNB Tim: We’ve got to earn the coin to keep this going, people. Um, we have big ideas and I’ll tell you at the end. So, and you may be able to be part of it. So,
DownUnder Bri: Bring it on!
UNB Tim: and you don’t even know what it is yet. I haven’t even
DownUnder Bri: Uh
UNB Tim: told
DownUnder Bri: oh.
UNB Tim: you.
DownUnder Bri: Oh god.
UNB Tim: But it’s a good, it’s a real good thing, trust me. So, so yeah. So, okay, back to underwear, back to fun, back to you.
DownUnder Bri: Bring it.
UNB Tim: So, being a young Aussie lad, when did you discover underwear? What was it that said, hmm, I love this, I must experience this? So what was it that caught your eye and made you have the… As we see, the underwear bug can grow from there.
DownUnder Bri: Yes. Look, I know that I do listen to a lot of these brief tales and can say that I am probably one of the stereotypes where you go to the aisle of the department store, you see the underwear aisle, you see all the men with the underwear on the packaging, and that’s where it started. Probably even before I even labelled myself as gay, there was… fascination towards the Underwear Isle. So I’m not saying that I am different from the norm, that’s definitely where it actually started.
UNB Tim: So you took the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as I call it,
DownUnder Bri: Yes.
UNB Tim: and saw all the amazing things, which, being in Australia, you had to have many different things than we did here in the States because…
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, it looked just different department stores really. I think nowadays the department stores have their own generic brands, but
UNB Tim: Hmm.
DownUnder Bri: back then the department, a lot of the department stores had a good variety of range to choose from, so it wasn’t just their generic in-store range. Uh, they actually did have, you know, a lot of the good brands, uh, that were out there, which was a good way to be introduced to, you know, the American brands to start with.
UNB Tim: And which American brands did you start with and do you still like? That’s the question.
DownUnder Bri: Calvin Klein was definitely a big brand back when I
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: was first looking at underwear. I ended up, I don’t think I ended up purchasing any Calvin Klein’s in the end. I think mainly because of the cost at the time.
UNB Tim: Oh yeah.
DownUnder Bri: But To Exist was probably one of the ones that really caught my eye at the start. Specifically, the thongs was something that back when I first started, I did a bit of a cyclic thing. started with a couple of thongs when I first enjoyed underwear, went to briefs, went to short trunks, and now I’m jocking thong. So
UNB Tim: Wow.
DownUnder Bri: an interesting thing, just like fashion, fashion is circular, and I think my love for the different styles of underwear is circular as well. But
UNB Tim: here.
DownUnder Bri: 2XS was probably the main brand that I started with in Australia.
UNB Tim: That’s a good one. But you do something most people who’ve been on here don’t do is you’ve circled through brands. A lot of people get started and stick with or expand a little bit. But you mentioned like just about every style there from thongs to briefs to trunks back to jocks and thongs. And that’s kind of cool, though, because
DownUnder Bri: Mm.
UNB Tim: I have a My taste sort of range because I hate trunks because they drive me crazy because they have no pouch
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: But I like the really long boxer briefs that are like the compression gear and the spandexy with the pouch Love those like coxsacks makes like the most incredible ones and it’s like
DownUnder Bri: Nice.
UNB Tim: Love these are they did. I don’t know if they still make those I have to look I don’t think they do because it used to be their sports line amazing, uh, so But yeah, it’s Most guys usually stick to one, maybe two styles, but it’s good to hear you like all of them.
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, well, I mean, you’ve got to try them all out to work out what you like. Nowadays, yeah, I definitely think that the most that I wear are jock straps. And, but now I’m this sort of year, I’m actually coming into work wearing thongs a lot more again.
UNB Tim: Alright, you go boy.
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: Go. So that sort of takes away my next question. So because you explained you went all over the map and that
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: didn’t really influence you but your current favorite styles are thongs and jocks. What are your favorites right now as in terms of everyday wear or you know fun wear or Which ones are you gravitating toward? Which brands right now?
DownUnder Bri: Brands at the moment, so I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am brand loyal. I am happy to try a good variety of brands. The good thing is when I was first exploring getting into underwear, I would subscribe to underwear subscriptions that would send
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: you a pair every month. That’s really what first introduced me to a good variety of brands. So I was very happy with that. But nowadays, it’s not necessarily the brand. Sometimes it’s about trying out the styles and trying out the new ones. But I do know that at this stage, Man Crush Apparel is probably something that I’m really enjoying at the moment. They have a good staple range. I wouldn’t say they’re particularly adventurous with their styles. They’ve got just the basic jocks, the basic briefs, the basic swimwear in regards to the design. But it’s still, there’s nothing wrong with being good at basic, in my
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: opinion. They do have some fun colors. They do have some fun patterns with a swimwear at the moment So I am enjoying that range at the moment and I’m actually trying Ozzy bum again I was a little bit off with Ozzy bum for quite a while mainly because The fit for every brand was the fit for every style was slightly different I know that
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: we were talking I think crimson was talking about Andrew Christian last month
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: last week was in relation to how depending on the style that you end up getting, the fit will be slightly different. So that’s what
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: turned me off Ozzybumb. But I’m going back to Ozzybumb based on recommendations from friends telling me that no, actually they’re really getting their designs quite more universally appealing, because not everyone has a huge pouch and not everyone has a huge badonkadonk. So it’s good to
UNB Tim: crew.
DownUnder Bri: go back there. So I’m trying out Ozzybumb again, especially when they’ve got some great sales on at the moment, picking up some really nice cheap underwear is… a great thing. Not that I should be always going just because they’re cheap. But, you know,
UNB Tim: Hey.
DownUnder Bri: like all of us, girl is on a budget. So we want to make sure that we, you know, get money, get our bang for our buck, really.
UNB Tim: They have amazing sales because
DownUnder Bri: Absolutely.
UNB Tim: they will do the 50% off. Like they just did this week is 50% off swimwear and they do the 50% off underwear every so often. And then they do 50% off everything. And it’s just like, cause we have Cody who’s on our shows and every time they have a sale, I’m like, Hey, did you see the sale? He’s like, shut up. Don’t tell me I’m going to
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: spend more money. My
DownUnder Bri: It’s
UNB Tim: husband’s
DownUnder Bri: terrible.
UNB Tim: going to be mad at me. And I’m like, that’s not my problem. I’m just, I’m just I’m just the messenger. I’m passing
DownUnder Bri: Exactly.
UNB Tim: this along to you. So yeah, Ozzybomb, I’ve had some good stuff from them over the years, and I really want to get some more, but I’ve got to lose some weight so I can fit in their stuff, because I looked
DownUnder Bri: Oh
UNB Tim: at their
DownUnder Bri: no.
UNB Tim: sizing, and I’m like, I do not fit in nothing you make now, so,
DownUnder Bri: Yeah. I mean,
UNB Tim: but I do like
DownUnder Bri: look,
UNB Tim: them.
DownUnder Bri: they are Sydney based and Sydney, in my opinion, is equivalent to the California of Australia. So there are certain body standards that Sydney do have. So they’re not always completely accommodating, but maybe there might be a range that there’s a niche market that they haven’t tapped into
UNB Tim: Wow.
DownUnder Bri: yet.
UNB Tim: You think? I’m not going there. This is not the show for that. So we’re not.
DownUnder Bri: No, that’s over that. No, that’s alright.
UNB Tim: I’m not getting it on. I’m not getting on my high horse for that. I’m a soapbox. So I’m
DownUnder Bri: That’s
UNB Tim: just
DownUnder Bri: okay.
UNB Tim: letting it go.
DownUnder Bri: I do know that other brands at the moment that I’ve been enjoying, uh, teammate, I am definitely
DownUnder Bri: and their thongs that they’ve brought out recently as well. Uh, as well as for workout where, um, Helsinki Athletica, uh, is another range that I’ve really been enjoying. Um, so that is from what I understand Helsinki is actually an Australian brand, even though it sounds that it’s European.
UNB Tim: I’m gonna say it sounds like Scandinavia.
DownUnder Bri: Exactly. But I believe it’s actually an Australian brand. And I’ve been enjoying their workout wear at the moment. So trying that out. Again, jumping on the sales. So Helsinki Athletica is something I really enjoy from a workout wear point of view.
UNB Tim: Well, as we say, there’s nothing wrong with a good sale because it’s good, because I’ve told people in the past who are getting into underwear, and I’m like, do a sale or shop clearance and try it before you know, you’re gonna spend $40 on a pair here,
DownUnder Bri: Exactly.
UNB Tim: which underwear is getting, as for someone who owns an underwear store, even I am going, what the hell’s up with these prices? 30 US, 40 US for one pair. I’m used to like swimwear. I’m like, okay, swimwear, yeah, we’ll pay that for it because it’s gonna last longer. You’re gonna wear it. But I’m like, underwear? I’m like, this is ridiculous.
DownUnder Bri: Yep, I completely
UNB Tim: This is
DownUnder Bri: agree.
UNB Tim: not Versace underwear. Even
DownUnder Bri: No.
UNB Tim: though the boys are just rocking the hell of it on Instagram and Twitter, every time you turn around, somebody’s wearing Versace. And I’m like, where are you bitches getting this money? Those are like $75 pair of underwear you’re wearing.
DownUnder Bri: Or maybe that’s where the spicy accounts come into it.
UNB Tim: Well, I think the spicy accounts or a, you know,
DownUnder Bri: benefactor
UNB Tim: how do I phrase this? Your glucose guardian comes into effect.
DownUnder Bri: Yes, a benefactor.
UNB Tim: So that’s your
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: generic term for that, your glucose guardian.
DownUnder Bri: Love it.
UNB Tim: So yes. So I’m like, I’m not hating you because you got it and you got someone to pay for it. I say go
DownUnder Bri: Mm.
UNB Tim: for it. I’m very happy for you. I’m just jealous I don’t have one.
DownUnder Bri: Yes,
UNB Tim: So.
DownUnder Bri: and look, this is a perfect podcast to indicate that I am open to glucose guardians for anyone who is actually listening.
UNB Tim: Hey, if you want to see him in something, you can send it to him, I’m just saying.
DownUnder Bri: Exactly!
UNB Tim: We do take, everyone who’s been on the podcast will gladly take, you know, donations of new underwear to post on their social medias. No one will turn it down, let me tell you. They might not have somewhere for you to ship it to and have to solve that problem first, but they will figure that out and get it from you. So, just saying.
DownUnder Bri: Hahaha
UNB Tim: Yes. So yeah, it’s, it’s just crazy to me lately. But that’s another podcast too, people. Trust me.
DownUnder Bri: Just
UNB Tim: I have
DownUnder Bri: think
UNB Tim: a
DownUnder Bri: of all the tangents that we’ve got on these podcasts today.
UNB Tim: Well, there is no, as we know, there is no tangent I do not like and won’t go down. And when I have to do like, I’ll do podcasts for our Patreon members every so often that are just me and I try to keep them super short because if I don’t. Oh my God, it’s going to turn into like a 45 minute rambling on. Oh yeah. My point is, I think it could have been done in like two minutes, but the
DownUnder Bri: Oh
UNB Tim: last
DownUnder Bri: dear.
UNB Tim: one I did, I did, I kept on track. I had no notes. I kept on track. And I got through it and I’m like, look, it’s nine minutes. Yay. I
DownUnder Bri: Hooray!
UNB Tim: didn’t even get on a tangent. I’m like, I don’t know what happened, but just be thankful because, you know, I can get distracted and I will take, Ooh, what’s this over here? Let’s talk about this.
DownUnder Bri: That
UNB Tim: So
DownUnder Bri: is
UNB Tim: yes,
DownUnder Bri: called growth.
UNB Tim: that is called luck because it’ll probably never happen again. People,
DownUnder Bri: Hahaha
UNB Tim: especially if you’re our Patreon member, enjoy it while you can, because I don’t, I need to do an editor’s note for you boys, but I’m just like, to plan this and sit down oh Jesus
DownUnder Bri: I
UNB Tim: that’s
DownUnder Bri: believe
UNB Tim: what you don’t
DownUnder Bri: in you. You can do it.
UNB Tim: and I’ll get on a tangent just deal with it and one went really wrong and I’m just like I’m putting it out anyway
DownUnder Bri: No.
UNB Tim: it’s like So we just thought about your favorite sales. So how big is your collection right now? General estimate, if you don’t really know.
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, I would say it’s approximately 60 to 70 pairs. I would say it’s about 60 to 70 pairs at the moment.
UNB Tim: Okay,
DownUnder Bri: So
UNB Tim: respectable.
DownUnder Bri: it’s not, yeah, it’s not respect, it’s respectable, but it’s not huge at the moment. I can say that my underwear buying has decreased over the last couple of years based on the cost of living.
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: So… But that’s why I do sometimes jump on the sales. So yeah, but I’m pretty happy with the range at the moment. It’s a good mix of brands, it’s a good mix of styles, and it’s a good mix of everyday use versus fun use that I might wear to a circuit party or something.
UNB Tim: Well, there you go. And at that level, it’s easy to store because I have like, say, five, no, 400 pairs.
DownUnder Bri: Yep.
UNB Tim: And that’s just like, and I’m trying
DownUnder Bri: That’s
UNB Tim: to get,
DownUnder Bri: amazing.
UNB Tim: I’m trying to go through it, but it’s like, you know, you gotta get rid of your firstborn child when you go through something. It’s like, I can’t get rid of that pair. No, that was so much fun to wear. Oh, and I can’t get rid of this pair because this reminds me of such and such. And I’m just like, oh. I envy those people who can be like, throw it away, get rid of it. I’m just like, no, it’s like my children, sorry. I don’t have any four legged or two legged children, so my underwear becomes it.
DownUnder Bri: Well,
UNB Tim: So
DownUnder Bri: don’t
UNB Tim: yeah.
DownUnder Bri: underestimate the power of someone like Sniffer, where you can potentially make a profit from it.
UNB Tim: Well, I have looked that up because I did not know about that site, so I won’t
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: be looking into that. So take note people, I get asked every so often where you can sell underwear. There you go. Because there is
DownUnder Bri: especially if you like it customized.
UNB Tim: Oh yeah, we know all about, we’ve done many shows about that. And
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: you boys, yeah. Yeah. We won’t go there either because yeah, no.
DownUnder Bri: Add that to the tangent list.
UNB Tim: That’s definitely another show. Cause
DownUnder Bri: Hahaha
UNB Tim: we’re eventually going to do an only fan show, but you know, it’s just not today. Um, cause you could probably, you would definitely be on it. So we’ll definitely get you on it. But it’s just like, I think there’s, cause I was explaining this to someone the other day about the podcast. Cause they’re like, well, how, you know, how open and quotation marks. can I be? And I’m like, well, you can be as open as you want to and whatever. I mean, we’re not going to be like, oh no, you said penis. Oh no.
DownUnder Bri: Oh
UNB Tim: I said,
DownUnder Bri: no.
UNB Tim: we have an explicit rating for a reason,
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: you know, and underwear is supposed to be sexy. Underwear is supposed to be
DownUnder Bri: the
UNB Tim: fun.
