This week, I am celebrating 14 years of UNB. It’s incredible how things have changed and grown over the 14 years. There have been a lot of ups and downs over that time. This week, I’m running some behind-the-scenes pictures or little-shown pictures in the UNB archive. I have every image and video we have ever done or posted. 

By every photo and video, I mean every shoot we have ever done, including behind-the-scenes and raw video files. I also have every video we have posted, such as UNB Guide videos, video reviews, and more. 

It got me thinking we need an archive of underwear pictures, videos, catalogs, etc. The prime example of this is the Undergewar/International Male catalogs. Having a PDF version of all these catalogs saved online would be brilliant.

 One thing I did when I heard that UnderGear was going out of business was to go to their Facebook Page and download everything I could. Not knowing if it would be deleted or not. While it’s not everything, these files cover the years of most of the digital years until they close. 

This week, something happened that made me wonder if underwear content was being taken off social media. I am not on Facebook as much as I used to be and log in once a week or so, but not every day. This past Saturday, I logged in and was notified that a page (that I used to be an admin for from 2011-2013) had a picture that violated the Facebook TOS. At first, I was confused; why was I seeing this underwear store page that I hadn’t been involved with since 2013? First, yes, I posted this image but not being an admin, I couldn’t do anything about this page. This made me think of how many brands have come and gone, and their Facebook/IG/Twitter accounts have all been abandoned. How many of these will be taken off for violating TOS and be gone forever?

 I went to Facebook to see if the page was still up and whoever bought UnderGear now has control over the page. You can still see the “original” pics in their photo section. 

We all know the issues with social media. We can’t post anything that sexualizes a man at all. What was acceptable ten years ago on social is not good today. 

Here is what I think we need to save, but not limited to: 

• Catalogs – There have been several catalogs that are of significance. They include UnderGear, Prevail Sport, and MalePak. 
• Ads – I grew up on those Jim Palmer ads and have gone out of my way to get as many ads as possible off eBay. In the 80s and 90, ‘s Fitness magazines such as “Exercise for Men Only” and “Men’s Workout.” used to have some fantastic ads, which are sadly gone now. 
• Photos – Many fun and iconic brand images need a repository for future uses. The photos include catalog (product) and lifestyle images. 
• Videos – Video marketing is coming into its right now. More brands are doing videos. Like Facebook/IG, YouTube doesn’t like men’s underwear videos. 

Should this archive be open to everyone? Something like Wikipedia. Or should it be more closed off for research, documentaries, and movies? I think it needed to be behind a paywall just due to the size of the collection. The costs of hosting all that data would add up fast. 

FYI if you love classic underwear advertisements and catalogs follow Florian Lassalle on Twitter.

I have pulled my back this week again and have been under the weather. I wanted to share the video we did a few years ago. These shoots were so much fun doing the videos and bts photos. I hope we get more shoots soon!

We wrap up our week of UNB Flash Backs with one of my favorite people we have ever worked with on a shoot. Chandler always brought so much fun and energy to a shoot. He would wear anything we had and I hope he had as much fun as we did. I think this was the last time we worked with him for the 2017 Swim Shoot. I’m working on some new things but with the last few years with COVID-19 and the economy, it’s been brought for me. But, we see good things coming

We bring you another picture featuring Derek. This was one of our Holiday Guide shoots. It was shot at the Castle in Bham and we had Derek, Chandler, Nathan, and Michael for the shoot. This picture features the brand ManView.

We shot Josh three times. This was the second time we shot him. Ignacio Rivera Jr shot him in Bham. It was a very interesting day for a shoot. Little did I know we’d have a luxury car, gym or anything else we shot. This is a BTS of Josh in Gregg Homme and a leather harness.

We only did one Valentine’s Day shoot. I learned a lesson that it was very hard to do a shoot after. Xmas and in the short time between the first of the year and Valentine’s Day. In order to get it up and out and allow guys time to shop was nearly impossible. This was a fun shoot in Bham in a house on top of the mountain. David was our model and this pic he’s wearing Timoteo Cellblock 13.

This is the first shoot we did with Derek back in 2012. This is a bts photo, that never made it out the florescent lighting made the pics terrible. Flash forward 10 years and new technology makes it a fun bts picture.

We take you back to 2012 with a shoot we did with Seven Continents in Birmingham! This BTS pic was shot upstairs in a brewery in their event space. We had David and another confirmed for the shoot, the other guy fell out at the last minute and Matt (my model wrangler) got on the phone and found Josh. This was the first time he modeled but he had a blast we would go on to work with him a few times before he quit modeling.

I’ve decided to unlock the UNB Vault and show some of the pics we have done over the last 14 years. Well, never before and little seen pics. Until next Thursday we will bring you some of our History. this is a pic Taylor Cambell did of Nate diving into the pool after the shoot. I love this picture and didn’t realize I have had it for 5 years and never really looked at it.

Today UNB turns 14. October 6th was the day I applied for the domain and made it official. Before this, I was on Blogger, and you had to know where you were going. A short project I wanted to do for six months turned out to be a significant part of my life and would go on to change my life entirely.

This is not a significant anniversary, next year, for the 15th, I want to do something BIG, but this year, I want to do something that looks back at the past, present, and future.

We have done some fantastic things over the past 14 years! Things that were super fun and others that were hard work but paid off in the end.

We had fun doing our guides; our Holiday Guides were the biggest we did all year long. We initially wanted to do four a year. Valentine’s Day, Swimwear, Back to School/Fall, and Holiday. We did one Valentine’s Day; the rest were swims and holidays.

