It all started with the 1976 Fruit of the Loom television commercial with the “Fruit guys” the old lady, and the “Super-band waistband”. It was this commercial that sparked my interest in underwear. At age 10, I loved underwear……why you ask; well I am still searching for that answer 35 years later.
As a kid growing up, my grandparents had owned a children’s clothing store in Chicago since the 1930’s and I was always the best dressed kid on the block including my underwear. At that time I wore Carter’s brand white briefs because that’s the brand that was sold at my grandparents’ store, and I like them, they felt soft next to my skin and I loved the colorful stripes on the waistband, one red one blue.
On my twelfth birthday, grandma could always be counted on to give me a gift that had new white briefs in it and while most kids would throw them aside, embarrassed, I was happy and excited to get my new white briefs. I shredded off the wrapping paper, removed the box lid, and pulled apart the tissue paper held together with a gold sticky seal to get at my new briefs. What I was looking at was not my typical briefs and they sure as heck were not Carter’s brand, they were from JC Penny, I tossed them aside. Later that night, getting ready for bed; and after my shower, I pulled the briefs out of their box…ripped open the plastic package and put a new fresh gleaming white pair of briefs on and hopped into bed. Several minutes later I was trying to figure out why something felt different than my other briefs. These were softer and fit better than mine other ones. The legs bands were wider and so was the waistband, but there was something else….the backside felt different; it was softer and thicker and I liked it, it felt great. I crept out of bed and looked at the shredded package in the box, “JC Penny Boys Briefs size 16” “Double-seat” I loved these briefs. I wore these while playing sports too as they absorbed more sweat than my others had.
As Christmas 1978 came closer I added JC Penny double seat briefs to my Christmas list for grandma, she always knew and bought what I liked so I fully expected her to buy me those again. Christmas morning was awesome! Not only did grandma buy me those briefs again but mom never checked with grandma and bought me briefs too, but hers’ were Fruit of the Loom size 16. I spotted the waistband on these and instantly took a liking to them, mostly because of the waistband style, two double blue stripes on them. I think they look “cool”. I also had gotten briefs from mom on another birthday that was from Montgomery Wards and again I liked these too for the fit, comfort, softness, but more importantly, the waistband style and color…very cool!
As I got older, into my middle teens; the double seat briefs disappeared…grandma said the Penny’s’ had stopped making them…I was crushed. But hey, I still had the colored stripes and dashes on waistbands and I now made it a point to spot anyone with their undies showing over their pants too see what color stripes were on their waistbands. There were so many different kinds…I guess I never realized it. I also started getting different brands of briefs when I started working at age fifteen, Hanes, Jockey, and Sears but none compared to my JC Penny double seat briefs. Funny, the older I got the more I like undies…weird.
The early 1990’s were a terrible decade for me, at least as far as underwear was concerned. It seems that briefs were out and boxers were in, just like that over-night I wondered? The only type of person that I ever thought to wear boxers were the older men and my grandfather and I refused to be like them. How could this be……I figured it to be only a “phase” the younger generation was going through, and after a few years briefs would be back in fashion. By the late 1990’s, briefs were still banned from the drawers of all young people and even the twenty something’s were now wearing them. This was no fad it was here to stay…with people claiming that they were “free” and able to “breathe”. Free from what I thought….and they needed underwear to breathe? Strange…..I had to get a pair of these since everybody swears by them….just maybe they would “liberate” me as promised. I bought a pair of Joe Boxers and wore them to work. Throughout most of my day, I was miserable. These things didn’t absorb sweat like my briefs do since they just “hang” on you and don’t hug your body….I developed a rash on my inner thighs because of this. Every time I stood up and sat down, my family jewels would be crushed from being loose and get caught between my legs and don’t even get me started about running in boxers…ouch! This was liberation? I wasn’t free…I was in hell. They went into the garbage as soon as I got home, where after my shower I put my soft and comfy briefs on. Boxers also turned many a male into “Grabbers” “Pullers” and “Adjusters”, doing it in open public places without any consideration as to who was around. I guess when this is NO SUPPORT (like briefs give) one would have to grab and pull at one self.
Into to early 2000’s boxers were prevalent still and to my horror briefs were getting a make-over also. No longer were underwear manufacturers putting cool looking colored stripes on the waistbands of there brief’s they were stitching in their names and logos on the waistbands. I decided to rebel myself and refused to buy any brief that did not have a colored stripe on it, this is what I wanted, not some advertisement on the waistband. I switched back solely to JC Penny briefs, they were the only brand that still had colored stripes on them. As the early 2000’s passed on briefs once again took a hit and were branded “tighty Whities”. Kids were teased, wedgie and picked on if they wore “Tighty whities” and under peer pressure gave up their briefs for boxers. I figured this was the end of the brief, enter the boxer-brief.
Although I hated these underwear but decide to try them as I did with the boxers. Not good! If people thought briefs were tight and gave them up how could any one wear something that is tighter than briefs but in the legs! OUCH. And don’t even get me started about boxer-brief lines that show through a man’s pants and even worse looking, under suit pants.
It is 2011 and briefs are making a slight comeback minus the colored stripes on the waistband and double seat fabric, and that is a shame, that is the reason for the Old Skool Briefs! With Old Skool Briefs, you wont find our name plastered all over the waistband, instead you will find multiple styles with multiple colored stripes on them just like the ones from past. Old Skool Briefs are available in both single and double seat fabrics and are made of 100% soft absorbent cotton and are available in white only.
Old Skool Briefs 