DownUnder Bri: way hold your penis.
UNB Tim: And it’s supposed to, you know, show, show off and all these fun things. And I’m like, our audience, I think understands that. enjoys that part of it too, so it’s not like we’re going, oh my god, we’re scandalous, and it’s like, everyone knows. So we have a range of gay, straight, bi, but still everyone feels sexy in their underwear, and you know, we don’t live in monasteries, so you know, we’re gonna have fun in our underwear. Just
DownUnder Bri: Agreed.
UNB Tim: saying. So yeah. Um, so you have such an interesting story that just does not go along with my questions, but that’s a good
DownUnder Bri: Sorry.
UNB Tim: thing. That’s a good thing though. because it’s so different. And I have to come up with the questions on the fly, which I love doing so.
DownUnder Bri: As much as I love being a gay stereotype, sometimes it is good to be a bit different.
UNB Tim: You gotta be different and you can’t have the same questions all the time. It gets, it gets rather boring. So, so do your friends know about your love of underwear and your social media and your
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, so my friends, I have a pretty sex positive friendship group. Um, and most of them are aware of my social media channels, uh, and my love of underwear and making spicy content based on that underwear as well.
UNB Tim: Hey.
DownUnder Bri: So yeah, definitely my friends are open to it and some of them do enjoy that as well. Some of them do participate in doing similar things. We’re posting themselves in, in social media and underwear. Sometimes we do end up doing little photo shoots with each other of like, even we went away over Christmas time, we went down to one of our friends holiday homes. It was a lovely summertime for us in Australia. So we decided, okay, well, you take some pictures of me and I’ll take some pictures of you. This is the best way for us we can display new content for each other. So
UNB Tim: There you
DownUnder Bri: we
UNB Tim: go.
DownUnder Bri: all know that that’s what we like.
UNB Tim: That’s good though, because usually most people are like, I gotta set the timer and I’ve gotta do this and I’ve gotta do this, like,
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: no.
DownUnder Bri: Oh look, don’t underestimate the power of an Apple watch if you do have an iPhone.
UNB Tim: Oh
DownUnder Bri: I
UNB Tim: yes.
DownUnder Bri: love the actual Apple watch and the viewfinder, so highly recommend that. Thankfully, one of our department stores sells quite cheap tripods and that sort of paraphernalia, so highly recommend that sort of situation.
UNB Tim: Yeah, because I first started following you because of the spicy content you were
DownUnder Bri: That’s
UNB Tim: putting
DownUnder Bri: right.
UNB Tim: out, and then I noticed, I’m like, oh, he likes underwear too. Oh, look at this.
DownUnder Bri: Yes,
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: yeah, look, definitely that’s where it started, you know, being on Instagram, you know, kind of almost when Instagram first came out, probably a couple years after that, that’s when I actually created my own Not Safe For Work channel, having underwear as the flow through to start with, and then moving over to the Twitter for something a bit more explicit.
UNB Tim: Oh yeah, and now that’s a total train wreck but…
DownUnder Bri: That’s another
UNB Tim: have?
DownUnder Bri: tangent.
UNB Tim: Well, I’m going on this tangent because
DownUnder Bri: I feel like there should be a tangent checklist every time, a little ding every time we go on a tangent.
UNB Tim: But I use social media to get guests and I use Instagram and Twitter mainly and There was someone I wanted to get on the show and I was going to send them a direct message And I went to send them a message going. Oh you have to pay Twitter blue to send this person a message and I’m like, oh fuck no. I am NOT paying you to send a message. No no, no and Instagram this week changed it. You can only send one message to somebody you don’t follow. And it’s just like, you’re making my podcasting much harder, people,
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: because
DownUnder Bri: Look, I do know the Twitter thing was something that happened recently where the setting was changed and a lot of people
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: aren’t aware. So anyone who is on Twitter slash X that is not aware and wondering why they aren’t getting any messages, check your settings to find out who can actually message you. So the actual default setting at the moment is that you can only be Twitter blue if you, you can only receive messages if you are Twitter blue. Um, so make sure the setting is changed to allow everyone to message you.
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: That’s definitely a setting that they changed without telling anyone.
UNB Tim: Lovely. Thanks. I won’t say your name. So yeah, so yeah, it’s just like, and that brings up the whole question of, I’ll ask you this question with Twitter being, you know, the dumpster fire it is lately. What other social media sites are you looking to go sort of spread content on and change? Because that’s the biggest issue in underwear right now is Instagram is so you know Victorian and oh my god you showed insert whatever mill balls anatomy and then threads came up, but it’s still Instagram and still has there and You know Who else is out there? I’m trying to think but who else are you experimented with and found have you found it to be? Good for you as opposed to just another site
DownUnder Bri: Alas, a disappointing answer. One of my mottos in 2021 was, we’re not reinventing the wheel here. I am happy for people to do their own beta testing and then jump on something that turns out to be popular. For example, when Twitter was seemed to be going under and everyone was moving to Mastodon, I was waiting to find out if people actually found it worthwhile. So at the moment, I’m sticking with Instagram and Twitter as my main source of communication to my followers. and have yet to find something that is absolutely perfect than what we need. I agree with regards to threads. Threads is just as restrictive as Instagram.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: So although I have my profile on there, I’m not posting on there because it’s just the same as Instagram really,
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: with regards to the restrictions. I am waiting to hear back from people with Blue Sky. I know you’re looking to get onto it too.
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: I’m waiting to hear back from my friends that have said that yes, this is the place to go to. Where I’m actually now starting to focus on is TikTok. So two months ago, I ended up joining TikTok to be a content creator rather than just a voyeur like I have been for the
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: last two years. And that’s been actually quite successful in my opinion in relative to my other accounts. I’m getting a good following, I’m getting good feedback on my TikToks. I wish I could say that the TikToks that I’m creating that are me topless wearing some underwear are doing well. But unfortunately, they are my least successful
UNB Tim: Thank
DownUnder Bri: TikToks.
UNB Tim: you very much.
DownUnder Bri: It seems that, again, like we talked about before, things that I put five seconds of effort into seem to blow
UNB Tim: Uh
DownUnder Bri: up
UNB Tim: huh.
DownUnder Bri: in my opinion, as opposed to things that I spend two hours filming and editing, they don’t seem to go anywhere. So, but TikTok, I’m really enjoying. And I think the
UNB Tim: Okay.
DownUnder Bri: authenticity of TikTok is what people are really liking at the moment. And it does help. funnel to the other channels that you want people to go onto.
UNB Tim: Yeah, I’m trying to get on Blue Sky. I’ve heard really good things about Blue Sky for just in general of a social media. And then because of their stance on quote unquote adult content is what it was with Twitter. So they’re basically the same. So I’m like, okay, I have high hopes for this. I joined Mastodon. I like Mastodon, but for the general public, it is just too complicated and too… It’s just like, no. In my favorite words, girl, no. Uh-uh. Because I learned how to do it. I’m like, oh, I get it now. And I’m like, but no one else is gonna get this. This is just, you need to be in the tech field to really get this. And I was like, no.
DownUnder Bri: Exactly. Look, nowadays, because the fact we have so many different platforms to go on, we want to make sure that the user experience is as seamless as possible and
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: as easy as possible for us to adopt to. Like it’s gone in the days of MySpace of having to like, you know, write your own code to actually make something look pretty on your website and stuff like that. Like we literally just want someone to go, plonk, here, this is the one to use, this is the easy taps, three taps, and you’ve posted a dick pic. three taps and you’ve liked a dip pick,
UNB Tim: Exactly.
DownUnder Bri: that’s what we want. You know, we don’t want to be out of looking at the codes and stuff like that.
UNB Tim: You don’t
DownUnder Bri: As
UNB Tim: want
DownUnder Bri: much
UNB Tim: to have
DownUnder Bri: as
UNB Tim: to.
DownUnder Bri: message on sounds great, it’s, you’re right. I agree that it’s a bit too complicated for the general population.
UNB Tim: If you’re not on the same server, you have to put in them and their server and da da. Once I learned that I’m like, okay, I get this now, but I’m like, no one else is going to, this is just no moving on. Cause I thought about starting a UNB server for Macedon. I thought, oh, it’s easy to do. It’s not that hard. And then I’m like, well, it’s too much work. It’s work. No, sorry. It’s not bringing me money. Got to go. So
DownUnder Bri: I mean,
UNB Tim: yeah.
DownUnder Bri: literally nowadays people have a seven second attention span. If they don’t get what they want within seven seconds, they’ll move on.
UNB Tim: Oh yeah, definitely. But that’s my newest thing I’ve taken on is where are we going in social media with underwear and swimwear.
DownUnder Bri: Exactly. At the moment,
UNB Tim: It’s a nightmare.
DownUnder Bri: there isn’t anywhere to go to. We have no good place to go to. And I completely agree.
UNB Tim: because we’ve had, I know there are several brands that have left uh, Twitter because of all the craziness going on there’s no one to be associated, any of other people and you know, you got the rest of us who are like, we’re kinda stuck there because it’s the only place we can post stuff and not get oh, bad you, we’re deleting your account for the fourth time so yeah, yeah I
DownUnder Bri: I
UNB Tim: think,
DownUnder Bri: hear you.
UNB Tim: it’s just a nightmare and it’s just Not changing anytime soon, so.
DownUnder Bri: No. Hooray for
UNB Tim: Yay.
DownUnder Bri: capitalism. Ha ha ha.
UNB Tim: We love everyone in the social media space. Thanks everyone. Cause yeah, it hurts brands and people because you can’t really post your product. And it’s like, cause I went to Vegas two years, actually two years ago today, cause it came up. I saw my giant piece of Emerald Lagasse Banana Cream Pie I ate two years ago today. Oh my god, it was so good. And it was like, I went to seminars and I’m like, we’ll do all this stuff and do lives and do this. And I’m like thinking, that’s good for women’s brands, but for men’s underwear, yeah, no. None of that shit’s gonna work for me, so thanks. So, moving on. But yeah. So let me ask you this. Um, we’ll get a, we’ll get a jumpstart on our Australian show. Um, so who are up and coming Australian brands that you are not necessarily have tried them, but you like what they’re doing and putting out? Are there
DownUnder Bri: Yeah,
UNB Tim: any that come
DownUnder Bri: so…
UNB Tim: to mind?
DownUnder Bri: I think Man Crush Apparel is definitely an up and coming brand that I’m really enjoying. Daniel who runs that is a very nice guy and open to getting his brand out there. So I would definitely look at Man Crush. Another one would be King in the Altar. So King in the Altar is by a guy that originally got famous on TikTok. Then he got famous on Twitter, which is a Cinderella story. And then he decided to create his own brand. So I’ve been looking at King and the altar for a while. I have one of their swimwear pieces, which I really enjoy. And I’m looking forward to his next evolution of range that he’s going to be coming out with. A potential unknown brand that, even though it’s been established for a while, I don’t know how well it is, how well known it is in America. is funky trunks. Have you heard
UNB Tim: I think
DownUnder Bri: of funky
UNB Tim: I’ve
DownUnder Bri: trunks
UNB Tim: heard
DownUnder Bri: before?
UNB Tim: of it, but I haven’t
DownUnder Bri: Yeah.
UNB Tim: really it sounds familiar, but nothing
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, so, so Funky Trunks style wise, it is fairly basic. It does appeal to the widest of markets around here, but what does set it apart is its vibrant patterns and its vibrant designs
UNB Tim: Oh, nice.
DownUnder Bri: that it does have. So for people out there who are craving those vibrant designs, like of the yesteryear, Funky Trunks is definitely something that I would recommend. I had quite a number of Funky Trunks let’s say about 10 years ago, I was all about the funky trunks because I liked having something vibrant to wear underneath. They both have briefs, they have trunks, they have boxer briefs, they have the longer trunks, and they also do matching swimwear as well. So for a brand, funky trunks is something I would definitely recommend. They also sponsor a lot of the swim teams in Australia as well. So from a swimming point
UNB Tim: Okay.
DownUnder Bri: of view, they have very good quality swimwear. And especially again, if you like something that has a lot more vibrancy in its patterns, Funky Trunks is somewhere I would actually recommend and I would definitely be going back to.
UNB Tim: I will be looking that up. I’ll be looking all of them up. Cause
DownUnder Bri: Yeah!
UNB Tim: I haven’t heard, I think I’ve seen Man Crush. I don’t remember. So we’ll talk after this.
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, it’s
UNB Tim: But
DownUnder Bri: alright.
UNB Tim: it’s one thing we look up, cause that’s one thing I love about Australia is cause you can never know what’s, you know the big ones, of course, you know all the big ones, but you have so many smaller ones that just pop up and have their own little niche market and are doing well in Australia and just. Guys know about them, but the rest of the world needs to know about them. I’m just saying
DownUnder Bri: Exactly.
UNB Tim: because what we have
DownUnder Bri: And look, that’s, that’s the good thing about your blog is the fact that you introduced us to stuff, especially like bulge underwear that, um, or bulge
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
DownUnder Bri: menswear that, um, you had the podcast recently on. Luke is great. And I’m very much looking forward to seeing what Luke does with his range. Uh, and he has some very good staples in his range. And there’s nothing wrong with being good at basic, as
UNB Tim: Nope.
DownUnder Bri: I said. Um, you know, as, as much as we like the Andrew Christians and the petite cues that have a lot of various styles of underwear
UNB Tim: I know.
DownUnder Bri: to choose from that aren’t always necessarily, you know, good to wear on an everyday basis.
UNB Tim: Yes.
DownUnder Bri: There’s nothing wrong with having some good basic staples like bulge menswear and like man crush to go to, to wear everyday to work.
UNB Tim: Exactly. And he, he impresses me so much out of that talk, through that podcast. And we talked before and afterwards and I think he’s going to have a brand that’s around a while.
DownUnder Bri: Yeah,
UNB Tim: I really do.
DownUnder Bri: I look forward to hearing his successes.
UNB Tim: And it’s just like, oh my god, and certain people I talk to where I go, you know what you’re doing. You have really sat down, you have really talked to people, you took the business side, you know what’s going on, okay good. And other people that I’ve dealt with over the years where it’s like, oh no, you’re not gonna make it baby, sorry, but…
DownUnder Bri: don’t tell that to their face.
UNB Tim: Well, you try to steer them to people who will guide them better. is normally what I do. I was like, hey, you need to talk to so and so at this brand or so and so at this brand. You know, because the underwear market in general is a very open place. People talk. It’s very friendly. It’s not like, oh, there are only certain people in the underwear community that people don’t like. And you do not pay enough to get me to tell those stories. Uh, so yes, if you want to Patreon me quite a bit of money, I will, I will tell those stories, but you’re not paying me enough. Um,
DownUnder Bri: You
UNB Tim: so I know all the, I know all the drama. Um, but yeah, it’s like, but they will help everyone out. The best thing that happens is like all the brands used to come to Vegas because you’d have like two aros from Australia and you would have cock socks and you would have, uh, the teammate would come. and then you would have the American brands go. And you would have, you know, at the end of the week, usually, I think it’s three days, by the third day, all the buyers are out either going home or having fun in the city and skipping the rest of the conference. And you see like strange brands talking together. And you’re like, wait a minute, someone’s talking to some, what? And you have all these people going and they’re talking about. their stuff and what they’re doing and like some of the problems they’ve had and they share so it’s really cool industry. I did not know that before many years ago getting into this industry with the blog that it was so friendly and so open and so accepting of people that it’s like that’s really good. I’m so happy.
