UNB writers have previously discussed different ways of organizing an underwear drawer.  But the problems in organizing underwear also arise when trying to keep straight a growing swimwear collection.  Here’s what I did recently to try to contain the clutter and ease the process of selecting the appropriate swimwear for my chosen watersports activity.

I started with a Skubb drawer organizer from Ikea  ($7.99).  It’s inexpensive, and the seven divided compartments of varying sizes helped group different swimwear by style.  The organizer also takes up only two-thirds of my drawer, leaving a large additional space for more swimwear.  Here’s a look at the final outcome:

And here’s how I got there:

A. I first folded lengthwise my three pairs of swim trunks and put them stacked in the open space to the left of the Skubb organizer.

B. I folded and placed my single pair of board shorts in the top left square of the organizer. These are Andrew Christian board shorts, so they’re neither as thick or as long as most board shorts.

C. One pair of square cut trunks resides in section C. (The other two pairs of square cut trunks went to section G.)  There’s room in section C for at least 1-2 more pairs.

D. The sections marked D hold swim briefs that would be appropriate to wear at any beach or public pool. I folded and turned each brief so that the back faces the front of the drawer.  Folding and storing in this manner provides the largest possible view of each brief’s pattern when later selecting which suit to wear.

E. The small, top right corner of the organizer holds swim thongs. I don’t often wear these, but folding and stacking them so that the pouch faces front makes choosing easier when the right wearing opportunity does arise.

F. I utilized the organizer’s two medium sized sections to store the swim briefs and bikinis that might be too immodest to wear to the neighborhood pool. (These swim briefs typically have a profile pouch or are custom-made swimwear from designers such as Muscle Skins, Beach-N-Dance, or Jovana Design.)  As like before, I folded each so that the rear of the suit faced forward, making the pattern more visible and easing a later search for a specific suit.

G. Finally, I folded and placed two of the more modest square cut trunks next to my all-locations-appropriate swim briefs. The square cut trunks in this section lack the profile pouch of the square cut found in section C.  (Think “more James Bond” and less “Magic Mike.”)

In total, the Skubb organizer provided an inexpensive solution for organizing and storing over 35 pairs of swimwear of varying styles.  All my swimwear had previously been just stuffed randomly in the drawer.  I am pleased with results of my attempt at organization, and I hope I can maintain this level of order through the end of next summer.

It’s Jockstrap Wednesday! Do you wear jocks? Well, tell us about it! We will share the results. Stay tuned for our Classic Underwear Poll results this weekend!

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Everywhere you look these days, every company, brand and more seem to have their own underwear subscription service. Wait we are pleased to announce…. Not really! We aren’t planning a subscription service. The question is are they worth the money you pay? Will you get pairs that you will actually wear? If you’re paying $20+ a month you want something you will wear on a regular basis. We have a few words of advice when picking an underwear subscription service.

Go with a brand

If you love a brand and they have a service it is worth looking into. First, you know the brand and the quality. The designs, prints, and fabrics won’t come in and you go “what the hell is this?” It’s more likely the brand will send you similar to what you already love. Two brands doing subscriptions are MeUndies and Andrew Christian. MeUndies will send you an awesome print each month in the style you love. Thiers is pretty straightforward. The designs/style will not change. If you want to try some different things Andrew Christian can vary the line they send in a brief. You could get an Almost Naked, trophy boy or more. Pouches could have the Show-it Tech or they could be mesh. Andrew Christian has a lot of different things they could send a month.

Get something new with a retailer

If you love a style such a brief or jock. Sign up with a retailer doing a subscription. They will bring you a new brand every month. This can be good and bad. It can be good because it can expose you to a lot of brands you may not have worn before. You could find a new favorite. On the flip side, if you hate a brand you may get a pair in the subscription. It’s a gamble you will have to take! Most retailers will try to get the best value for the consumer. Always follow up with a brand if they send you something you love or hate. Feedback is always good.

