So, what type of models do you want to see on UNB? This has been a question going far back in the UNB Reader Survey. Unlike other posts, I am going to go into some details about this topic unlike the other posts.

50% of you guys want to see a mix of all the guys. The choices are Up and coming models, body positive guys, professional models and real/average guys. We are moving more towards the body positive side of the coin. It’s being accepted more and more in social media and by society.

When we first started our Shoots we had more “real guys” and less models. It would always annoy me that we got comments “he shouldn’t wear that.” Or “Ewwww he’s ugly and fat.” I mean these were guys with a 32 waist and around six feet, so they were no where near being “fat.”

Over the years we have stepped up our photography and models. We get hit for now having guys look like “professional models.”  We need more guys who look like real guys. Now I”m all for this but asking a guy to strip to his undies and put it out on the internet is not always an easy thing to find. We have had a “real guy” shoot planned for a while but it’s finding real guys in the south who will wear undies and have fun. If you are that kind of guy, let’s talk!

Also, one thing I want to do is give up and coming models a place to share their pics and learn more about them. We have profiled such great guys over the years. Some have gone on to do bigger things and others who took a different path. It’s always awesome to help people out when you can. So you will see a lot of profiles of guys just starting their journey on UNB.

One thing I want from you guys is support to post body positive images on UNB. When someone chimes in and say something negative, I want you guys to speak up and defend our decision. It takes a village for us to make this change and we need your support. We have some great readers who do this but we need a lot more of you to voice your support!

Does your partner support your love of underwear or do they see it as a waste of money? Do you buy things you know they will like to see or do you buy what you love to wear? When having a love of undies and a partner it can be a balancing act. While other partners can be enablers of your underwear habit.

For the most part, you guys have a partner who is supportive or isn’t into it as much as you are. This includes gay/bi/straight guys. Doing a survey that covers all is interesting. Some questions pertain to gay couples, while other straight ones. But we are learning as the years go by.

Very few of you guys have partners who don’t get it or they don’t know of your love. We have had guys over the years who have hidden their love from a partner who didn’t understand a love of underwear. And that that partner thought it was strange.  This to me, and this is my opinion, not the partner for you. Underwear is a small thing and if you can’t share that well… I won’t go there. 

My past relationships, with me being single now, my ex’es were supportive of my underwear, even though most didn’t get into it themselves. Granted on a few I have helped them discover undies and some wear better ones till this day, but none of them have been underwear converts. On the other hand, I have never dated a guy who loved undies as much as I do. I know they are out there but I have yet to run across one in my dating pool.

I’m curious how your wives/girlfriends, husbands/boyfriends react to your undies? Have they ever bought you undies? Do you wear things that they love? Do you have pairs they hate or style they hate?

Fetishwear is something we have always covered. Mainly because I thought it was hot. Over the last 10 years, you guys have fallen in love with it as well. The harness has become popular and grown! Many of you like different kinds of thing from spandex to leather to rubber.

It came as no surprise that Spandex Gear is the top of the fetishwear list. More guys are starting to wear it to work out and then there is the whole super hero gear. Which is an entire post onto itself. Which we plan to cover. The next is Wrestling Singlets. Followed by Harnesses, Leather and lastly Lace.

We have been covering more spandex gear in our coverage. Runners, shorts, shirts and more! I personally have loved spandex for years. More brands are realizing that guys love fun gear. Brands like LED Queens and Slick It Up are making useful gear and sometimes over the top fun gear.

As for singlets. These have been around in many forms over the years. The true traditional ones are ones like college wrestlers wear. However, over the last few years, there have been additions to the sinlgets. That include removable codpieces, cutouts, zippers, super low cut, super high cuts and more. Which I think led the way for body suits, which could be considered a singlet.