DownUnder Bri: That is great to hear. Look, there’s definitely room for everyone. I don’t think that the market is over-saturated yet.
UNB Tim: Mm-mm.
DownUnder Bri: There’s definitely a good range out there worldwide.
UNB Tim: Until we have men’s underwear stores in every city in this country, I would like a Victoria’s Secret. Yeah, no, we’re not oversaturated because we’ve got several in this city alone and I’m like we got one men’s underwear store so yeah, get on it people. So yeah, so we’ll wrap it up there. It’s a good place to wrap it up. We’ll have you back on hopefully soon and many more times because That market just astounds me.
DownUnder Bri: Yeah, there’s definitely lots to choose from here.
UNB Tim: I know when I come visit, I will just have to order lots of stuff while I’m there and then have an extra suitcase going home. I’ve already determined and I’m just like, they’re like, did you buy anything? No, well, what’s this suitcase full of underwear? I took it when I went.
DownUnder Bri: souvenirs?
UNB Tim: But don’t give me, oh, Border Patrol, oh, TV show. Don’t get me started on that, oh. I love your version. We’ll talk after this. So tell everyone where they can find you on social media.
DownUnder Bri: Yep, on all these social media channels, I am Down Under Bri, so B-R-I. You can find me on Instagram, I’m on Twitter, I’m on TikTok, I’m on Squirt, I’m on BBRT, I’m on pretty much any channel you can think of, you’ll find me under Down Under Bri. As well as all the Spiceo channels, feel free to have a look at that as well. Plenty of options to choose from.
UNB Tim: Whether you want mild or spicy, he’s got you covered. So
DownUnder Bri: Exactly.
UNB Tim: go check him
DownUnder Bri: Well, look,
UNB Tim: out.
DownUnder Bri: I am the whitest of white, so I am pretty mild. There’s definitely ways that
UNB Tim: But
DownUnder Bri: I can get spicy.
UNB Tim: so he can get wild.
DownUnder Bri: Hahaha!
UNB Tim: So nothing wrong with that. Have fun with that, I say. OK, now to our announcement. OK, so we’re trying to get to 20 in general. Patreon people, right? You know, I’ve been talking about this for months. We’re almost there. Well, I’ve got something new coming up for you people, but you have to get to 30 Patreon people. And we will start doing a review show. So everyone is gonna have at least three guys on it, different ages, different sexualities, different sizes, all getting the same underwear and discussing that underwear. So it’s a review show of, you know, it’s not just one person’s opinion, you’re gonna get at least three people’s opinion on this pair.
DownUnder Bri: I love that so much. It sounds like a book club but for underwear.
UNB Tim: It’s underwear and you will and Patreon members will get to help us choose what pairs we buy. And hopefully we’ll get our Australian going and we can do an Australian version and hopefully snack some free underwear. Um,
DownUnder Bri: Bring it on.
UNB Tim: but hopefully, but that’s my new thing. Uh, so we’ve been in the works for a little while. We haven’t, we’re trying to do a test show now and well. We thought we had a brand to do it and they sent us, I told them, send us exactly the same pairs. You’re sending us. And they did not. So yeah, so we’re trying to retool. We’re gonna figure out. But this is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna have an underwear review show because I know you got boys love reviews. And if you hear three people talking about a pair, you’re gonna get a well-rounded opinion. So that’s our goal. That’s what we plan to do. But you got to get to 30 people on Patreon before we will do it because we’re probably going to have to buy a lot of the pairs of underwear. And as all you know, underwear is not cheap. Even if I own a store, it’s not cheap. But according to the US, I can’t be on the shows that if I supply the underwear. So, you know, it’s kind of a conflict of interest. So I can host it, but I can’t, you know, participate. But, you know. So, and Brian can come on, Brian can come on with us and do Australian or American brands. We may send our Aussie boys US brands. They may not have tried before because
DownUnder Bri: That’d be
UNB Tim: of
DownUnder Bri: exciting.
UNB Tim: the shipping and get their point of views on it. So there’s many things we can do with this, but all of you gotta step up people, join the Patreon and do it. So, yay. So,
DownUnder Bri: Do
UNB Tim: all
DownUnder Bri: it.
UNB Tim: right, do it. So that’s our thing. Enjoy people. We will have a new podcast soon. Sorry, there wasn’t one last week, but technical issues and then, you know, scheduling is hard. So you’ll just have to go every so often in weeks without a podcast, sorry, but not more than usually once. So yay. All right, everyone, have a great week and we’ll have a podcast soon for you. Bye.
I am joined by the Crimson Ginger on this edition of the Brief Talk Podcast. You may have seen him on IG or Twitter showing off his love of underwear. He talks about what got him into underwear and that he still has those first pairs he bought! Which is rare among underwear guys. He then tells us about the different styles he loves and why he loves underwear. Just like me, he can’t stand BOXERS, for you boxer guys out there.
This was an amazing conversation I think you guys are going to love, it’s a longer podcast but the conversation will make it seme like a much shorter podcast. Go follow him at:
Support UNB For on going support join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/ You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
Follow unb on Twitter and IG @UNBBlog
Follow me on all social media as: @unbtim
www.twitter.com/unbtim
www.instagram.com/unbtim
unbtim@kinky.business on Mastadon Support UNB For on going support join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/ You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
The podcast episode features a conversation between UNB Tim and the creators of the film “All Man,” Jesse Finley-Reed and Brian Darling. They discuss the significance of the international mail catalogs and their impact on the gay community and society at large. The filmmakers explore the themes of masculinity, self-expression, and non-conformity through the lens of the underwear industry. They touch on the cultural and historical context of the catalogs, including the AIDS crisis and the changing ideals of masculinity. The conversation delves into the allure of international mail, the experiences of the models and customers, and the continued relevance of underwear as a form of personal expression.
They mention the unexpected aspects of the film, such as delving into the behind-the-scenes stories and the catalog’s cultural impact. They express their pride in creating a film that goes beyond expectations and resonates with viewers. The conversation touches on the nostalgia and uniqueness of International Male in a pre-internet era. They also highlight the personal stories shared by audience members and the emotional connection people have with the catalog. Bryan and Jesse emphasize the significance of holding a physical catalog and the enduring appeal of print media. They invite listeners to watch the film and support it through ratings, and they express their preference for leaving viewers wanting more rather than being disappointed. The conversation concludes with gratitude and a recommendation for everyone to watch the film.
Find more info about the film at their website https://www.internationalmalemovie.com/
Follow me on all social media as: @unbtim
www.twitter.com/unbtim
www.instagram.com/unbtim
unbtim@kinky.business on Mastadon Support UNB For on going support join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/ You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
Follow unb on Twitter and IG @UNBBlog
TRANSCRIPT
UNB Tim: Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of the Reef Talk Podcast. We have two really cool people on today who have done something amazing. Uh, we have Jesse Finley-Reed and Brian Darling, who you may not know, did the all-man movie about international mail. Welcome guys.
Bryan: Thank you.
Jesse: Thank you. Thank
Bryan: It’s
Jesse: you
Bryan: good
Jesse: so
Bryan: to
Jesse: much
Bryan: be
Jesse: for
Bryan: here.
Jesse: having us.
Bryan: We
UNB Tim: It’s-
Bryan: love talking about international mail and underwear.
UNB Tim: Well, you’re on the right podcast.
Bryan: Hahaha.
UNB Tim: So we definitely, this is, we’re all about underwear. We talk everything underwear, masculinity, everything. You name it, we do it on this podcast. So
Jesse: It’s Write Up
UNB Tim: when
Jesse: International
UNB Tim: I saw the film,
Jesse: Males, oh sorry, Write Up International Males Alley.
UNB Tim: Exactly. And when I saw the movie coming out, I was like, I’ve got to get you on the podcast to talk. And I saw the movie this month and liked it a lot. And I was telling you before the show, I think you could have made an entire series about international mail. Cause there is so much to cover and so much to do about international mail, because it is so iconic that it left me wanting more when I’m the movie I’m like, I want to hear more of this and this and this and this and this, but
Bryan: I know it goes by so quick in 80 minutes or 85 minutes. We, at one point we were, we talked about a series. I mean, there was all kinds of ideas
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: of stuff, you know?
UNB Tim: It’s just crazy
Jesse: Yeah.
UNB Tim: because it’s so iconic in the gay world and in the straight world as you pointed out That it was a time before the internet before Everything and you got the catalogs in the mail and you got to see all this really interesting stuff that you couldn’t get anywhere else and It was it was just amazing back in the day. So our listeners who were younger who never got to experience it. I’m sorry, but it was amazing.
Jesse: Well yeah, and it’s what makes
UNB Tim: So,
Jesse: the pre-internet
UNB Tim: so.
Jesse: world… Oh, sorry. I think there might be a delay with me,
UNB Tim: Oh,
Jesse: I’m
UNB Tim: go ahead.
Jesse: sorry. Is there?
UNB Tim: Oh, you’re fine.
Jesse: Okay.
UNB Tim: I don’t see one, but it probably is. But we’ll get around
Jesse: I think
UNB Tim: it.
Jesse: that that’s what’s so amazing about it because I was one of the little boys who got it in the mail or teenage teenagers got it in the mail and it was this sort of window into this world that I didn’t really see in the world around me where men were living these sort of fantastic lives and wearing boundary pushing clothing and it It felt both provocative and safe at the same time to look which I think as
UNB Tim: guess.
Jesse: a young queer person was really important, especially at that time. It was the eighties and, you know, it was the AIDS crisis and Reaganism and all of that. And here was this thing where none of that seemed to matter.
UNB Tim: Yeah, that’s so what made you guys tackle international mail? What made you want to take on this subject?
Bryan: It was a really, it was just complete happenstance. Jesse and I were working on another project at the time dealing with growing up during the age of AIDS. And while we were working on that project, he came across some magazines and I’ll let him tell that story to you specifically. But basically, you know, he brought these catalogs, magazines catalogs, yeah, to to me to show me. And I was really shocked when I saw them, just in the sense that, wow, I’ve never seen anything like this before, you know, in fashion, like in the sense of what you could, what you had access to, what you could buy and how the images were put together and how editorial it was, yet it was a catalog. I was like, wow, what is this? How have I never seen this? And what’s, you know, what’s the story behind this? And initially, you know, we were going to do a short film about how it, you know, how the affinity that gay men had for it and, you know, used to jerk off to it and what it meant to them. And, you know, like a fun short film for us to do while we were working on this other film, this larger film. And it very quickly, I mean, really very quickly became apparent that there was a much larger story here and a much deeper. story to explore and uncover. But it all started when Jesse was at work one day.
Jesse: Yeah,
UNB Tim: Nice.
Jesse: and a colleague was moving on to another position and someone had jokingly given him these international mail catalogs and they were in his recycling bin. And I picked them up in his office and I held them close to my heart and I said, oh my god, these meant so much to me. It was funny
UNB Tim: I’m sorry.
Jesse: all these years later, seeing some of the issues that I recall receiving. and remembering the sequence of images, you know, again, this pre-internet world where you really held on to certain things that were valuable to you, where you could find, you know, not a word that I would use at the time, like representation that was somehow different
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: from what we saw everywhere else. And as Brian said, it was gonna be this funny little film until it became a story about so much more. And that really excited us both, because I think it’s great to take something often written off as like camp or saccharin or not so important and use it to really dive into some much deeper issues culturally. And I think that’s what works so beautifully about the film and its history. I mean, the catalog and its history, excuse me, is that
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: it… It overlaps with these trends, these movements, these cultural moments in our society, where we’re being pushed forward, being pulled back, it all depends, but it fits in very well.
UNB Tim: Yes. Because the catalog itself was something amazing back in the day because coming out in the 80s, it was like, what is this? What? We have this? Oh my goodness. Where has this been? This is amazing. And I’ve told the story on the podcast many times. I had the international mail credit card back in the day
Jesse: Thanks for watching.
UNB Tim: with the $200 limit and
Bryan: Yeah.
UNB Tim: just thought I was just on top of the world, it’s like, you know what I can buy for $200? Oh my God, goodness. When I was in college, so it was like, Oh my God. So yes,
Jesse: Glamorous,
UNB Tim: it was.
Jesse: glamorous. See, we’re
UNB Tim: It
Jesse: living
UNB Tim: was
Jesse: an international life at your college.
UNB Tim: exactly that $200
Bryan: Hahaha
UNB Tim: got me there. I was like, yes. Uh, so yeah.
Bryan: When we found out about the credit card, I remember like, wow, what didn’t they have? It was
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: like, wow, very smart. I think at one point in time, we were told also they had like a magazine caddy that they
UNB Tim: Oh,
Bryan: had made
UNB Tim: wow.
Bryan: for it
Jesse: Yes,
Bryan: as well
Jesse: I’ve actually
Bryan: that
Jesse: seen
Bryan: you could
Jesse: it.
Bryan: put somewhere for your international mail.
UNB Tim: Oh wow, wow.
Jesse: Yes, it’s in
UNB Tim: I
Jesse: loose
UNB Tim: remember
Jesse: site.
UNB Tim: I used to have him for…
Jesse: It’s a clear loose site
Bryan: Yeah.
Jesse: catalog holder that I saw at Gloria Tomita’s house, actually.
Bryan: I say you should put an eBay alert on that one for that. That’s a good collector’s item to have.
UNB Tim: I was supposed to say that is something I did not even know they did. It’s just, oh my goodness, that’s crazy. But yeah, because people used to display them when you would meet people and go over to friends’ houses, they’d be on the coffee table as, look, I get international mail, I get under gear. Here it is. So
Jesse: Well,
UNB Tim: it
Jesse: yeah.
UNB Tim: wasn’t just something you just like. Oh, go
Jesse: Oh,
UNB Tim: ahead.
Jesse: and it’s, no, I’m sorry. I think there’s a delay with me, but yeah, it’s something coded that you could have out on the copy table. You could have that and it would be an indication of perhaps your taste in clothing or perhaps your taste in more than clothing sort
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: of on display.
UNB Tim: Yes, very much so. It was just crazy. And one part I really liked about the movie was you had the phone salespeople because I tell people before you could either fill out the order form in it and mail it in or you could call an order and people are just blown away especially younger that you had to actually call someone and talk to someone. about this and to hear one of the people who did it, it was just so fun and so good to hear. Yes, I want the whatever jockstrap and this and da da. But yeah, I love that part because it brings back memories of me calling up so many times.
Bryan: Did you have, do you remember any of your conversations with any of the phone salespeople?
UNB Tim: Not a lot.
Bryan: So you weren’t one of those flirty, flirty callers.
