The history of mens’ underwear can be traced right back to the beginning of the wearing of clothing. We can perhaps discount the fig leaf as being part of a somewhat allegoric version of events, and start at the loincloth, as the first garment which ever graced the lower areas of a man’s body.

The loincloth was just a square of leather or cloth, passed between the legs and tied at the waist, or perhaps a triangle of the same materials worn on some sirt of string or thong round the waist to hold it up, a bit like an early belt. History does not record whether young men wore these garments slung low over the hips in the hipster style, while older men had them strung up almost under their armpits!

The loincloth could of course have been worn as the only form of clothing, although when winter set in and a bit more covering was needed for warmth, skins or cloths would have been wrapped round the upper body, probable hanging down over the legs, which meant the loincloth was then covered by these outergarments and became underwear.

Although the first garments would have been worn only for warmth and protection, underwear had additional functions as time went by. The most important of these would have been to protect outer garments from being soiled by any sweat or other fluids which may have gathered around the lower regions.

Mens underwear had changed and developed over the years, usually to accomodate changing styles and fashions, so we have had a variety of shapes and sizes of vests and undershirts, and a wide range of underpants, from the briefest of thongs right down to the long johns which reached the ankles and the union suits, which were like a form of boilersuit in underwear form.

Fortunately, we have coem to the point where anything goes, as far as mens underwear is concerned, so we have comfortable boxer shorts and t-shirts worn as vests, thongs and other garments designed to show off their contents to best effect, and almost anything else you can think of!