The Holiday shoots were always long, but I think the guys had fun doing them. Our locations ranged from the City, mountains, a castle, and more! It’s a shame that we haven’t done one since 2018.

Swimwear Guides were smaller but a lot of fun. We have had several photographers over the years. The first was Seven Continents (Brian), then Ignacio Rivera Jr, and finally Taylor Campbell. I think scouting locations for this shoot was the hardest for me. I teamed up with Matt (who was in a few of our shoots), and he would handle all the locations. He had a new opportunity, and he jumped at it, and I would have too. It was down to the photographer and me to find locations. We shot at lakes and pools. My big idea to shoot in Hawaii never came to pass.

We did video reviews before social media got HUGE for underwear. These have been fun to do, and I know you guys enjoyed them. Video reviews are complicated when the guy isn’t local. There is still a place for them, but it requires a lot of planning. One funny thing is that we did a video review of the Baskit Just /b/ trunk by Alex, and we were fast approaching 1M views, I think we were around 775,000 views, and YouTube hit us with a “TOS Violation” and deleted the video. AARRRGGHH.

Magic & Curve were one of my favorite things. These trips gave me my love of Vegas! The first time I went was in Feb 2010. It was a 24-hour trip. It blew my mind; for the next six years, I would go every Feb/Aug to the shows. Over the years, Curve ended as a men’s show, and Magic became the show to go to.

At the start of the shows, I would host a Meet & Greet for any brand, store, or attendee who would want to come to hang out in a social setting. These were so much fun; some years, we had four people show up; in others, we had 20. No matter the turnout, it was still a lot of fun. A side note on the first one: Andrew from N2N, Scott (from Australia, formerly clone zone), and one other ended up at the 24-hour McDonald’s in the Luxor, and I didn’t get to bed till 4 am!

In 2016 I had some financial issues that caused me to cut back on going. I missed Feb 2016 through Feb 2017. When I returned, many brands were saving money and not going to Magic. Plus, one year, they put the underwear in a part of the show that wasn’t on the map and had very little traffic.

The last time I went was Aug 2021 after Covid. There was one brand at the official show and a few brands in suits. The heydays of the fantastic times in vegas are long gone. It’s so sad, it was like a reunion, and I got to catch up with some of the most amazing people in the industry.

UNB has gone through so many iterations, and the current one includes the Brief Talk Podcast. I have run a successful underwear blog and wondered if lightning would strike twice, and it has! The podcast has taken off and continues to grow.

The main show is a catch-all of the shows. It features interviews with brands, group shows, and topics such as spandex, lingerie, and more. It’s been so much fun to get all these guys together and have open and honest discussions about underwear.

Our most popular show by far is the Thong show. We get the most downloads, and it shows that you guys LOVE thongs. We will have more, but it’s a lot of work coordinating the schedule of the guys to get together. We are constantly working on the next show.

These shows have brought out the most feedback. Brief Tales are a way to hear a guy’s “origin story,” and it’s incredible how much we have in common! I don’t limit the show to just one kind of guy. I want as much diversity as we can get on it. These are my favorite shows because I get to talk to many guys about underwear. There is nothing better than hearing a guy share his passion and listening to it in his voice as he tells you things he hasn’t told many people. It’s like he’s sharing a part of himself he’s always wanted to share, and now he gets to do it with guys who get him and understand him.

WE HAVE MERCH! You know the “merch link is in bio.” It’s been interesting during the pandemic to rediscover my love of drawing and art. As a kid, I was always drawing or being crafty, and now I’m making some super fun things I want to share with everyone. It’s not a “Major Enterprise,” but it will grow in the next few years. The Merch is underwear related and sometimes not (usually showing my sense of humor). You can find our Merch at the UNB Store.

What does the Future hold for UNB? I wish I could spell out this detailed road map I have for the blog/podcast/store. But I don’t have one. I know what I want to do, but I go with the flow. The Brief Talk Podcast was fun to do again, but it turned into a big hit in underwear podcasts (that’s because I don’t think there are any other underwear podcasts, lol). Here are some things I want to do.

First, I want to grow the podcast into something bigger! We have been steadily increasing, and I have so many new show ideas after a recent podcast! I’m excited about these shows because I wanted to write a book but realized A. I am dyslexic and hate writing (ironic, I know), and B. I think a podcast would be much better than a book.

We need to venture into the world of video podcasting and doing video projects. We are working out a way to do this, and there are still a lot of guys who don’t want to show their faces or real names in the underwear world.

Video projects have been on the UNB Reader Survey for a few years. There are a few reasons that held me back. The first is the cost of the video. Luckily with new phones and equipment, those prices are falling. The second is finding guys to “collab” with, as they say. And Third, what exactly do I want to do in these projects?

One of my biggest dreams is to do an underwear documentary. I have one project in mind that I want to do. I’m in the process of writing a script and questions for interviews. And no, I haven’t asked the people involved, but I wanted a solid game plan before approaching them. However, I think it’s about time we start doing documentaries about men’s underwear. They just released the UnderGear documentary, but I think we could release them on YouTube and do a Patreon or Go Fund Me model to get them made. I want to do this, and most of you will also love the project I have in mind.

Ok, guys, I have rambled on enough. Thank you for making this 14-year journey so fucking amazing. I never expected to do this for so long, and I made many amazing friends through the blog. In my 10th year post, I thanked those who made the blog successful over the years. There are three people who I want to tip my cap for being there for me and being a part of my underwear family. The first two are Andy and Erik. They are my underwear brothers and have been there for me in good and evil. I have to think about my other underwear brother Stevie as well. I would not have continued this journey without you, boys. I love you and am so glad you are in my life!!!