UNB Tim: No, I was re I was 19 18 19 20. So I was just like, it was already calling up about all the fun stuff I wanted to order and it was just like, Oh my goodness. So it
Bryan: Because
UNB Tim: was
Bryan: I asked to because not just for the flirty parts, that’s always fun, but something that didn’t make it in the film was Dion, the phone sales
UNB Tim: I love you.
Bryan: operator who’s in the film, when we did our interview, he brought with him some index cards to show us that he had kept that were customer cards. They would keep notes on their customers, like lives in Chicago, banker, traveled so and such, likes this item or that item. They would make notes about, so when they called, they could be reminded, refreshed and have conversations. They were always trying to have like sort of real conversations with people and of interest and talk about, things going on in life at the time. So I was just curious if you experienced any of that, just because it’s such a neat thing to see and I wish we could have gotten it in the film, but yeah, there was that. And then also people who bought from the store or bought from the catalog would also send in photos.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: This is something we weren’t able to put into the film and… They would send photos of themselves, like Polaroids or photo prints made of them in underwear with ideas of an underwear that they could
UNB Tim: Oh,
Bryan: come
UNB Tim: man.
Bryan: out with or how they would be a great model. Or certain phone operators also would have relationships with some of these guys as well.
UNB Tim: Yeah, that’s one thing that really I was not expecting in the film since I came of age during that time as we were talking about the people who had the customers and they all started dying with the AIDS in the 80s. And I’m just like, Oh, I remember that so vividly growing up in that time and coming out that I’m like, yeah. And I think it shocked. I know some people who saw it and were like, what? I’m like, yeah, you don’t remember the AIDS crisis. And, you know, we didn’t have internet, so you wouldn’t find out. So and so passed away like. months beforehand and I was like yeah it struck gay businesses too so yeah
Bryan: Definitely.
UNB Tim: So that was good to see in there too. It was like, teaching people about history. I was like very happy. So what was one of you guys favorite things about making the movie that you either learned or happened or discovered about international male while you were making.
Jesse: I think that the most shocking thing that I discovered, because I of course approach this as a gay kid who had gotten it, I think when we learned about the actual demographics of people who were buying the clothes, it was pretty surprising to me that, it totally makes sense in retrospect because the common thing that gay men say is like, oh, I never bought anything, but I kept getting it. you know, the fact that women, you know, desired these clothes for the men in their lives and sort of acted on that. And a lot of men desired those clothes to act on it. That was pretty surprising because here I had thought that this was a special thing just for me. Like this was like the
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: special catalog made for young gay boys like me. And I think the other thing that happened really early on, you know, when it became a much larger film, was feeling welcomed into this family of people who all
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: spoke about how much they cared about this job and family, you know, this chosen family, if you will, way before we had the phrase chosen family, and how much it sort of supported them and built them up. And Often people say it was like the best job they ever had. And that was for
UNB Tim: Nice.
Jesse: not just the models or not just the sales staff. It was sort of like everyone felt that way. So we felt, I felt very shepherded into this family by everyone.
UNB Tim: Nice. Yeah, that came through on the screen that they felt like a family and they were very close to each other while working there and probably many of them kept in touch afterwards. But yeah, that came through in the film. So that was awesome.
Bryan: Yeah, I think one of the interesting things for me during the process was talking to the models and kind of getting an understanding of like, why did they go into modeling?
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: And also, when did they become sort of aware of their bodies and worked on their bodies and why did they do that? And again, it was something that we couldn’t get all this into the film fully. Because initially when we were starting to make the film, we were really, we were really wanting to explore heavily, you know, masculinity. What is masculinity?
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: How do men find masculinity? You know, and how does sort of the definition and expression of masculinity change, you know, over, over time for, for these men? And And one of the interesting things was that a lot of the models were from small towns.
UNB Tim: Thank you.
Bryan: And their experience of becoming a model opened up their entire world perspective. They may have come from small towns that if you were gay, you were a fag, or it was
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: a very obviously negative thing that no one wanted to be. And And of course, then it was like also a sickness and all these various things. So what was interesting is by them becoming models and going into the modeling world and being exposed to so many different people, a lot of gay men are in the fashion industry and then also traveling the world. And it really opened up their minds and their perspectives and their realities as they were becoming, you know, were young adults in their early 20s. I thought that was really interesting to see and to hear. For them, modeling oftentimes was an escape, a way to escape the town and the life that they were having in their adolescence and young adult lives, a way to escape that and go on to something. they realized that the attention they got from
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: having a body, and seeing attention that, basically seeing attention that other men were receiving for having that muscle built body, which at the time in the 80s, in late 70s and 80s, this was like a new thing coming in. Prior to that, it was more about being skinny, but you just always had the body building. world, but it was more obscure, if that makes sense.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: So what’s interesting is when they noticed that there was a tension that could be gotten from having a body, they focused on developing their bodies in a way of becoming the muscular athletic way in which we see them in the catalog. And then also, That’s not to take away the fact that they weren’t athletes. A lot of these models coming in the 80s were actual athletes that were these
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: bodies because the modeling industry at the time, guys with muscles was not the look in fashion.
UNB Tim: guest.
Bryan: And it was very hard for, they were called body models who mostly did like sportswear and gym wear kind of things. So that all really changed in the mid 80s. And so I just found that aspect of it really interesting because in a certain way, making this film, whenever you’re a documentary filmmaker, hopefully, you’re learning as well. Like you’re uncovering something
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: about not only the topic, but something about yourself. And hopefully that’s also reflected in the film. And so for me, it’s like, yeah, what is masculinity? These days we talk about it being toxic, you know. but how do we get our masculinity? How do we define it? How does it change? And what are good role models of masculinity? And that was
UNB Tim: Okay.
Bryan: what I found really fascinating and interesting and kind of thinking also about myself and my own identity as that related.
UNB Tim: Nice. Yeah, that’s the film carries over is the underwear industry as a total today because Like you were saying Jesse you were surprised that the makeup of the customers even today we have Straight guys who love underwear coming out more bisexual guys gay guys, so it’s not just Gay guys doing underwear and that’s one reason our podcast has done so well as we talk to all these different ones and then we talk about what is masculinity is like wearing a thong doesn’t make you any less masculine than not wearing one so it’s these conversations are still going on today that you discovered from the 80s and on so that’s kind of cool that they’re still in some ways cool but other ways just like you think we’d be past the masculinity thing but that’s always a thing
Jesse: Well,
UNB Tim: but yeah
Jesse: I think the masculinity thing, I just wanted to say though, before I go into that, is that I think that underwear fits really well into this idea of safe expression because it’s something that you have
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: underneath your clothes, your outer clothes, so you can really be taking a risk with underwear. I think that’s why, you know, just… guessing because you know, of course data isn’t the same from back then as we have now But I think that’s what made
UNB Tim: Yeah.
Jesse: the underwear so popular was like, oh I can wear this like Fandoshi Japanese wrap under my three-piece suit and get away with it and
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: there’s something like a really erotic about that I think the film Really chronicles this sort of Masculinity that’s taking place And if you look at the very early catalogs from the 70s, you see, I’d say, a much less muscular, less athletic guy. And as the catalog evolved and they saw what sold, it was this really brilliant marketing strategy of taking these sort of
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: archetypes of masculinity, like the Brian Bazzini’s or David Knight’s, and putting them in this boundary pushing clothes. because it’s in a way made it safe for viewers. I could
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: project my erotic desire on it. A young trendy guy wanting to look hip and cool could say I wanna dress like Don Johnson or their wife or partner, female partner could say, I want them to look like Fabio and here’s a catalog for it. I think where the film ends is something both Brian and I were really excited by about like sort of ending it in the TikTok world where everyone
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: can sort of represent themselves. And I think as far as we’ve come, I think the problem, or I think the complication of masculinity is we still eroticize as a culture, broadly speaking, a very specific kind of masculinity.
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: And I think still, that men who choose, you know, there’s a lot of athletes at the very, very end of the film wearing this sort of outrageous clothes, but they sort of have this privileged body already. And what does it mean for us as a culture? And I think the beautiful thing about these various movements that we’re in or coming out of or dealing with, like the Women’s Movement, the Black Lives Matter, Trans Lives Matter, is like, it’s an opportunity to sort of be critical of masculinity. It’s also a question to Brian’s point of like, what does that masculinity look like now? Like,
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: what, what is it? Because obviously capitalism responds to what people want. If no one desired these erotic action figure movies, they wouldn’t make them. But instead we desire those things, so we make more of them, and the actors that are hired for them have nutritionists and go to the gym seven days a week and, you know, sculpt this body. But yeah, that’s the complication of now that I throw it out to the world to try to help figure out, you know, what is non-toxic masculinity?
UNB Tim: That’s a
Bryan: Well,
UNB Tim: good question.
Bryan: the thing to add to this too is, you know, when you’re, as Jesse’s alluding to with like movies and such and these superhero movies and like Kumail Nanjiani is a great example of, you know, from nerd to superhero.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: And I think also would think to understand it’s a global situation. It’s not just in the United States. of media and representation are not meant just for the United States, right? So they’re a basic sort of appealing level or something that is now people around the globe are appealing. And you can see it in the expression that young people in different countries take on to have that very like strong athletic superhero look. But something to it that I think is important that doesn’t get talked as much about You know, we use words like with underwear, we use words like, you know, erotic to feel erotic or is
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: erotic. And, and what happens is we have this tendency to, to basically interchange sexuality with, with masculinity.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: Like they’re, they’re so intertwined in this way that I think oftentimes when people are talking about masculinity. in my opinion, oftentimes they’re talking about sexuality. They are connected, but we’re talking about male sexuality. Whenever you say male sexuality, most people think of sexual orientation.
UNB Tim: Yes.
Bryan: This is a problem because to me, and something I said while we were making this film is that this is a film that explores masculinity and male sexuality. Male sexuality has nothing to do with sexual orientation. It’s a similar thing to where in the transgender world, a lot of people in discussing these things are taking gender and sexuality and looking at that as the same kind of thing. And I think when we talk about masculinity, you know, with men, I think it’s important to frame it in that way and to frame it in sort of a different way, which is, you know, what we’re saying is, if you wear this underwear, and it is erotic or looks erotic, then that can’t be masculine. That’s
UNB Tim: Yeah.
Bryan: how I interpret that. And I find that so interesting because there’s also a lot of men who are like, screw that, they don’t have any problems with it. Straight men,
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: you know, totally, they’ve taken a page from gay men and have seen the kind of attention and that has brought and they want that too. And so they will express themselves in an erotic way. Because to me, men expressing their sexuality, their erotic, their eroticness, whatever you wanna call it, is just a form of expression and a powerful thing that to me doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with whether a person is masculine or not.
UNB Tim: Yes. Because I think you pointed out so well in the film is guys who looked, you know, quote unquote masculine are wearing these clothes and being feeling sexual or being sexualized, basically, because our society goes, you can sexualize women all you want to, but you can’t sexualize a man. No,
Bryan: Well, it’s
UNB Tim: no,
Bryan: because
UNB Tim: no.
Bryan: it’s men who are doing this
UNB Tim: Yes.
Bryan: and men who are looking at it.
UNB Tim: Exactly.
Jesse: Well, and it’s also a threat to masculinity itself, because masculinity only sort of survives by belittling or labeling other things other.
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: I think that that’s how masculinity sort of maintains itself. It’s really fascinating. I don’t feel I can speak about it with any sort of confidence, but. There’s a whole section of academic research that uses this idea of it’s called the masculine box and about the sort of limitations and privileges that are carried with sort of masculine self-expression and how it sort of, anything that doesn’t sort of support masculinity is seen as other or weak or effeminate or any other
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: whole host of other words. But it’s very limiting. at the same time. And I
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: think that international mail is playing with the bounds of this. I think we as a culture
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: are playing with bounds of this. I think from RuPaul to academic Judith Butler, we’re really conscious that all these sort of accoutrements we wear, these clothes, it’s all a form of drag to borrow
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: of RuPaulism. which actually was coined by someone else, but I can’t cite that person, unfortunately.
UNB Tim: Bye.
Jesse: But this idea that we put on these clothes and we become something, we become Harrison Ford, we become Indiana Jones, we become Fabio. I mean, that’s so American, our imagination
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: of sort of projecting ourselves into these clothes and into these. sort of lifestyles. Like, it’s so wonderful when you look back at the 80s and you find an old nightclub footage and everyone’s
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: sort of aspiring to be this dynasty-like character, so to speak, you know? And it’s about, it’s very American to me in a really wonderful way that we’re so informed by the world we see represented around us.
UNB Tim: Yes.
Bryan: I think the catalog, sorry, I just want to add one thing to this because it’s such an interesting conversation. I think when it comes to the catalog and what we’re really kind of talking about here, we’re talking about nonconformity, right? Because
UNB Tim: in there.
Bryan: if you think about it, when we’re talking about masculinity, I mean, masculinity technically can be kind of anything,
UNB Tim: Yes.
Bryan: but when we speak of it, we’re still using the way in which we assume is sort of this traditional. conservative standard type of masculinity that’s been around for a long time. But really what all this is, is about conformity. And in turn it’s like, okay, if you look this way, be this way, it’s all a way to conform and find an easy way to get through the society and to not stand out. And if anything, international male was really trying to push this idea that you don’t have to conform. That you… you don’t need to be like everybody else. And here’s a way that you can express yourselves in varying ways and to stand out. And I think that’s what makes it so awesome. I think that’s why it still stands the test of time. No matter what it is, we still, conformity probably will always be there in some fashion, but. I think that’s why it still lands today and people are amazed by it because it’s just so expressive and non-conformist.
UNB Tim: Yes. And I think with underwear, like you said, that guys can wear whatever they want to under their suit. It gives them a little more expression of who they want to be. And they maybe cannot wear the clothes they want to wear, do things. They’re in a small town, but you could wear pink underwear. You could wear something crazy and no one knows. So it gives you a little bit of expression. And we’ve talked to many of our listeners and readers that it gives them a little bit more confidence wearing something like, you know, a pink jock under a blue power suit when they give a presentation. So I think that plays a part into why underwear is so important to people, gay, straight, bi, trans, whatever. It adds something to your personality that you sometimes can’t show in public. So I think that’s one of the… the biggest bonuses of international mail in general too.
Bryan: probably why their underwear section was the largest and best selling
UNB Tim: Yes.
Bryan: section of the catalog.
UNB Tim: That was my gateway drug into everything. Because it was like, oh my goodness. I must have everything. I want all this page. Yes. Every color.
Bryan: Yeah, they have some amazing underwear. I have to say, like, it’s just like, wow, that’s, yeah.
UNB Tim: I still have some that
Jesse: Wow.
UNB Tim: I can still wear. And I found one of the latest collect, well, one of the, right before they closed, probably in the early 2010s, some that are unopened. And I’m like, oh no, this is like a museum piece now. Cause I can’t
Bryan: Hahaha!
UNB Tim: get rid of
Jesse: That’s great to know
UNB Tim: this.
Jesse: that you have these things because sometimes we get asked about doing an extension and I’m like, well, so much of it was spandex, so it didn’t really last. But,
UNB Tim: Oh yes,
Jesse: but, but
UNB Tim: I
Jesse: yeah,
UNB Tim: have
Jesse: that’s
UNB Tim: to find them.