Try something out of the box

Some subscriptions make you pick a style and stick with it. Others will send you anything from a boxer brief to a thong. If you want to expand your horizons why not let the luck of the draw dictate what you get. Or, if you love all kinds of undies, this is perfect for you. You will get sent, randomly, whatever pair they have that month in whatever style. It can be like Christmas and not knowing what you’re going to get till you open the package!

It’s about the money

The last thing to consider is the cost. They vary in costs. It’s smart to shop around and see who is offering the best deal. The cheapest isn’t the best if you’re paying $5 or more for shipping for each pair. Looking into shipping costs is a must. It will add to your subscriptions overall cost. Next, are you signing up for an ongoing monthly basis that you have to cancel or is it for a set

Next, are you signing up for an ongoing monthly basis that you have to cancel or is it for a set time? Double check before you order to see which you are getting. You may only want to try for 3 months but sign up for a year or more. If it is an ongoing subscription, is it easy to cancel your subscription?

If you want to reward yourself I think an underwear subscription is a great way to do it. Shop around and see what the costs are for each of the ones you are interested in purchasing. Most will have some of their past selections. It should give you an overall view of the service. After you deciede on your service determine how long you want the subscription. And then sit back and enjoy as undies show up at your door everymonth!

Remember the days growing up when you would get underwear as a present? If you were like me you would go WTF? I wanted games, toys or something, not underwear? Also, it was never anything good, it was a 3 or six pack of the big box stuff. Now that we want to get underwear as gifts, how many of us get what we want? We are going to explore a few scenarios for underwear giving in the holidays.

Partners – BF/GF, Wives or Husbands

If you are lucky enough to have a partner who supports your undies love, congrats. Consider yourself super lucky. So many guys, both gay and straight, have partners who just don’t get the underwear thing. We have readers who told us their partners buy them sexy undies and they love it. Opening the package and seeing some great new undies under the tree. This would be awesome.

Friends

This is more geared to the gay guys but If two straight guys loved undies I could see it happening. Unlike the partner, one above this is one I have participated in. Give a good friend, who you know is into undies, as presents. I tend to be open about my undies love and what I like. It’s easy to shop for someone who you talk to about undies. It’s good to set this up ahead of time. Me and my friend used to do this on a monthly basis. It started after a holiday exchange. It’s fun to get some pairs you may not have thought of before.

Buy Yourself Undies

This is what I usually do. I buy myself presents of undies around big occasions such as birthdays and holidays. There are two things to guarantee. Frist, you will get the correct size. Next, you will get exactly what you want. But this is not as much fun as the ones above. There is something awesome about a person putting in through to what undies they should give you. Either done for romantic reasons or to expose a friend to a new brand, style or etc.

Online Gift Exchange

This came to me when I was brainstorming this post. Create smaller groups of guys and do a small gift exchange. I was initially thinking about this for the guys at UNB. We are a small group of guys and would be interesting to see who gives what to who. This could be done online with guys who love undies. The only ground rules would be the undies must be new, with the tags still on. If you participate you must send out a pair. Lastly, be local or in the same country. When you get have to deal with international post and customs it can take forever for a pair to get to you.

These are a few scenarios for a gift exchange for underwear. I’m curious as to you guys thoughts.

As most of you know, I am a huge proponent of wearing thongs, both as underwear and swimwear.  I wear thong swimwear almost exclusively, in both private and public settings.  I have gained a bit of experience over the years, which I feel is sage advice for any of you contemplating wearing a thong style suit to the local beach or pool.  I will focus on a few key elements you should keep in mind as you plan your first public thong outing!  You will need to plan on a number of things including knowing the laws, proper grooming, judging your audience, and practicing proper beach etiquette.

