International Jock

Friday, April 30, 2010

Bjorn Again - A Review

Brflines is no longer updating his undies status on Twitter, instead he is now documenting his daily underwear on Flickr.  Checkout the sidebar to see his pair of the day!
Bjorn Borg was an iconic Swedish tennis player from the 1970s. And like many professional athletes, once out of the business of playing a sport for a living, Bjorn branched out into the world of fashion. He joins another iconic tennis player who successfully transitioned over to the world of fashion, Henri Lacoste.

True to its origins, Bjorn Borg is sported by a lot of tennis players. As yours truly is an avid tennis fan, I’ve seen several players wearing them including Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra. So on a recent trip to Marshall’s, I saw the green Fun Stretch brief in a medium, I thought “why not?” So I picked them up and twenty minutes later I was at home slipping them on.

Brflines sporting Bjorn Borg.
Now, I’m normally into briefer cut briefs (low rise or no shows) so I’ll say one thing about the fun stretch brief from Bjorn Borg: it's very full cut. They’re very substantial on the sides and in the rear. I’d say that the fit of these briefs comes much closer to a trunk then they do to a lowrise brief. So if you’re looking for a skimpier cut, I’d steer clear of these.

So I thought I’d get super annoyed by having a bunch of material all over my groinal area. But not really, after I got used to being fully covered, it got very comfortable. The material's a nice combination of the softness of cotton and the stretchiness of just the right amount of lycra to allow give without making the garment feel too synthetic.

Brflines from behind.
I think a garment like the Bjorn Borg stretch fun brief is the perfect bridge for someone looking to transition from boxer briefs or trunks to briefs. The coverage and support approximates that of a brief. I also wore them one day to work and was delighted at the comfort of the garment and its all day wearability. The price point is a little high on these, but you can probably get them on sale.

Am I a Bjorn Again convert to full coverage briefs? Maybe. The fun stretch brief sure has made a strong argument for how much comfort and security a well-made full-coverage garment can provide.


Overall, I bequeath a score of 7.0 to the Bjorn Borg Fun Stretch Brief based on the following criteria:
COOL FACTOR -- 5 (out of 10) – The Euro-ness of the label is cool, for those in the know
WEARABILITY -- 8 (out of 10) – Nice, comfortable garment for all day wear, I wish these were cut briefer though
QUALITY -- 8 (out of 10) – Clean stitching, great fabric.
HOTNESS -- 8 (out of 10) – I still think full coverage = grandpa. So I have to knock them down a little for that. Tear.
VALUE -- 6 (out of 10) – Not super expensive, but they’re not Hanes either.

2 comments:

Jay said...

I am in the know :) As a European, I'd give it a slightly higher cool grade than 5. Maybe 8. Looks great to me!

Unknown said...

Bjorn Borg North America agrees with Jay! There are FAR Cooler styles and patterns than basic Green. Marshall's carries only basic styles, if you'd like, we'd like to send you a new pair to try on and review...?
kristian@meta-brands.com