Jesse: Those are collectible.
UNB Tim: And I have an international… No, not international, undergear beach ball somewhere around here. So,
Bryan: Yeah,
UNB Tim: yes.
Bryan: we were able to handle the original Jock Sock.
UNB Tim: Oh wow.
Bryan: There’s one, Gloria has the original sample that was used. And it’s in extremely excellent condition, surprisingly enough. And it’s actually when you watch the film, there’s a section where they talk about the Jock Sock and show
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: it on this sort of mannequin model. That’s the actual real jock-sock we slipped onto a mannequin
Jesse: Yeah, the prototype.
Bryan: to do it. So there’s, it’s impossible to find. We’ve never seen one. I have, I have, uh, you know, eBay alerts,
UNB Tim: I owned,
Bryan: but
UNB Tim: I’m gonna have to dig through my drawers, through everything, because I had several of them, and I’m gonna have to see if I can find one now.
Jesse: That’s
UNB Tim: I have
Jesse: so
UNB Tim: some stuff
Jesse: good.
UNB Tim: in storage that I didn’t wanna get rid of, because
Bryan: Hehehe
UNB Tim: as we get older, we grow horizontally in that dollar. And there’s just certain pairs that I didn’t wanna give away, and I knew that’s gonna be in something. So you’re gonna have me hitting on my… now to find the Jocsoc, because I had two or three of them. So
Bryan: Okay.
UNB Tim: if I find
Jesse: Yeah,
UNB Tim: them, I will…
Jesse: if you ever find yourself needing to get rid of them, feel free to mail them
Jesse: add them to my international mail archive of things.
UNB Tim: It’s crazy. I do have one question for you if you found this out, because this has been just like gnawing at me since they closed. Do you know if they even created an archive of all the old catalogs? Anyone?
Jesse: They did not, to our knowledge,
Bryan: I mean, we
Jesse: they
Bryan: don’t
Jesse: have,
Bryan: know.
Jesse: we don’t know, but
Bryan: We, yeah, I mean.
UNB Tim: Ah, because that’s.
Jesse: The people who own it aren’t very forthcoming. However, I will say that archives have collected all the catalogs.
Bryan: The one
Jesse: The other
Bryan: archive has a collection
UNB Tim: Okay, good.
Jesse: one archive in
Bryan: in LA.
Jesse: Los Angeles at USC
UNB Tim: Awesome.
Jesse: has one full collection. We have a lot of them now, not an exhaustive collection. There’s also… a website called Tim in Vermont, which was a really fantastic resource. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it,
UNB Tim: Uh-uh.
Jesse: but he has cat
Bryan: You
Jesse: or
Bryan: will be
Jesse: they,
Bryan: now.
Jesse: they have catalog. I’m not sure what they, what, how big of an enterprise it is, but they have cataloged everything from international mail and under gear to physique pictorial to old, you know, of physique films. And they’re all low resolution scans, which is, you know, I wish they were higher res, but
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: that site ended up becoming so helpful for us in terms
Bryan: we
Jesse: of
Bryan: were downloading the entire site.
Jesse: Yeah, like
Bryan: At
Jesse: place.
Bryan: a
UNB Tim: Hahaha.
Bryan: certain point, we had to call him because we were just literally downloading everything they had.
Jesse: Yeah, I had a
UNB Tim: That’s awesome.
Jesse: really lovely conversation with him about it. I was like, I know you said the limit of the downloads, but, and I just told him the whole story and he was like, oh no, you can download it all, it’s fine. But,
UNB Tim: Nice.
Jesse: yeah.
UNB Tim: Yeah, because that’s something I think should live on, because there’s so many people coming up now who don’t know about it or haven’t seen it, and they see snippets. So it would be cool if one of them did a higher resolution scan and put it online. But that’s just me
Bryan: Yeah, I think
UNB Tim: being
Bryan: we,
UNB Tim: nostalgic.
Bryan: well, you know, archives, archives don’t have the resources. That’s the one
UNB Tim: true.
Bryan: thing. Cause we, we were trying to like, you know, we, we need to fill out some of our, our stuff with, with some others. And, uh, but you know, for them, it’s like, I forget how much, was it like a dollar a scan or was it more than that? Jess.
Jesse: Oh no, yeah, it was much higher than that for,
Bryan: Okay, yeah.
Jesse: like a proper archivist to make a scan for.
Bryan: Yeah, because they won’t let you do
UNB Tim: Ugh.
Bryan: it. It has to be their staff and it takes a long time. It takes time. It’s very
UNB Tim: Yeah.
Bryan: expensive. So it was better for us to just buy up as many of these catalogs as we could. And I was watching while we were making the movie, I was watching the prices of these things on eBay go up,
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: the early ones from the 70s or ones. And I was watching them disappear more. like over the
UNB Tim: Yes.
Bryan: course of a couple of years, there used to be quite a bit. And then by the end, it was like one here, one there instead of these collections. We got several of them, including the very first one. But
Jesse: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: that’s the hardest. Those were, and luckily they were in really good condition, the ones that we got. Other ones that we got were given to us on loan from staff, which One of the things that was wonderful about that is, you know, the catalogs are one thing, and those are in some ways much more accessible. The stuff that nobody had access to, and that’s more of an issue for preservation, is all of the actual assets, like the materials in which they used to make the catalog. So
UNB Tim: Oh, yeah.
Bryan: we were given like layout page, like they would make these layouts using Polaroids and sketches of like fake pages. to kind of decide their layout and how they would shoot the clothing and lay out the catalog. And then also a lot of the art directors kept their film from the shoots.
UNB Tim: Oh wow.
Bryan: So we had access to a lot of large medium, what are called medium format, chromes that were all original camera stuff that we scanned very high resolution. And there was much more stuff that we got. And I think a lot of snapshots, various things. And I think one thing going forward, I hope is that eventually we can make sure that these materials that all these people have will eventually go into an archive somewhere to preserve the history of the catalog
UNB Tim: awesome.
Bryan: in general. But those were the really fun things to get a look at, was this inside world. when we got a videotape of the commercials they made in the 90s.
UNB Tim: Oh.
Bryan: And it was like, wow, like this commercial never aired, but it’s
UNB Tim: Uh
Bryan: so
UNB Tim: huh.
Bryan: rad, you know? Or we saw the gay catalog they put out. They did two issues of an actual gay catalog that ended up being kind of a disaster for them because it was too ahead of its time. They didn’t know who was gay.
UNB Tim: That’s
Bryan: So
UNB Tim: true.
Bryan: they had to just guess. and sent
UNB Tim: Oh
Bryan: this
UNB Tim: wow.
Bryan: catalog out to people. And it would, you know, it’s going to addresses and people don’t know who they’re going to. And that really, they got a
UNB Tim: Bye.
Bryan: lot of like people calling like, how dare you send this to me or what are you doing? Or, you know, pure, yeah, so. But it was great because it literally would be like pride related things. And the, you know, it was the clothing and the language in the copy, everything was very out. and proud.
UNB Tim: Well, yeah, that was definitely ahead of its time. That was, uh, wow. Wow.
Bryan: Do you remember the
UNB Tim: I
Bryan: name
UNB Tim: do
Bryan: of
UNB Tim: this.
Bryan: that catalog, Jess?
Jesse: It was called him.
UNB Tim: I vaguely remember that. Vaguely
Jesse: You might
UNB Tim: remember.
Jesse: have been a lucky few who got it.
Bryan: I’m out.
UNB Tim: I don’t think I got it, but I remember hearing about it.
Jesse: Yeah,
UNB Tim: I
Jesse: like
UNB Tim: don’t remember.
Jesse: it was funny. It was the opposite extreme. It’s like on the cover, there was like a pink triangle over the eye. You know, there was like rainbow flags. There was like, you know, for the catalog, which had always sort of skirted sexual
UNB Tim: Yes.
Jesse: orientation, it was full-throated, let’s just say. And seems appropriate. It was full-throated. And I mean, the clothes were like, it was like what you’re imagining, but taken to another extreme. But yeah, I think that was actually another really fucking fascinating thing that happened, which was like, you know, here’s all this talk, they’re labeled a gay catalog, they try to straighten it out, they try to do all these things, and then they make a gay catalog? like specifically a gay catalog, and it goes terribly.
UNB Tim: Miracle-y.
Jesse: It goes horribly. And it’s like, that’s the sort of irony of all of this.
Bryan: Yeah, the catalog itself. So we discovered this catalog when we interviewed. Oh, my brain just went dead. Jess,
Jesse: What, him?
Bryan: is it Peter?
Jesse: Oh, Peter. Peter
Bryan: Peter,
Jesse: Carroll.
Bryan: what was Peter, Peter Carroll, thank you. Peter Carroll, who was creative director during his time, he was the one that created this magazine, this catalog. And when you look at it, I wish we could show it to you, but I don’t know, but its design was so good. And the images were amazing. They were so powerful and so strong. And the clothing these guys were wearing was like, wow. that is like someone ready to go to a pride party and like leather and straps. And I mean, it was just really impressive. It was so, so that 90s look and feel that, that just, I don’t know, I found it awesome. And it was very sad that it not, but it was, it was, they put a lot of work into it. It wasn’t just like, you know, a little catalog. They put a… lot of work and a lot of resources went into making.
UNB Tim: nice yeah because they always did amazing stuff amazing catalogs so i figured that would be just as amazing but yeah so i have to ask that you’ve been showing up until recently the film at uh film festivals and around the country uh and it just came out on a video or download What has been some of the things you’ve been hearing from people after they see the movie? What are some of the more memorable things people have said to you guys after viewing it?
Jesse: Well, I think that something that I’m really excited about and was exciting in making the film as we were sort of shepherding the story, was it becomes a film about a lot more than what people
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: are expecting it to be. And that makes me really happy. Everything is created in a context. And I think sort of… bringing your viewers along to sort of seeing how this is operating in the world and what they’re up against, et cetera. I think that it’s very humanizing. I think it’s what we’re attracted to generally speaking as human beings is like these stories. I think I was worried at times, I can remember thinking like, ah, will people be disappointed it’s not sexy enough or something.
Bryan: Hehehe
Jesse: But I think I’m really proud of it. I don’t think I’m answering your question very well.
UNB Tim: It’s well, it’s there’s so much to cover in this topic that because when I when I saw it, I was expecting one thing I was expecting
Jesse: Yeah.
UNB Tim: the sexy I was expecting, you know all that but when I watched it, I was like Oh You gave me something. I didn’t know I wanted basically Because you saw more the behind the scenes you saw more of the people who made it And it’s like a family So it was really cool And I’m like, okay, I did not know I needed this movie, but I’m glad I have this movie now. Cause when
Bryan: Well,
UNB Tim: I stopped
Bryan: I don’t
UNB Tim: watching
Bryan: know, go ahead.
UNB Tim: it, I was like, okay. That wasn’t what I expected. Let’s think. Cause it got me thinking and I’m like, oh, okay. And that’s when I’m like, I’ve got to watch it again and again and again. So,
Jesse: I’m going to go to bed.
UNB Tim: so yeah.
Bryan: I mean, that was the hope. I mean, that was the whole point of what we were doing in that way. I mean, it was the same thing for us, you know? It starts out as one idea, one premise, which is this fun catalog that gay men connected
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: to and had an affinity for and loved the clothing and loved to jerk off to it. And then all of a sudden, wow, there’s so much more to it than just that and how it influenced and affected. and was influenced by what was happening in the culture at the time.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: Also the thing is, I think when, what’s been great about people watching the film, it is that, it is that, actually when you said, you know, you weren’t, you were like, oh wow, there’s all this stuff I didn’t expect. The staff were the same way, all the people who had worked for it, when they saw it. and they were also surprised. As a matter of fact, I remember several of them talking to each other about the interview experience and that it wasn’t what they were expecting at all. They were expecting that we would want to talk about, I don’t know, underwear, international mail and like gossip stories or just even didn’t know. And from the models to everybody was like, oh, they asked me all this. Like it just wasn’t what they were expecting. And I think that’s the whole point of it, right? Like for us, it was that same thing, this catalog that was written off, that was always trying to fight for legitimacy in the fashion space and as a brand. And it’s still the same thing, even within the people who bought from it, or at least had an affinity for it. I think that, and the other thing that’s just been great, is going to the various screenings over the last year. We released pretty much a year ago at
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: Tribeca and did film festivals up until a couple of months ago. And now with the theatrical release and the streaming releases, the thing that’s always great is hearing everyone’s story from the personal stories that people have as to what it meant to them and what role it played in their lives. because when you’re making these films, you’re not making them for yourself. Or
UNB Tim: Yes.
Bryan: you’re not making them for a committee of awards jurists. You’re making this for people to connect with and to take something from and to feel like something that they were thinking maybe gets expressed or explored in a way that they weren’t thinking. It becomes…
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Bryan: something for them to have.
UNB Tim: Yes.
Bryan: And that’s been, that’s, I mean, that’s the best part. That’s the best thing you can hope for when you make a film in general.
UNB Tim: Yes, it is. Because it kind of makes me sad there’s not an international male for the current generation. That this is just happened then and ended because the day when they close, I know they were closing, I swear I almost cried that day. I was like, no, no. So it’s, and explaining it to certain, some of the younger listeners and readers we have is kind of like, okay, this is no internet. This is… totally different and they just don’t get it. So, but it just makes me sad they don’t have something similar, but that’s
Jesse: Well,
UNB Tim: the world we live in with the internet.
Jesse: and I think that connects back to something I said really early on, which is why it’s so special to us, because it was special. And
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: I mean, hopefully this film, to your point of feeling sad for them, I mean, I think that we as a culture always are moving hopefully forward. I know that’s debatable at times, depending on what state you live in.
UNB Tim: True.
Jesse: But this idea that there are whole, our world was a analog world. It was a, like things had an end. You could read the newspaper cover to cover and that was the newspaper for that day. And we now live in a world where information is just flowing by us, literally in the palm of our hands, second
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: after second and I think the way that young people see the world is a totally different way. I think that I’m psyched that I’m a Gen Xer because I get to have both. I get to have both the analog and digital world.
UNB Tim: Exactly.
Jesse: But I will say this, I was having a conversation recently with some people who came to a screening here in Los Angeles. And they were saying, you know, it’s something so special about holding the catalog in my hands and looking
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Jesse: at it. And these were 20 somethings. And I was like, I was really like looking at it and there was nothing interrupting me, they were saying. And I was like, yeah,
UNB Tim: Nice.
Jesse: it was, it’s something really special. And they were saying, yeah, that’s why I buy magazines still, or it’s why I do this still is because, you know, the dominant force in our world is of course digital.
UNB Tim: Yeah, very, that’s cool though, that they got the catalog. Awesome, awesome.
Jesse: Yeah, I was really touched by them. One of them took it from their father. That’s
UNB Tim: Oh wow.
Jesse: where he’s like, my dad still has them. So I took one. It was hilarious.
