International Jock

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

3 comments:

Miko said...

these are adorable. i want them really bad! :)

Noclothes said...

For any of you guys who have been to the Folsom fair in San Francisco, I wore Sharks and Fishes once with boots and a harness, the look was a hit. Thanks POPDUDS for making a really comfortable fun brief.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Popduds briefs!! I bought two pairs of them: mix tape and breakfast for dinner, both of which are super soft and comfortable. I'm 26, 6 feet tall and athletic with a swimmer's build and have worn nothing but Hanes or Fruit of the Loom white briefs ("tighty whities") since I was 13. Before that...all throughout my childhood and into junior high, I always wore cartoon/superhero briefs and Underroos. Until I was 12-13, I was somewhat small for my age and never thought to say anything about the underwear my mom bought for me...I just wore them. She continued to buy the same cartoon/superhero briefs I had always worn. But once I got into junior high and started playing football/basketball, I noticed that the other boys wore plain white briefs (at that point, the other boys weren't wearing boxers or boxer briefs yet...only briefs). While there were still 3-4 boys that wore cartoon briefs/Underroos like I did, our locker room at that point was pretty much a "sea" of tighty whites. Though nobody ever said anything, all the other boys wearing white briefs made my briefs look childish, so I asked my mom to buy plain white briefs instead. She did and I was happy!

Once I got into high school and discovered that briefs came in several colors, I also found that Target and Walmart actually sold adult size superhero briefs (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, etc) so I bought some and wore them proudly. The other boys in the locker room laughed and pointed, and I'll admit I showed them off a little bit, but I LOVED wearing them because they made me feel young at heart. That's why I was so glad to find Popduds online!! I hope that they continue to make these. 😎