International Jock

Friday, March 30, 2007

Artificial Flavor Reviewed

For quite a while I have been giving you quite a bit of info on the brand Artificial Flavor. It really is a great brand and is well worth buying. They just launched a brand new collection that includes over 40 new styles. Currently, this collection is only available at International Jock (as far as I can tell). Although John Vitti (founder of AFlavor) promises that they will be up on their official site soon. The collection includes 6 different types of styling of underwear (in briefs and trunks). The new part is there is one new style (the "bandito") and the classic styles are in a lot of fun, new, spring colors. Also, they have added loungewear that includes trackpants or lounge pants and sweatshirts. The whole collection is very fantastically styled and works seamlessly together. I am happy to say that I have had the opportunity to try out some of their collection. I did not try out the new colors, but I am assured that they fit and feel the exact same way (with one exception, that I will discuss later). For the purposes of this review I am going to talk about the trunk (all the trunks are the same, but just in case you really are curious, I am basing this off the camel "trickster").

Now down to business... The trunk fits superbly. It is one of those trunks that isn't too short and isn't too long. It's not quite a brief or even a square-cut brief, but it's also not long enough to seem too much like a sliding short. The inseam is very short (I'd say no more than 2") and the rise is very low; therefore it just perfectly covers all the pivotal parts. Basically, it is the perfect cut for a trunk. It also doesn't fit too tight or too loosely. AFlavor has used pretty much the perfectly elasticity to not constrict but still give shape to a man's body.

These trunks are pretty much perfect in terms of comfort. They move with your body but still hug it closely enough so you feel supported and have the cottony goodness against your skin. The only problem is the tag. The tag has a tendency to itch because it is not a very good design. But I'm not going to go into the problems with the design of the tag because I have already brought this up with John Vitti and he informed me that they redesigned the way the tag is made for the new line. So if you buy your Artificial Flavor undies now, you won't have any tag problems. And besides, I noticed that the tag itchiness was alleviated after a couple washes. (But I still must mark down in terms of points for this since I have not actually experienced the ones with the revised tag.)

The style. Wow, what can I say. The retro fit and inspiration is truly... inspirational. The creativity and attention to detail in the design of Artificial Flavor underwear is truly superb. From the wide array of fashionable colors to the matching loungewear. From the logo patch on the outside, to the covered elastic waistband that is exposed on the inside (to reveal a stylish logo motif). The style of this whole line is really great and unique with a lot of personality that is sure to add personality to your wardrobe.

The quality of Artificial Flavor is excellent. As I said, the attention to detail is fantastic. These truly are briefs that will last you a lifetime (if you so choose and if you follow the washing directions). They are a little pricey, but considering all the use you can get out of them, the cost is very reasonable. So if Artificial Flavor has not yet found a place in your underwear drawer, you should help them find one soon.

MY RATING:
Overall, I give the Artificial Flavor trickster trunks a total score of 9 based on the following criteria:
FIT -- 9.5 (out of 10)
COMFORT -- 9 (out of 10)
STYLE -- 10 (out of 10)
QUALITY -- 9 (out of 10)
VALUE -- 8 (out of 10)

********** 9

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there. Nice review. I was wondering, what was the price range? I didn't see it listed. Maybe I just missed it?

Thanks!

Marcus

UMan said...

Thank you Marcus, no I did not list the price range in the review, sorry. At Artificial Flavor the price range is $25 (for briefs) and $27.50 (for trunks).

At International Jock the pricing is a lot more confusing. But low is $22.95 (for the new colors of briefs) then it is $26.95 (for some classic colors of briefs and for the classic colors of trunks) and lastly it is $24.95 (for the new colors of trunks).

Anonymous said...

Thanks Uman! The price isn't that outrageous I don't think. Ginch Gonch isn't much cheaper I don't believe and certainly CK can get up there. Especially if they last a long time. Thanks for the reply!

Marcus

UMan said...

You are correct Marcus. They are not that expensive and they are certainly competitively priced. That is why I said they are "a little pricey". I really do need to sit down, though, and define what is cheap, what is somewhat cheap, what is expensive, etc.

Anonymous said...

I was in a Harry Rosen here in Toronto and they have Swiss underwear that costs $90/pair Canadian. I think we could count that as expensive :)

Marcus

UMan said...

Yes, Marcus, I am well aware of the fact that there is some very expensive underwear out there. There are some that are expensive as $200 a pair. But the thing is I need to come up with a better standard for my "value" classification.