UNB Tim: Wow. I wish I still had mine, but oh well. But I guess we’ll wrap it up there. I could talk probably a couple hours with you guys if I keep going, but thank you. A, thank you for making the movie. It was well worth the wait when I got to see it. I was very happy. I know you guys are, it’s coming out on DVD soon as well. You can get it on many of the… digital services to buy. So you can go watch it now. You can watch it tonight after listening to this.
Bryan: Yes, watch it and give it a four star or five star rating on Apple or wherever else that helps keep the movie up there and people seeing it.
UNB Tim: I’ve gotta do that, I haven’t done that. Thank you for reminding me about that. I’m gonna go do that, because I bought it on Apple. Yay.
Bryan: Oh yeah, all those ratings really do affect visibility for sure.
UNB Tim: So thank you both for coming on the podcast today. It was a pleasure and so much fun. Everyone go watch the movie, I highly recommend it. Everyone in this podcast who listens, you’re in the demographic to watch this. So we have no excuses for why you cannot watch this. So go watch
Jesse: Mm-hmm.
UNB Tim: it,
Bryan: Hehehe…
UNB Tim: people. You will not be disappointed, but you will probably be like me, wanting more and more and more after you watch the movie, because there’s so much. you wish they went into but you know there’s only so much time you can put into a movie so it’s still amazing even without the things I wish to win in there but I guess it’s a good thing wanting more when you leave
Bryan: I was always going to say I’d rather want more than be like, oh, when is
UNB Tim: Oh,
Bryan: this
UNB Tim: that’s
Bryan: ending?
UNB Tim: it? Or that was
Bryan: Yes.
UNB Tim: it? That’s
Bryan: Yes,
UNB Tim: all they did?
Bryan: totally. Yes.
UNB Tim: Awesome. But yeah, go watch people. You will not be disappointed. So thank you everyone. We’ll have another podcast soon. Bye everyone.
Andrew talks about his latest creation: Thick underwear designed specifically for bigger guys. He proudly emphasizes that his line stands apart from others in the market. We then talk about the newest line, Tuck underwear for those who desire it. Andrew shares how his drag queen friends approached him to develop underwear tailored to their needs, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Curious about what is popular this summer, I inquire about his newest swimwear offerings. Andrew reveals that swimwear adorned with hardware has been a major trend this year. Lastly, he tantalizingly hints at forthcoming surprises later in the year. Additionally, he kindly reminds us to stay actively involved in Pride celebrations and our LGBTQ communities, underlining the importance of voting.
Follow me on all social media as: @unbtim
www.twitter.com/unbtim
www.instagram.com/unbtim
unbtim@kinky.business on Mastadon Support UNB For on going support join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/ You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
Eric, a guest on the Brief Talk Podcast, runs a blog, YouTube channel, and Instagram page called “Men’s Underwear Guide.” He shares his excitement about being on the podcast and discusses his interest in underwear and his journey of self-discovery. Eric mentions that he developed an interest in underwear during puberty but didn’t fully understand it at the time. He came out as gay in college, which led to a deeper appreciation for underwear. His love for underwear grew when he bought his first pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs, which impressed him and his husband. He then explored different fabrics, such as modal, and expanded his collection. Eric’s journey highlights the transformative power of embracing one’s interests and finding joy in self-expression through underwear.
In this conversation, UNB Tim and Eric discuss their experiences with blogging, podcasting, and content creation. UNB Tim talks about how his blog started in 2008 as a way to channel his energy during a difficult time and how it grew over the years. He mentions the changes in the industry, the rise of social media and influencers, and how his creative outlets have shifted to include podcasting and drawing. Eric shares his own journey from blogging to starting a YouTube channel and the personal connection he feels through videos and social media interactions. They both talk about the challenges of content creation, including scheduling, coordinating with others, and the reward of positive feedback from their audience. Overall, they express their enjoyment and dedication to their creative endeavors despite the difficulties they encounter.
Follow Eric at: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mensunderwearguide/ youTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/MensUnderwearGuide Blog – https://mensunderwearguide.com/mens-underwear-blog/
Follow me on all social media as: @unbtim
www.twitter.com/unbtim
www.instagram.com/unbtim
unbtim@kinky.business on Mastadon Support UNB For on going support join our Patreon – www.patreon.com/unbblog For one time support visit our support page – https://www.underwearnewsbriefs.com/about/support-unb/ You can donate by Ko-fi or Paypal Read more at unbblog.com
Follow unb on Twitter and IG @UNBBlog
UNB Tim: Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of the Brief Talk Podcast. We have a brief tell from someone who I’ve been chatting with for a while and we got him on. And he has his own YouTube channel. We want to welcome Eric to the show. Welcome!
Eric: Yeah, yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
UNB Tim: Thank you for coming on. You may know his channel on YouTube or also on Instagram, because he’s on the Instagram, at men’sunderwearguy.com, and his blog. I forgot about the blog. So, welcome to the show, another blogger and underwear content creator. Yay!
Eric: Yeah, no, I’m super excited to be on. So I love the podcast, love your thing. So.
UNB Tim: It’s good to have you on. I like having other content creators on who do something different and fun. And I was telling Andrew the other day, whose podcast will come out right before this one, that it’s good to have different points of view, different things out there. There’s so much room for everyone to share their love that it’s… We should all be collaborative and share everyone and promote everyone. but that’s
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: just
Eric: I completely
UNB Tim: my
Eric: agree.
UNB Tim: opinion.
Eric: Yeah, no, 100%.
UNB Tim: Cause I know our guys are amazing and fun and the best people around. I’m just saying.
Eric: Yeah, I
UNB Tim: So
Eric: agree.
UNB Tim: first off, tell our listeners, if they’re not familiar with your blog, YouTube channel and such, tell them a little bit about you.
Eric: Yeah, so my name is Eric. I run the blog men’s underwear guide.com. And I also have my YouTube channel now, basically at men’s underwear guide. And then I also have my Instagram also at men’s underwear guide. So very easy to find me. But yeah, I
UNB Tim: Just keep on going, that’s what editing is for.
Eric: Yeah. Sorry, can you re-ask the question? I think
UNB Tim: Sure.
Eric: I got a little afraid. Oh.
UNB Tim: Just take a breath, relax. You’re just talking to me just like we did before and it’s awesome.
Eric: Okay, yeah, let’s go. I think it was just the first question, jitters.
UNB Tim: So we’ll get out of the way, so we’ll start over. So for those of you not familiar with your blog or YouTube channel, tell our listeners a little bit about you.
Eric: Yeah, so I’m Eric. I run the blog men’s underwear guide.com. I’m also on YouTube and Instagram at men’s underwear guide. So very easy to find me. Otherwise, you know, I for fun, I love to travel, love aviation, huge like airplane geek. I have a day job. So this isn’t my full time thing. And yeah, I mean, I really love talking about underwear.
UNB Tim: I have to ask, since you said you were an aviation geek, what’s your favorite airplane?
Eric: Oh, that’s a great question. So I would say for a long time, it’s actually the 767, which is kind
UNB Tim: Okay.
Eric: of weird. No one really talks about it. But I think visually, the 767 just looks really nice. Other than that, I’d probably say my favorite plane to be on was the A380. I’d been on it twice on the upper deck with British Airways. And I just had a really fun time, especially because The way that they had their seat configuration is that in the way back of the upper deck, there’s a small economy section and it’s like a two, I think it’s like a two five two layout. So my husband and I were able to get the two seats by the window and it was just like, wow, this is super cool. Also,
UNB Tim: Nice.
Eric: it’s kind of weird. Like when you’re on the runway and like taxing, like you can feel that you’re higher than when you’re in other planes, which is a little scary, but also really cool. So. But yeah, I’d say definitely 767 is my favorite plane to look at, maybe followed
UNB Tim: Nice.
Eric: by the A330.
UNB Tim: See, my plane that I’m obsessed with is the Concorde,
Eric: Oh, yeah.
UNB Tim: even though it’s not around any longer, but that’s my favorite. Never flew it, but you know, love it. And always reading up on new supersonic
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: planes that are supposedly coming out and I’m not holding my breath anytime soon, but enough of the geek. I’ll have to send you the picture I’m drawing of the… previous Atlanta Hartsfield terminal.
Eric: Oh wow, yeah.
UNB Tim: The old one that I’ve been working on for about two weeks now.
Eric: Oh yeah, definitely,
UNB Tim: I’ll
Eric: Sundar.
UNB Tim: share that afterwards, but enough people going, oh, this is underwear, not aviation.
Eric: I’m going to go.
UNB Tim: Sorry people, you’ll just have to deal with it. It’s my podcast, so I’m gonna ask some questions. So yes, I’m a little bit of an aviation geek myself.
Eric: Well, we need to talk more about that then, so
UNB Tim: So
Eric: offline.
UNB Tim: we’ll talk offline because I know you people are like, get to the underwear, shut up about the planes, we don’t care. Unless you’re talking about flying in your underwear, which would be interesting, but
Eric: Well,
UNB Tim: yeah.
Eric: actually, it’s interesting you bring that up because I do have like different underwear that I think is better for flying. I actually kind of plan these things out. And for me, like I get really cold on planes, especially for sitting by the window. And I usually like to sit by the window if not the aisle.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: So like for me, I try to either wear boxer briefs or long leg boxer briefs to just try to provide warmth. You know, so.
UNB Tim: Interesting.
Eric: Yeah, so I actually do plan those things out.
UNB Tim: I just wear whatever. I sit by the window. I’m a window person so I have to sit by the window and I get rowdy when I’m not by the window. So
Eric: Oh,
UNB Tim: it’s
Eric: no.
UNB Tim: like because I had a flowy business trip once and it was They put me they put me in an aisle and I’m just like y’all want to die
Eric: I’m out.
UNB Tim: I’m just saying y’all just want to die So yeah, I’m a window person 100% but yeah, but back to our underwear questions
Eric: Yes.
UNB Tim: So when did you first discover your love of underwear? Because you had to have a moment where you’re like, hmm,
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: what is that?
Eric: so I’m one of the people that are going to say puberty, you know, and I think, yeah, I mean, I hit puberty kind of early, actually. You know, I actually had facial hair in elementary school, which
UNB Tim: Wow.
Eric: is, yeah, and I got made fun of quite a bit for it, though, so that was unfortunate. I actually, I mean, honestly, like, I got made fun of a lot throughout school, but… You know, really during puberty, I just started noticing, you know, waistbands basically, right?
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: And, you know, I didn’t really realize at the time, of course, you know, what was going on. It was just kind of something that I was like, wow, this is interesting. But I didn’t really understand it. And, you know, of course, like a lot of other guys listening on your podcast, you know, there’s always the… under our section at department stores, there were the weekly ads. I think one of your guests recently was talking about this, looking through the coupons and the ads that came out in the newspaper.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: I was one of those people on Sunday that tried to really secretly, discreetly look through that, see what was being advertised, see what was on sale. That… That’s really when it really was something I noticed. But again, I never understood what was truly going on, right? And I didn’t actually come out, so I’m gay, in case anyone wasn’t sure. I didn’t really come out until college. And that’s when I think maybe, I’d say like phase two of my underwear interest really took off. Whereas before it was… of this thing that like I was aware about I found interesting but I didn’t acknowledge it I didn’t recognize it once I came out and especially once I met my husband like it changed into this thing like wow yeah you know what I’m really going to embrace it I’m going to you know buy my own about the different styles, the different underwear that I wear. Whereas before, you know, I was the guy I basically wore boxers throughout middle school, high school, even college. They were like Hanes boxers, you know. Iris is that kind of guy.
UNB Tim: Oh
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: no. You…
Eric: That was me.
UNB Tim: you had to be saved.
Eric: Yes, I understand, you know, I, and I look back on that. I’m like, what was I doing? But you know, at the, again, at the time, I just didn’t have, it’s basically a situation like you don’t know what you don’t know, right?
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: And I just wasn’t aware, I wasn’t exposed, you know, even in like high school, for example, there wasn’t really anyone who was out, you know, there are a couple
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: questions about or thoughts about, but of course they were always made fun of, right? So that was my, you know, basically my perspective on gay guys, right? And of course I was straight, 100%, right?
UNB Tim: Oh yeah, we were all straight back then.
Eric: Yeah, yeah, so I was 100% straight, you know, and like the whole thing was just so foreign to me and yeah, so it was completely different, you know, really coming out in college, I think completely changed. Obviously me as a person, but it definitely changed my look and feelings towards men’s
UNB Tim: nice. Did you remember the first good pair of underwear you bought?
Eric: Yes, I do. Maybe my husband even remembers it, but you know, it was shortly after I met my husband, actually, and we’ve been together 12 years, I think now, 12, yeah,
UNB Tim: some.
Eric: our anniversary of the last month, but I don’t know the day, we just say it’s our anniversary month, but anyway.
UNB Tim: Hmm.
Eric: So shortly after I met him, and I bought these Calvin Klein boxer boots because I really wanted to impress him. Like again, my under collection at the time was basically Kane’s boxers, okay? It wasn’t anything to look at. And I just wanted to buy something really nice, right? That I could feel good in, look good in, impress him, he would enjoy. And at the time, you know, what else would I have chosen other than Calvin Klein, right? So I bought these Calvin Klein And I remember getting them and putting them on. And I’m like, wow, like this is real underwear.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: This is like a whole other level. And my husband at the time, he was like, yeah, you know what, you should definitely buy more microfiber Calvin Klein boxer briefs. So that’s what I did. Like I just started buying them. Buy them from Amazon, we bought them in the store. And I was getting like quite a good collection of just these microfiber Calvin Klein’s. And it was great. And like, it just completely transformed, again, the way I looked at under because I’m like, wow, you know, yeah, it’s, it’s more pricey. It’s more expensive, but this is, this is really comfortable. Like
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: this is, he enjoys it. And like, I feel really good in it. So it’s 100% worth it. So yeah, so that was really like my first time. I’m like, yeah, you know what? I truly bought under with intention and not just like pulling things off the shelf because I need it, right? And I felt really good about it.
UNB Tim: Awesome. And then you got these great microfiber boxer briefs. And how did your love grow from there? Did you branch out into other styles? Did you try new things? How did your journey progress from those?
Eric: So it went in a couple of different ways. So, you know, we’re still again talking like maybe five to 10 years ago, right? And I was a hundred percent a boxer briefs guy, okay? I may have bought new under a new brand as new styles, whatever, but it was always boxer briefs. Nothing else, no chunks, no reason or nothing. And you know, with that, I did, I really, I actually just bought more Calvin Klein to be honest. I did branch into new fabrics. So the first thing I did after like the, my microfiber collection or phase, if you will, is I branch out into modal or modal. I don’t even
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: know how you pronounce it. Like people pronounce it in different ways. Yeah.
UNB Tim: Either way.
Eric: So again, it was these Calvin Klein modal box braids. And I was like really impressed because, you know, one of the things that changed from like going from like Hanes to Calvin Klein was going essentially from these like 100% cotton, 100% polyester brand, like pairs, into something that felt really nice. And I didn’t know about mobile, but I was like, what is it, like cotton or something? But it wasn’t. And
UNB Tim: Mm-mm.