Next I would group harnesses and leather together. Harnesses originated in the leather world. They were made of leather and was the traditional X design. In the last 10 years, we had bulldog, one shoulder and other additions to the harness. Now we have them made out of elastic, neoprene and spandex. This adds to more creativity in the space. You can do full body harnesses that weren’t possible with leather. Brands like Garcon Model, Raystraints and more are making some super fun gear. Don’t worry the tried and true leather isn’t going anywhere. Brands like Army of Men and Mr. S leather are making some awesome leather gear.

A relatively new entry on our fetish list is lace. Before BodyAware, Candyman, and Joe Snyder, lace was wearing women’s underwear. Now brands are making masculine lace. It’s not an oxymoron. The walls of what is masculine and feminine is gone. But, this is one that you either love or hate!

We will be covering more on all these over the next year.

Now we reveal the swimwear portion of our survey. Many of you guys have skipped from the swim brief straight to the swim thong. It’s really surprised me how big the swim thong has grown in the last year. So we asked a few questions about swimwear. The styles you guys wear, where you’ve worn swim briefs and do you have an interesting swim thongs

This is a chart I love to see. The swim trunks and briefs are the biggest two in the category. Followed by swim shorts. The brief has grown over the 10 years we have done the site. It’s great to see them in the lead of the style you wear most. It makes me feel like we are doing our job!

As the style grows the more places you guys are wearing them. The biggest is a public beach. I remember when the private pool was the biggest. Now it’s tied for second with a public pool. Attitudes on the swim brief are definitely changing among our readers. Now it’s time to turn to the general public and have them more accepted. That’s a totally different conversation. But something we are definitely working on.

Over 50% of you guys either have worn a swim thong or want to wear one. This is huge! The growth in swim thongs has far outpaced what I thought it would be in the last year. We have had several of our guys wear them in public. Just this past week UNB Shawn wore them to Wet Republic in Las Vegas. One of the biggest day parties in Vegas and had a positive reaction. We will have more on that soon.

I think one thing that is slowing down swim thongs is guys unsure where they can wear them. Some places are very pro thong while others are very anti-thong. It may not be a written law but they frown on them. We hope to have more thong content in the future. I’m not a thong guy but we have plenty on the site who are.

What do you guys think of the swimwear results?

We all love underwear but we have our pet peeves that drive us crazy about underwear. From tags to ill-fitting pouches. Here are you guys top factors that drive you crazy. They have been pretty much standard but at times things annoy you guys more than other times. I took a day break in the schedule for a much needed vacation.

We asked you 17 items in the previous reader surveys that annoyed you guys. Before this survey, it was a write-in question. After 3 years of data, we narrowed it down to these items. However, if guys could always write something in.

1. Sizing Issues – this was no surprise. Sizing is one of the biggest issues we have had at UNB. The problems arise from sizing that runs small to brands with inconsistent sizing. It sucks when you get the perfect underwear, put it on, only to discover it’s’ too small/big.
2. Labels/Tags – This one rotates in and out of the top spot. I have several pairs that I avoid wearing simply for the tag. One pair, in particular, I can’t take the tag off!. If it’s a great pair you can wear them inside out. But if it’s printed it may not look the same. More brands are starting to use the tagless tech in their undies.
3. Pouch too small – Our endowed series has always been a big draw for guys. The pouch not being supportive and too small always ruins an experience. It’s not just for the bigger guys. There are brands that do run small in the pouch department.
4. Pricing – Underwear is expensive! Especially great underwear.
5. Store selection – This is for more in store rather than online. Or that’s my assumption. Department stores rarely carry a lot of the pairs we cover. They have several big brands but rarely branch out. Not to mention that they aren’t carrying many thongs.

These are the most annoying things about undies to you guys! Check out the rest of the list above.

Underwear is made for all. That is the philosophy here on UNB. Speaking as the big guy side, 6’4″ and over 275, I think I could be considered a big guy. Yes, I’m working on getting more healthy but I’m never going to have abs. It’s not a goal I have or for that fact ever had. I do want to get to around 225 or under and stay there.