KNOW THE LAWS! I cannot stress this enough-whether that means looking for signage around the beach or pool, researching case law, browsing Internet forums, or calling/writing the local jurisdiction you plan to visit to ensure you can legally wear the particular suit you wish to wear.  Some areas have no laws restricting what you can wear as swimwear, provided that all of the essentials are covered.  Other places (or so I’ve heard) actually specify that the smallest part of a suit must be a certain minimal width.  Some places even go as far as to outlaw thongs entirely.  No matter which route you take, please ensure you don’t break any laws or offend anyone else. The laws are created for a couple of reasons.  First, local jurisdictions may impose laws that their citizens vote on, to uphold a certain standard of conduct that they want to form a community around.  Next, just as some of us may want to visit a thong friendly beach or pool, others may absolutely not want to see that view when they sunbathe.  Local laws can provide each group with a designated area they are free to do as they please without fear of repercussion.

As you prepare to step out into the public wearing a thong (possibly for the first time), take a moment to look in the mirror or ask your spouse or a friend to take a view of you.  Make sure of a few things before you share that same view with the public.  Ask yourself (or a friend) a few questions: Does this suit fit me? Is it too small or large?  Does anything hang out of it that wasn’t intended?  Can you see through it?  Do I need to groom myself before going out into public?  If the answers satisfy you, then go ahead.  If not, you may need to revisit your grooming routine to make sure everything is tidied up first.  A thong (in my opinion) will look best if you do some proper manscaping or outright shaving so that it is the focus of attention and not any unsightly body hair!  I’ll let you make your own decisions concerning that, but at least you know my opinion now!

Please consider the location before making the decision to strip down to a thong.  Just because it is legal to wear a thong in your city and they have provided a water fountain with benches around doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best idea to strip down for your suntan there.  Please take others activities into consideration-if you visit a park that is completely occupied by families with kids playing and you are the only person that will be in a swimsuit, you may want to rethink your idea.  I don’t at all want to discourage anybody from wearing a thong, but understand that we have to help build a positive ideal for guys who wear thongs.  Don’t be the creepy guy that gets on a playground swing (wearing next to nothing) next to a three-year-old and their mom!  As long as you are in a setting appropriate to wear swimwear, other people are (or have previously) wearing swimwear, then you should be fine.  Be a trendsetter-don’t wait for somebody else to show up in a thong.  If you do you will likely never wear one!  Wear your thong with confidence and be positive about it-you aren’t required to cover up every time someone walks by.  I have worn a thong in many places thongs aren’t the norm and places where I have seen dozens of thongs in a single day.  Do what makes you happy!

Learn proper beach etiquette!  Whether at the beach or pool, know that first and foremost safety is the number one concern.  Don’t set up your chair right in front of the lifeguard stand, or so far away that they can’t see you, especially if you plan on getting into the water.  After you have planned that out remember that you aren’t the only person on the beach.  The people who got there earlier than you earned the right to that view of the ocean or pool-don’t set up right in front of them!  Also, keep in mind everyone goes to the beach or pool for their own reasons.  Just because you are a social person and love talking doesn’t mean that everyone does.  Learn to read social cues and body language.  If you must approach someone to speak, pay attention and leave if you think they aren’t pleased with your presence.  The last thing we all need is somebody calling the police because “some guy in a thong” kept talking to them or wouldn’t leave them alone.  Plan on admiring the scenery from a distance.  Avoid approaching other people because you want to see what they are wearing (or lack of) or that you want to show off your new suit.  Most locales that don’t prohibit thongs could quickly revisit their policy if they find people are practicing exhibitionistic or voyeuristic behaviors in a public setting!  Be friendly to people if approached, and make sure you clean up after yourself.  When you visit the beach or pool, take a bag or container for your trash, and always make it a point to look around for trash others may have missed as well.

So now that fall is setting in in most parts of the country, you have several months to plan your perfect new beach day.  Pick out a hot new thong, research an area convenient to where you live, and maybe even plan on convincing a friend to come along and get out there and enjoy the sunshine. If you have any questions about where may or may not be an appropriate place to try out that new swim thong, drop me a line in the comments and I’ll try to provide you with some resources to form your own opinion.  I’m definitely not an attorney, but I’ll do anything I can do to point you in the general direction. In the end, do what makes you happy (within the realm of the law), forget what others think or say, and enjoy the freedom of wearing that new thong bikini.  If you’re like me, you’ll never go back!  Drop me a line in the comments below with your experience!