Eric: through this day, I still have a lot of Calvin Klein mobile box of reeds, and I am a huge fan of mobile. I mean, if any of my viewers or people listening, they know I… wants to me say how good bamboo and modal are because I just feel it’s so much softer than cotton. So
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: that’s pretty much it. I also had these like pair of poppy boxabers from my husband which were really cool. I like those. But it wasn’t really anything too wild per se, right? I think a shift came later on. We took a trip to Portugal, Portugal and Spain. This was back in, I think 2018 or 2019. It was right before COVID hit. And we took a trip to Portugal and Spain. And I got to see the first Intimissimi store
UNB Tim: Oh yes.
Eric: in Europe. And we went in and I was kind of surprised. I’m like, wow, like this is a store. Yeah, it has women’s underwear, of course, but this store also had. underwear and it was European and it was to me exotic and it was it was different right
UNB Tim: It’s
Eric: so
UNB Tim: amazing.
Eric: yeah no I love Intimissime so I bought these two so they call them trunks or boxes and depending on which language you know you’re looking at their website but they’re essentially square cut trunks and So I bought them, it was these two pairs. One was dark blue with a light blue stitching. And another one was dark gray with like this olive green stitching. And I bought them because one, I really wanted to buy this European underwear, right?
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: And two, I bought them because I have a thing for contrast, like just in life. I really like contrasting colors. So what really stood out to me with these two pairs of trunks, was the contrast between like the fabric itself and the stitching. And I just thought it was the coolest thing. So I bought those two. And then I also bought this pair of microfiber chunks in solid green. And I remember getting them and it was just a different experience, right? Like, again, it just felt exotic. It felt different. And it was really short, exceptionally short. And I remember looking at the guys on the website, I’m like, oh, that’s not so bad. It’s shorter, but it’s okay. It’s European, of course. But then I got them, I’m like, wow, this is short. And it was so short that in fact, at the time, I was almost embarrassed to wear them because I’m like, this is just so revealing. So,
UNB Tim: See, that’s
Eric: y’all go.
UNB Tim: funny because you getting trunks are revealing when we have so many guys wearing so much less. That’s funny. That
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: is funny.
Eric: yeah, no, a hundred percent. And at the time, you know, looking back on it, it was like, wow, like this is like nothing now, right? Because now I wear all sorts of styles. So it’s completely even now. But at the time, this was just so new to me, you know? And really opening up my mind from like the standard US style box of roots, right?
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: So, you know, I slowly got used to them. It was a slow process, but eventually I got more comfortable you know, I really liked the microfiber trunks that I got from Intimissime, not so much the two, the blue and the gray ones with the different colored stitching, because I made a flaw in purchasing it. And
UNB Tim: Uh oh.
Eric: that flaw was that the two trunks with the different colored stitching were cotton based.
Eric: And, you know, remember, you know, from the past few years, all I wore was basically like microfiber So going back to cotton, it hit me. I’m like, whoa, like I can’t wear this.
UNB Tim: They’re like, I’m wearing a diaper.
Eric: Yeah, it’s thick, it’s hot. I’m like, not like hot in a good way, just like hot. And I’m like, yeah, no, but the microfiber ones I got were really cool. So, you know, I still wear the microfiber Intimissime’s, you know, every now and then, the ones with the cotton ones with the stitching. I still have them, but I probably haven’t worn them in many months. So, that was that. So then, I didn’t start branching out into other brands. I remember Mack Weldon was
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: my next brand that I branched into. So I bought a pair. I think my first Mack Weldon pair was right before COVID as well along the, I think it was along the same time as the Intimidcine ones, or right after we got back. But then I bought some more like after COVID and stuff like that. So I really enjoy Mack Weldon. I have quite a few pairs in my collection. But I would say the third phase of my underwear experience, if you will, was really starting the blog in 2021.
UNB Tim: So what made you start an underwear blog? As someone who started one himself, I’m always curious as to, you know, why did you start a blog? What was your purpose at the time? And then how has it evolved over time? Because speaking for myself, if you look back at my blog from whenever I started to now, you see several iterations of content, you know, burnout, you know, all the fun things you go through with a blog. So what made you want to put a blog out there?
Eric: Yeah, I mean, I could talk all day about the blog and business, you know, because I mean, you know, there’s like, it’s just like, when you’re writing a blog, and you’re a content creator, everyone looks at the content you put out, but there’s like real business decisions that happen behind
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: the scenes, you know, and I think a lot of that is just never talked about. But anyway, going back to your question. So, you know, I suffer from anxiety and depression. I’ve had it pretty much all my life.
UNB Tim: Yay, let’s unite.
Eric: Yeah, I mean, I can even going back to, middle school and high school, even though I wasn’t diagnosed, obviously I can look back and be like, yeah, I had depression. So, it’s been kind of a struggle. My most recent depression episodes started in about 2017, 2018. Before that, I had actually come off medication 2013 or something like that. So I had like a good four year gap in between episodes. So for me, it’s more of an episodic kind of depression, whereas it’s just like, not just like a flat linear kind of thing. But anyway, my most recent depression episode started in 2017, 2018. I’d gone through meds, I’d gone through therapy, I did CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy. which helped a bit, you know, I still kind of use that today, but it was still there. And after COVID, you know, my husband and I removed from Los Angeles, you know, where we lived, to Texas, and
UNB Tim: Oh, sorry. Sorry involuntary response.
Eric: yeah, we can talk about that at a later time too. But we moved to Texas, and for a little bit, it was fun and exciting. It was really good. We moved to Austin like everyone else was at the time. But then of course it just, it kind of went back to depression and anxiety. So, you know, I’d still been seeing a therapist at the time. And one of the things that the therapist, he had started talking to me, he’s like, you know, you should really find some sort of creative outlet outside of work. And, you know, I worked a nine to six basically. I know my people say nine to five. Most people work nine to six nowadays.
UNB Tim: under
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: 6 because they don’t give you free lunch. Huh?
Eric: so let’s just call it what I get, it’s nine to six, eight to six even, whatever. But I was working in day job and he was saying like, you need some sort of creative element, you need something else to express your creativity. And one of the things that I actually liked doing was writing. So even at work, when I was asked to like write things or write documents, even like legal, type documents. Like I actually found it fun. So,
UNB Tim: Oh,
Eric: I’m
UNB Tim: we
Eric: weird.
UNB Tim: are so different.
Eric: Yeah, so we were similar a few minutes ago, now we’re really different.
UNB Tim: See, well, I am dyslexic.
Eric: Oh, yeah.
UNB Tim: So writing is one of the things is the most stress inducing thing I can do at work.
Eric: Uh, gotcha. There we go.
UNB Tim: It
Eric: I can see that.
UNB Tim: is just, I can do it, but it takes work. And I will say chat GPT has been a godsend because,
Eric: Oh, yeah.
UNB Tim: because I can write some crap. I mean total crap and tell it, Hey, expand on this a little bit. And granted, it doesn’t always give me what I want, but it gives me ideas that I can go off of. And I’m like, oh, yes, I like this. Okay, I can go with this. Or I’ll expand on this. Or I don’t like where you’re going, but I see and I can do this. So that… takes the anxiety away because when they’re like here right and I’m like bitch no I’m no uh-uh so and I’ve had arguments and issues that work about it because they don’t understand and I’m just like okay the more you stress me out the worse this gets just so you know
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: so and it’s ironic that I’ve run a blog since 2008 so yeah
Eric: Well, yeah, I mean, I think Chalk GPT is definitely going to take over the world or like these AI kind of things that are coming out about it.
UNB Tim: I want to use it all the time, but I don’t just like drag and drop. I have to change things. I told people
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: that
Eric: no, 100%.
UNB Tim: I’m like, I’m like, if you just drag and drop, you’re stupid, but you
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: got to
Eric: no,
UNB Tim: make it your own.
Eric: but I’m really glad it’s helping you. Like I think that’s amazing and really shows how technology can, can really make an impact on everyday lives. So that’s great for you. Um, but
UNB Tim: So
Eric: anyway,
UNB Tim: you
Eric: going
UNB Tim: need
Eric: back.
UNB Tim: to create a ballot and you would like to write.
Eric: Yes, I like to write. So he told me to start a blog. And so, you know, one of the things I really liked is data and charts. So I wrote my first blog about charts. And
UNB Tim: Ah.
Eric: I, I basically I became bored myself after like six posts. Like, this wasn’t going anywhere. I bored myself, which is really hard to do, by the way, but I did. So like, this isn’t working. So I gave up and I went back down and he’s like, well, you gotta find something else. I’m like, I don’t know what else to talk about. Like that was my thing. He’s like, well, you gotta find something else to talk about. So I was thinking about it and like, you know, maybe about underwear, it’s kind of weird. So I remember I talked to my husband about it and we had like a real conversation. And you know, my husband had, for since we had met, had always wanted to kind of… like an underwear website. So like, as soon as I talked to him, I mean, he’s like, yeah, like you should go for it. Like completely supportive. And that’s basically when it started. So I went back to my therapist and it was so awkward telling him. Like I was so nervous telling him, like this is what I came up with. But he took it with ease and he was like, okay, great. You know, you should do that. And he’s like, what is it going to be called? I’m like, well, it’s men’sunderwearguy.com. And you know what he told me? He was like, you know, I thought all of the best website names had already been taken. And he’s like, you found a really good one. I’m like, oh, thank you. So I, so yeah, basically, hold on.
UNB Tim: True, because when I came up with mine, I had to go through so many and that was in 2008. So, yeah.
Eric: Yeah, I mean, I was shocked too, but I’m like, wow, this is great. So that’s basically when the blog started. So that’s how it developed. It came out of this need for me to basically have a creative outlet, something other than work that I could express myself and, you know, try to help my anxiety and depression by doing it. And, you know, I launched a website in April, 2021 with three articles. three posts that I wrote.
UNB Tim: Nay.
Eric: So it was just very bare bones at the time and you know now more than two years later you know I can’t believe how much it’s taken off and how much of a thing it’s become. Like I could never have imagined that I would actually be talking about men’s underwear to the public. Like like having conversations with other guys out there and expressing myself online. Like I’m an introvert, which is really
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: hard. And to then basically show myself on YouTube, you know, talking about underwear, like in my underwear, with my face, like I could never have imagined this. And yet I’m doing it and I’m having fun and people are responding very positively to it. Yeah.
UNB Tim: And they’re coming to you because they see you as the expert Asking you for your opinion reading what you’re writing commenting You know, I still to this day Look at my blog like it’s a hobby Because I don’t think anyone is reading it, but I have tons of people reading it
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: even
Eric: you do.
UNB Tim: to this day and when I talk to people and they bring up something and I’m like, oh, oh yeah, okay, you actually read the blog, oh. So I still feel like I’m talking to myself, but.
Eric: But isn’t that a cool feeling when someone actually tells you, hey, I read this, or hey, I know of you, I have a question? Doesn’t it give you that sense of either pride or happiness or something that people actually care and care about what you’re saying?
UNB Tim: Yes, and mine has gone through iterations. Every time I turn around, I look through the blog and there’s eras of the blog that I look through. Because there’s the beginning, because mine started with similar to yours. It was in 2008 when the downturn happened and the economy sucked and I had no job and I needed something to channel all my energy into to Quit worrying about work and money. So I started the blog. And did it the way I wanted to do it and had fun doing it, it grew. People came on, helped off and on to have different things where I had different guys writing and the last probably five years has been pretty much all me. And then we grow into, I started the podcast back in 2009, but it never went anywhere back then. I guess we were too early because
Eric: Yeah, you’re ahead of your time.
UNB Tim: we had our time, we went through 2012 randomly, we never had a set schedule either so that didn’t help. And we wrote it back in 2018 and it’s grown into what it’s grown into and we keep growing which is amazing to me
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: because a ton
Eric: awesome.
UNB Tim: of people do that. And then the blog no longer really took my creative side. and my anxiety away. It caused anxiety. So I’ve redone the blog from what I used to do. I blog on my own terms, but I do what’s good for me. And then that’s when my drawing came into effect during COVID.
Eric: Ah, gotcha.
UNB Tim: So I’ve always been creative and then all of a sudden I’m like, I’m going to draw. And therefore, you know… I draw men in underwear and swimwear and, you know, various states of undress. It makes me happy. So that’s what I do.
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: So
Eric: no, that’s
UNB Tim: yeah.
Eric: great. So now like you basically, your creative outlets are the podcast interviewing and drawing art.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: Yeah, no, that’s awesome.
UNB Tim: Well, the industry has also changed quite a bit from when I started. It’s, it’s gone from, because when I started, there were like maybe four big blogs at the time. And then two of them sort of quit shortly thereafter I started. So I sort of filled the gap and became one of the big ones, which still amazes me to this day.
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: Um. And you always run across people like, oh, you have a triple lock for years. And I’m like, what? So it’s its own world and then now we have Instagram, we have social media, we have the influencer, because I was just telling this the other day to a friend of mine, I was like, when I first started the blog, I got tons of free underwear. I mean, thousands and thousands of dollars worth of underwear over the years. And now that it’s the influencer, I don’t get nearly, I rarely get underwear. A lot of them don’t even send it out anymore. So I’m like, ugh. I was like my one perk for doing it. That’s the main reason I started it so I could still get good underwear because I thought I was gonna only be unemployed for no more than six months and then I would quit the blog. Well, now we see this is my 15th year in October.
Eric: Yeah, I mean, that’s amazing. Congratulations.
UNB Tim: So yeah, it’s evolved and changed and it will continue to evolve and change and because I’ve suffered through multiple depths of burnout and multiple creative changes and people and it’s just you have to evolve and change as you go or you’re just gonna be like forget it I So that’s
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: what I’ve done. Because I used to do three posts a day and four posts a day. And well, when you have like six people helping you, easy to do.
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: But then when you go down back to just you doing it, I went from going from three posts a day to some days one post a day. And I was like, you know, I was stuck in that. Mentality will have to do three day. I have to do three a day and then what I was writing was total crap and I said well, you know Let’s go down to two and then one day I was like, let’s only do one today that’s all I care to do today and So therefore I do that now on certain days. I don’t feel like writing and it’ll be one post today and that’s it So that’s what I do now and it’s a lot of fun to me. And I’m just like, I like doing it. There’s creative side that now gets channeled into the podcast. And I think it resonates more with people when they get to hear something as opposed to reading it.
Eric: Yeah, that’s actually an interesting point because that’s kind of what drove me to actually start the YouTube channel Because I had never intended to do a YouTube um I actually never even intended to show my face it was like obviously like The blog is written in my own voice, right? It’s very clear That i’m talking as a real person But I never intended to show my face. It took me a while to even post photos on the blog of me and my underwear, because I was just so embarrassed by it. But, you know, I think the difference between reading the blog itself and like the YouTube channel or like your podcast is the personal connection that people are able to get from seeing someone hearing their voice, you know, kind of like listening to them in real time, that you can’t get. from just essentially the written word on a blog.