I often hear on social media when we post a bigger guy in underwear, “OMG you shouldn’t be wearing that.” I have even gotten similar messages on “dating apps.” It’s like we shame bigger guys for wanting to be sexy. I personally thing beefy guys look amazing in singlets and swim briefs. I still wear them but it depends on where I am. I shouldn’t let it get to me and just rock them where ever I want, but society frowns on bigger guys.

My underwear I still rock my bikinis, string bikinis, briefs and more. I wear whatever I want too. I don’t listen to guys who post on dating apps about my underwear of choice. Also, I’m not really on those apps anymore. I want more out of a date than a fun time. I want to make a connection.

Here is a list of things bigger guys should not even think twice about wearing:

• Bikini Briefs
• String bikinis
• Thongs
• jocks
• spandex
• singlets
• swim briefs
• swim thongs

Next just because a guy is bigger waist doesn’t mean he’s out of shape. Look at @sixfootfiveguy on Twitter. He’s a tall beefy guy but not out of shape. He posted on twitter (I think) that he wanted something in XXL. I responded that its unlikely the brand only goes to Large.

The next thing we need to tackle is having pairs in our size. Many brands go only up to a 36 inch waist. Anything higher and you’re out of luck. Luckily there are a few good brands making larger sizes.

We maybe an underwear blog but we love swimwear as well! We always ask the question about swim briefs but in the last two years we added in the swim thong question as well. Swim thongs have taken off big time, especially in the straight guy segment. It’s just amazed me we went from almost no swim thongs to brands releasing 2-3 a year.

For the last few years, we have had the Swim Brief Challenge. Where we try to get you guys to wear swim briefs and make them more mainstream. We seem to be succeding with our readers! Now is we can branch out to the public that would be awesome. I am super happy to see how many of you have worn them in public. Next to that, how many have worn to a private pool. You guys seem to like swim briefs! Which is an awesome thing.

More than 50% of you guys have either worn or want to wear a swim thong. Those not interested didn’t surprise me. Thongs are something you either love or hate. There is very little middle ground in the whole thong debate. Over 25% of you guys have worn a swim thong already. It shows this is growing more each year.

Here are the pairs you guys wear on a regular basis. Notice the swim thong is lower than board shorts? We need to change that. But the number one pair you guys like are swim briefs. I knew we had a fashion forward readership!

Share your swim brief or swim thong challenge story with us.

Who Influences your underwear buying? Or does anyone influence it? We asked who in your life has input into what you buy. If you’re single like me it’s prob different, but more on that later

I was shocked by this one. Most say their significant other doesn’t influence their decisions. When I dated I loved my partner to pick out undies for me. Or hell even buys them for me as a surprise. I also would wear what they thought was sexy. As many of you know what we think is sexy on us and what our partner does can be two separate things.

I knew that emails are a big driver of sales. But over the years I realize how much you guys get info and sale information from brands. It’s a great source of info and lets you know when pairs are available. Sometimes we post things that aren’t yet out and instead of reading it’s out on our blog, you can get the email.

Overwhelmingly you guys don’t rely on friends. I know very few guys who love undies that have a good group of other undies loving friends. It would be great to say “Hey have you tried the new Ergowear?” and have a conversation about it. But we aren’t there yet. I think more guys are starting to talk undies but it’s not a fast progression in the US.

This is something I knew and am glad you guys confirmed it. You like to read reviews of underwear. If you’re going to drop 20 bucks or more on a pair you want to hear things from a guy who’s tried it. We now put in our reviews negatives on pairs. My personal reviews I try to think of what issues would guys have with this pair, and list as “some guys may not like.” Because we are all different in our preferences.

I thought this would be way higher than it is. On Instagram and Twitter, there are tons of guys posting pics in undies. From muscle guys to bears. But they don’t seem to move the needle when you guys want to shop.

This is great news for me! UNB is a lot of work and glad to know we pass along some value to you guys. We try to tell you about your favorite brands and expose you to new ones. It’s not easy but it’s still a lot of fun to me.

If you have any different influencers let us know!