Monthly Musing ~ Underwear, do men really care?

Underwear, do men really care?

And no, I'm not talking about whether their partners are swanning around in seductive lace ensembles, ever ready in perfectly matching sets or even in how easy and quickly said underwear can be removed ;) 

I'm talking about their own underwear.  Boxers, briefs, trunks.  Is their own underwear something that men put much thought into?

I can only recall one occasion where my husband bought his own underwear.  It must have been around 15 years ago and we had made a trip to Raglan beach, NZ to go for a swim.  He quickly discovered, getting ready and about to put on his fairly loose, baggy and white in places swim shorts, that he had no underwear to wear underneath them.  So we had to make a quick stop at the local Foursquare (rural supermarket) where he reluctantly purchased a pair of skimpy, forest green, jockey briefs to protect his modesty.

Despite this, my husband has a fairly respectable underwear drawer.  We can rely on Santa to top it up with a three pack every December and on his birthday in March he'll usually unwrap a pair or two.  I have a bit of a 'in with the new, out with the old' policy with my husband's underwear stocks so there aren't too many that are looking less than desirable.  I really should put the same policy in place for my own drawer because if we were to compare the two I'd certainly be the loser in a grotty underwear competition!

Opposite to this, I have a male friend who loves underwear.  The more brightly coloured and garish print the better!  He goes on the hunt for them but also receives them as gifts too (this obsession is quite widely known) and he once confessed to me to having over 40 pairs.  Now that is an underwear lover!

So how about the men in your lives?  Do they rely on gifted briefs to keep them covered?  Or are they happy browsing the underwear isle at the clothing stores and making their own purchases?  Do they (eek!) wear them until they are tatters?  Or respectably discard them on a regular basis?

Have you sewn any men's underwear and have pattern recommendations?  I'd love to know!  I found sewing mens' boxer briefs as fulfilling as other types of underwear so I'd like to make some more of other designs.  Hit me with it!