International Jock

Friday, September 24, 2010

Buy new Undies for Charity (Late Notice)

Hey guys.  Just came across this.  Australian underwear company Grundies is giving $1 from every item sold to Blue September - a men's cancer awareness organization.  This promo has been ongoing all month, so there's still a good week left to take advantage of this deal.  So go on and get yourself some new undies and feel good about your purchasing knowing that you're doing your part to help. 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Review: Popduds

A popular trend of late seems to be using the men's brief as a canvas for one's artistic endeavors.  We're not just talking your everyday comic prints from H&M or aussieBum, I'm talking actual artists choosing to display their work on your pants.  Step into the picture, Jackson Walden.  Jackson is a graphic artist who has chosen to expand his canvas to encompass clothing by creating a line called Popduds.  This line of course includes underwear. 

Today I'm going to review the Popduds brief.  So let's get down to business and start with style.  The style of these briefs is reminiscent of American Apparel with screen printed graphics.  In fact, some of the briefs in the Popduds line are done on American Apparel blanks (the ones with white waistbands).  But today I'm only going to focus on the one's designed and manufactured by Popduds (the ones with the colored waistband).  Since Popduds does use AA briefs in their collection, they are obviously inspired by them.  But unlike the AA briefs that have a colored background with white elastic, these are the exact opposite with a white background and colored elastics.  Like many briefs of this style, they do have a fully functional fly, but it is really just a stylistic feature (in my opinion) to allow for more colored elastic - I would never actually use it.  The white body is then screen printed with an image that is placed in a specific position on the briefs.  I say this because the designs are actually done with the location in mind, it is not just a big screenprinted pattern that is then cut out to fit into a brief design, the images are placed in specific locations relative to the brief's design. The style is very fun and whimsical.  It reminds me a little bit of the little boys' briefs that I used to buy in 3 packs in Target back in the day (in a good way).    They bring back memories and make me smile - even the frownosaurus that I'm wearing today.  

Now the first thing you want to do after you get these things (besides smiling and reminiscing about your childhood) is to wash these things AND dry them.  Yes I said dry them (there are very few cases where I will tell you to actually use a machine to dry your undies).  This is because, as Popduds informs me, they are not preshrunk and so will not fit properly until you wash them.  I tried wearing a pair without washing and drying them first, and the babyrib cotton stretched out ridiculously throughout the day and never quite recovered even after washing and drying.  So lesson learned, be sure to wash these things AND dry them before wearing.  Now on to the fit.  These are a full-coverage brief. They are not skin-tight, but instead have a little bit of breathing room.  Normally I would hate this, but the elastic bands are nice and tight and hold everything in place and the extra room is a little refreshing.  Now these are by no means what I might call "baggy briefs", but they are simply just a little bigger than the micro and low-rise briefs that are so popular these days.  

The babyrib cotton of these briefs is oh-so-comfy.  And the extra room makes these a comfy pair for daily wear.  They do stretch out a bit during the day, especially if you do a lot of physical activity.  But the elastic bands are nice as they hold everything in place, but not too tightly.  While these briefs do have a bit of extra fabric, they stay in place and do not ride up.  They are a great choice to bring a little fun into your average day.

So far my briefs have gone through numerous washes with no major signs of wear.  The screen prints have faded a little, but that is to be expected.  They are still comfy and funky and fun to wear.  And at $18 a pair, these briefs are a great investment that's sure to bring a smile to your face every time you take off your pants.  And if they're not enough to bring a smile to your face, know that part of that $18 you spent goes to a charity of your choice - so what's not to smile about?  Go out and get yourself some Popduds


MY RATING:
Overall, I give the Popduds brief a total score of 8 based on the following criteria:
FIT -- 8 (out of 10) - Full coverage, mid-rise.  A little looser than some briefs, but not baggy. 
COMFORT -- 10 (out of 10) - 100% babyrib cotton, great comfort throughout the day. 
STYLE -- 9 (out of 10) - Fun.  Brings back childhood memories. 
QUALITY -- 8 (out of 10) - Not preshrunk.  Prints fade a little after multiple washes, but otherwise hold up well. 
VALUE -- 9 (out of 10) - Very inexpensive.  Plus part of your purchase goes to charity!

**********8

New Store: AlphaMaleUndies

AlphaMaleUndies is a new underwear retailer out of Ireland stocking a wide range of styles, cuts and colors.  They stock designer labels like Andrew Christian, LASC, Tribe, Pikante, Punto Blanco, PPU, Clever, Joe Snyder, Teamm8, Todger and Ed Hardy.  They just started advertising with us at MUB, so as a special for MUB readers right now you can save 20% off your purchase by using coupon code 'MUS234' at checkout.  This offer does not apply to sale items. 

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Attention Chicagoans: Want to Play Dodgeball in Your Underwear?

In celebration of Jockey's new men's sport collection known as "Unordinary Underwear for Unordinary Athletes" and in observance of National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Jockey is challenging all Chicagoans to play dodgeball in their underwear.  Jockey is hoping to break the world record for the largest dodgeball game.  To break this record they need 1,200 players to participate in this event on September 25th.  For each player that signs up, Jockey will donate $5 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation*.  And they're also gonna be giving away free undies!  So if you live in Chicago, get out there and go participate in this great event.  It's a great cause, and really who can pass up free boxerbriefs?  To find out more information, check out Jockey's Facebook page and RSVP at the Facebook Event.   

Friday, September 03, 2010

New Brand: Grundies

Grundies is a new brand of underwear coming from Australia.  It seems there are a lot of underwear brands in Australia these days.  But Grundies is a little bit different.   When clothing company Pacific Brands moved its manufacturing offshore, over 2000 Australians lost their jobs. Melburnian and former Pac Brands employee, Tony Vass, witnessed the impact of the mass redundancies first hand and vowed to tread a different path, investing in local manufacturing and creating his own underwear line: "Grundies".

"The day Pac Brands announced it was moving manufacturing overseas was a pivotal day for me" Tony says. "That decision cost thousands of people their jobs, many of them close colleagues of mine. That was the day I decided I was going to be the master of my own destiny, create my own underwear line and put back in to the Australian garment manufacturing industry."

Grundies underwear launched early 2010 and is the culmination of over 2 years of research and development, utilising some of Australia's best underwear designers and local manufacturing facilities. It was important for Tony to manufacture locally.  

Tony is aiming for a distinctly Australian flavour with Grundies, from the name which derives from Australian rhyming slang for undies - "Reg Grundies", through to the design of one of his Grundies ranges featuring iconic images of the Australian flag and the southern cross.

With three different ranges - a basics range called "originals", a "signature" range which has a more street flair, and an "aussie" range which hearkens back to its roots - Grundies is off to a great start and they are definitely worth checking out.  Also stay tuned for a review soon.