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: And I think that, you know, the YouTube channel, for example, like I can’t believe how much it’s taken off, but you know, almost all of like the questions I get, the commentary I get is through the YouTube channel or, you know, through Instagram. It’s not through the blog. Occasionally people email me. um from the blog which is great I appreciate it but really I’d say 80 to 90 percent of my conversations my interactions with people occur through Instagram whether that’s commenting or dms or through YouTube comments and
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: like it’s just made it so much more fun to do it rather than kind of like this one way flow of information is one way floor flow of communication which is I write the blog and people read it, right? So I think that that’s really just made me so much more happier about doing it.
UNB Tim: Exactly. And that’s like when we first talked and I was running, I got some health issues. So I sort of fell back and then I’m like, oh my God, where did we talk? Oh my God, where was it? Was it on Twitter? Was it on here? I remember talking, I can’t find you. And I had to scroll through my DMs on Instagram. And I was like, oh my God, that was way back there. I was like, Jesus, I talk a lot on Instagram.
Eric: Thank you.
UNB Tim: I was like, I didn’t realize how many conversations I had in DMs on Instagram.
Eric: Very chatty.
UNB Tim: I’m like, I turn around and it’s like two innocent people messages. And I’m like, Jesus Christ. And then the same goes for the podcast. We get a lot of feedback when we post and people are like, I liked your latest issue or like your latest episode. And I have people who talk to me regularly about it. And then other people. who just either discover it or just want to share. So it’s really cool when people send us messages about the podcast, about hearing their own stories, hearing they’re not alone. So it’s really good that it came at the right time, I think. And it’s been a lot of fun to do. It’s allowed me to meet so many new people that I didn’t meet through the blog, because like you said, it’s one way. People don’t really comment or send in information about the blog.
Eric: Yeah, exactly.
UNB Tim: But the podcast really gets people sending in stuff and really, it’s good when they enjoy what you do and not just be like, okay, I’m reading your content. I like it, but you know, I’m never going to tell you that. So, but
Eric: And I think, you know, that’s also something for me, just in terms of like the reward feedback system, right, is that I in life, I tend to do better when I feel that people appreciate what I do. So,
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: you know, basically, going from like just the written blog into YouTube and Instagram, really YouTube, to be honest, and hearing like in real time. positive feedback and comments and stuff like that, it makes me more want to do it, which then means I do more of it, which increases the feedback and the comments. And it’s like this virtuous loop. And
UNB Tim: Oh yes.
Eric: I really appreciate that.
UNB Tim: Especially when I don’t put out a podcast week and people are like, where’s the podcast?
Eric: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
UNB Tim: And I’m going, uh, I was like, usually it’s like sometimes I just need a week off. Really. I just need a week off. And other times it was like, look, nobody recorded. I can’t do anything. I’m trying people. I’ve asked 20 people and two said, maybe, and the show I was supposed to do fell apart at the last minute, so. I’m trying to get content together as much as I can. So that happens and everyone has to be aware of that. I can’t just record like 50 podcasts in a week and then expect people to come on the show when it’s like, when’s my podcast coming out? Six months from now. I try to make it no more than a few weeks. I’m like three weeks, maybe four. is a good area to be in. But anything more than that, I’m like, it’s not really fair to the person to be like all excited to do the podcast and then have to wait months to have it come out. So try not to record them too far ahead of time, but every so often it’s like a podcasting flood where everyone’s like, I can do it this week.
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: And usually when that happens, I’m like, okay, I have three in front of you already and it’s not coming out till this week. Is that good? And they’re like, okay. So if they know going into it, I’ll do it, but yeah, no. That’s…
Eric: Yeah, I remember you were mentioning that I think I’m one of the recent podcasts or something like that about the lag time between recording
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: it and coming out. And, you know, I think in general, one of the things that I’ve learned from this process is content creation is pretty hard.
UNB Tim: Yes it is.
Eric: You know, it seems easy. And like for me, I don’t know if you have those too, like I have like all of these ideas in my head, right? Like I have all this excitement, all these things I want to do, but the process of actually creating that content,
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: it’s, it’s not as easy as it sounds in your head.
UNB Tim: No. And when you mix in other people, schedules, time zones, etc., it gets infinitely more complicated.
Eric: Yeah, yeah.
UNB Tim: And that’s what happens with podcasts, because I have all these great show ideas. I have a list of show ideas that I want to do. But I have to find the people to be on them. Which is… Easy in concept, you’ll get the guys, yeah, great, let’s do the show. Then you have to schedule it. And when you’re dealing with, you know, four guys, different time zones, this is when it’s just us based, you got to deal with everything going on and then work and all these other things that sometimes you schedule it and it doesn’t happen. And other times, you know, It does and you’re very happy, but it’s a lot of work. Scheduling, I was like, I was telling John on our podcast, I just need someone to help me with scheduling. You know, I need someone to help me find people and schedule. That’s what I need help with. I was like, the editing is easy. I hate doing it, but it’s easy. The rest of it is okay, but it’s like, That takes up more time than anything. And it annoys me because some people, I like sending emails because I can put a lot of information in an email and put everything everyone needs to know. But people don’t read their emails.
Eric: Yeah, I know that.
UNB Tim: And it’s like, okay, I have to text you people, read your email. Because everything’s in there. I’m not doing a text of this long for you people. Or I need something from people and they don’t send it. Or it’s like, okay, I need this. And no one responds. So I’m just like. So yeah, it’s difficult to do at times and coordinating people and schedules and brands and I’m trying to get more brands on and it’s just a nightmare. Just
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: a nightmare, but I enjoy
Eric: I
UNB Tim: doing
Eric: hear you.
UNB Tim: it. So I will keep doing it. It’s the nightmare I enjoy doing. So it
Eric: Well,
UNB Tim: pays
Eric: that’s what
UNB Tim: off
Eric: keeps
UNB Tim: in the
Eric: you
UNB Tim: long
Eric: going.
UNB Tim: run.
Eric: Yeah, I mean,
UNB Tim: It pays off.
Eric: yeah, so I and your person agree with that. Like that’s what keeps me going too.
UNB Tim: So yeah, it’s crazy. So your partner is 100% supportive of you and your underwear, which is
Eric: Yes.
UNB Tim: amazing because so many people out there, I’ve had people on the blog whose partner never knew they wrote for an underwear blog. I have run across people who have underwear, social media and their partners never knew. And so it’s great when you meet another content creator whose partner is super supportive, who enjoys it, because I’ve gone on dates where it is told what I do, and they look at me like I run, you know, like a RIT Boy site. And they’re like, what? You do what? And it’s like, okay, this is not gonna go very far. I can see that.
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: Cause you get one of, I get one of two reactions. The, you do what? Or the, oh my God, that’s so amazing, you turned in something you like into a business. And I’m like, oh, I can, it’s going somewhere with you. So, your partner’s supportive, does he like underwear as well? Or is he just the supportive husband who enjoys seeing you do something you love?
Eric: Um, I would say definitely a hundred percent supportive. I mean, he’s been a hundred percent support from the very beginning. I would definitely say that I am far more into underwear than he is, but I. There, he does definitely enjoy different aspects of under with me, um, which is really cool and I think recently I was able to convert his underwear drawer, you know, away from, you know, the standard champions and. pains into stuff that I actually really like and I really like for him to wear. So that’s been a really cool process.
UNB Tim: That’s a win.
Eric: That’s definitely a win. And I think it was also a really cool process in kind of, I’d almost say, like more bonding together, right, on a personal level, a personal relationship level. You know, so it was both an enjoyment factor, but something also like wow, this feels really good between us. So that really helped as well. But yeah, I mean, he’s on here, he’s been supportive. I have, of course, way more underwear than he does, but it’s good, it’s fun. And that he also really likes it on me as well, and he likes what I do, and he actually cares a lot about the business aspect of it as well. I mean, I couldn’t ask for more.
UNB Tim: Nice. Are you at least the same size so you can wear underwear?
Eric: Yes, yes,
UNB Tim: Ugh,
Eric: so
UNB Tim: jealous.
Eric: we do share. And that’s also kind of, I think, what’s helpful too. So we lived in Texas for the past three years, and recently we left Texas to go travel around the world. So with that, we had to give up everything. We had to give up all of our furniture,
UNB Tim: Mm-hmm.
Eric: all of our we were only able to store a few boxes of memorabilia and important documents that my parents and his parents and everything else had to fit in two carry-on suitcases and two backpacks, right? That’s our life right now. So with that, I had to drastically cut down on my underwear collection.
UNB Tim: Oh, that’s a shame.
Eric: It was really tough. And it’s kind of weird, you know, for anyone, probably anyone who’s listening can understand that, but anyone who’s outside listening probably doesn’t understand the concept of having to sit there and go through your underwear collection and figure out what is it that I want to keep and what is it that I don’t want to keep.
UNB Tim: Oh,
Eric: It’s
UNB Tim: that’s
Eric: not
UNB Tim: painful.
Eric: a hard, very painful. So this is what I had to do. And I actually have to do it in two parts because it was just so hard for me to decide. I really enjoy my underwear collection, right? So this isn’t an easy decision. But one thing that really helped was my husband. I remember he actually told me this because I remember he was going through his stuff, right? Like his clothing and stuff. And I saw that he had put all of his underwear in like the Biscard pile. And I’m like, what are you doing? And he’s like, oh, well, you know, I think I would like to help you, you know, why don’t I take some of your underwear so that way you can like, keep it as we travel.
UNB Tim: That’s her
Eric: And,
UNB Tim: husband.
Eric: and I’m like, oh, really?
UNB Tim: That’s love.
Eric: Yeah. So it was really cool. So like now, you know, even today, it’s not that like, I don’t want people to think like, oh, well, we just have like one number, George, just like it’s a free for all, right? Like we do have our own quote separate collections, but you know, I was able to basically design his collection. I chose pieces I thought he would really love. He’s a hundred percent boxer briefs. So like I keep all of the other non-boxer briefs to myself, but you know, I think it’s been really cool. And also really been actually interesting getting his feedback from some of the different pairs, right? That I may have had a different. reaction to or I may have different thoughts about it, but he comes and he’s like, oh well, you know, there’s this or there’s that So it’s almost kind of like my own little guinea pig kind of in a sense to understand
UNB Tim: Nice.
Eric: So that’s been really helpful as well
UNB Tim: Nice. See, I’m too tall and I’ve never dated anyone near my size. So,
Eric: Oh yeah,
UNB Tim: wump
Eric: no we
UNB Tim: wump.
Eric: actually, we do share some clothing, not as much as we could, but yeah, I mean we do share different pieces of clothing as well outside of underwear.
UNB Tim: I’m a giant, so yeah. I never date anyone. I barely date anyone over six feet, so that’s usually
Eric: So.
UNB Tim: been my, I’m six four, and then everyone
Eric: Oh, well,
UNB Tim: I date
Eric: you know.
UNB Tim: is usually five, 10, and under, so.
Eric: Oh, wow, okay.
UNB Tim: It’s like, yeah, no,
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: no sharing clothes, no sharing underwear, no, sorry.
Eric: statue.
UNB Tim: So that’s my life.
Eric: Would you, if you could, like if you found something that was similar in sizes, would you do it?
UNB Tim: Oh hell I would do in a heartbeat is just finding someone a tall and be the hardest part is finding someone who’s in underwear so
Eric: Yeah.
UNB Tim: But a friend of mine pointed this out the other day. He goes look at it this way. I go what he goes Just think of all the more the money underwear. You have to spend on underwear if your partner is not into it. I Said now that’s a good way to look at it because if he’s in underwear, he’s gonna want to buy
Eric: Oh
UNB Tim: But if he’s not, I can spend.
Eric: Yo, yo.
UNB Tim: I’m like, that’s a positive spin on it. Good, good, I like that, I like that. He goes, yeah, because if you’re both into where you wanna spend all your money on underwear, and I’m like, well, it’s not a bad thing, but true, true.
Eric: You know, with that, I see you just made me think of something. What are your thoughts on partners or husbands or whatever, wearing the same under? Because I actually have a very specific thought on this.
UNB Tim: Oh, I love that. I’ve done that before.
Eric: Oh,
UNB Tim: I take it you
Eric: gotcha.
UNB Tim: don’t like it.
Eric: No, so this is something that just doesn’t apply to under, but like, you know, even if like we’re going out, right. If we’re wearing somewhat of a similar color or somewhat similar clothing, I change. I do not want us to be wearing the same clothing out
UNB Tim: Well,
Eric: and
UNB Tim: clothing,
Eric: about.
UNB Tim: I agree, but underwear, because
Eric: I don’t
UNB Tim: I’ve
Eric: like
UNB Tim: worn,
Eric: it either.
UNB Tim: you know what, no, I like the exact same pair, that we’re wearing the exact same pair of underwear together, I love that.
Eric: Hmm.
UNB Tim: Knowing he’s wearing the exact same pair I am.
Eric: Yeah,
UNB Tim: Love it.
Eric: I mean, I think I think quite a few guys like that. But for me, I don’t know, there’s something about it. I just don’t like
UNB Tim: Clothing,
Eric: it. Just don’t
UNB Tim: I’m
Eric: like
UNB Tim: with
Eric: where this
UNB Tim: you.
Eric: is.
UNB Tim: Clothing, I cannot do matchy because you come down wearing the same thing, you’re just like, no. But underwear, because nobody’s gonna see it, except for us or whoever we choose to see it, I’m like super hot, super
Eric: Hmm.
UNB Tim: hot to me.
Eric: Yeah, that’s not
UNB Tim: Love
Eric: me.
UNB Tim: it, love it, love it, love it. So if anybody wants to buy me matching underwear, feel free, send it over. I’ll wear it the day or every day you want me to wear it.
Eric: Oh, that’s good.
UNB Tim: Take
Eric: But
UNB Tim: care.
Eric: yeah, not for me. I don’t know. I like the feeling of having our own, like, different underwear on. So, yeah,
UNB Tim: Well,
Eric: I’m weird.
UNB Tim: I just,
Eric: I’m weird.
UNB Tim: to each their own. There is no wrong with answering underwear. Just saying. So we’ll wrap it up there. We’ll definitely have you wanna have some show ideas after we get off here. I’m not gonna share them. There, you have to wait people. You don’t get to hear everything on a podcast, even if you are a Patreon member. So, but tell everyone where they can find you.
Eric: Yeah, so there’s my blog at mensunderwearguide.com. Very easy to remember. And YouTube and Instagram, same thing, at mensunderwearguide. Definitely like, follow, and feel free to DM me, leave comments, I am very open to talk.
UNB Tim: Yes he is, we’ve had many conversations. Thank you for coming on. You can find me at you and me, Tim, on everything social. And find the blog, listen to all our back issues, the podcasts, even the horrible winter underwear. But you know, you gotta have a bad episode to appreciate the good. Look at it that way. Remember, you can’t have a rainbow without rain, so look at it that way, people.
Eric: Oh, that’s good. I never heard that before.
UNB Tim: Oh yeah, that’s an old one. You can’t have rainbow without rain. Um, so yeah, you gotta have bad with good. That’s why it’s still up. Someone goes, we should take it down. And I’m like, no, you mean you need appreciation. You need to know you suck at times and you know, you’re really good at other times. But yeah, thank you everyone. Have an amazing week and we will have another podcast for you soon. Bye everyone.
