The commotion had all the makings of a Saturday Night Live skit, only it wasn’t. In late August 2018, while America reeled from the passing of Senator John McCain and the Russia scandals, Donald Trump, Jr was railing against lingerie.
Trump Jr had apparently taken the issue with a trend discussed in an article published by a popular British tabloid. The article describes how an increasing number of men have taken to wearing “lacy lingerie” for their wives.
The US president’s 40-year old son, who styles himself a rugged outdoorsman, thought the fad not only absurd but also offensive.
“Maybe on Halloween or if you lose a bet really badly… ah who am I kidding not even then,” the Trump Organization executive tweeted to his nearly three million followers on a Sunday afternoon. “Who is pushing this garbage?”
Of course, Trump Jr’s Twitter followers quickly began piling ridicule over the Australian clothing brand mentioned in the article. The vitriol was impassioned, even toxic, with some suggesting that the Aussie company was part of a broader plot to “feminize” American men.
“Of course, it is,” one Trump Jr follower tweeted in agreement. “Nothing like a bit of deliberate identity-eroding agenda-pushing in the MSM these days…every day. Shit like this is why [Trump] won.”
Lingerie for the Man on the Street
Despite its seeming novelty, however, the idea that men could wear lingerie without forfeiting their masculinity is by no means new. In the 1970s, rock star Rod Stewart famously borrowed satin knickers from his girlfriend, Britt Eckland, “to stop everything from swinging around” while he performed.
Decades later, another musician, Prince, wrenched wailing guitar solos from his Fender Stratocaster while sporting high-cut, leather-look women’s briefs on stage.
But then we have come to expect rock stars to wear downright ridiculous clothing when they perform. Mick Jagger would not be Mick Jagger without the leotards, the chains, and the women’s blouses.
We cannot say the same for the teeming majority of men who don’t make millions of dollars by being loud, musical, and outrageous. Or can we?
(Photo: Jim Summaria/Wikimedia Commons)
“More of a Man”
Perhaps it’s the rise in openly gay marriages. Or maybe it’s as simple as a desire to dress up for a partner. Whatever the reason, more and more men are, in fact, starting to wear fem-style lingerie.
This trend presents an unlimited gamut of new product opportunities for lingerie manufacturers and sellers all over the world. Indeed, an increasing number of companies are launching ranges of male lingerie for the man on the street.
The new industry niche is rife with innovation. The Australian fashion house, AussieBum, has created the Wondercup, the men’s equivalent of a Wonderbra. Simply put, the padded underwear makes you appear like “more of a man.”
(Photo: MiraculixHB/Wikimedia Commons)
“This design uses all of the natural assets of the person, whether they be big, small, or indifferent,” says the company’s founder, Sean Ashby. “It basically lifts, separates and extends.”
Some men are no longer satisfied with the cuts of ordinary boxers or briefs, too. Ginch Gonch puts on an annual fashion show similar to those that Victoria’s Secret used to organize. The company’s lingerie line is all about fancy prints, patterns, and fun designs which would make our grandfathers blush.
Another company, Vizeau, manufactures male lingerie and swimwear that is – even by the already raunchy standards of the industry – over-the-top risqué. The company offers styles ranging in cuts from the trendy surfer to Chippendales.
“Times are changing and guys are becoming more comfortable and excited to go out,” says GQ fashion editor, Damien Nunes. “And why not, when they put on their underwear, put on something that makes them feel good?”
The fashion website, Trendhunter, says less than half of all the men’s underwear sold in 2006 was white. As things go, the likelihood of an encounter with a man in plain white underwear in 2020 is increasingly slim.
(Photo: Istolethetv/Wikimedia Commons)
“It Might Happen”
Still, all the fanfare, raised eyebrows, and let’s-turn-every-straight-guy-gay conspiracy theories beg the question: “Will male lingerie catch on in the mainstream?”
Jules Parker certainly hopes so. The 54-year old metalworker is the founder of Moot Lingerie, which combines traditional male underwear shapes with non-traditional lingerie trappings and fabrics.
Parker says the demand for male lingerie has always been there, but the supply was simply non-existent.
“If I wanted anything more beautiful than daggy old boxer shorts there was nowhere to go, even online,” Parker says. “Women have a myriad shops or online outlets to find any kind of underwear they could wish for but the only items of lingerie made for men were cheap, tacky, novelty stuff.”
Parker’s company prides itself on daring and inventive designs. Your run-of-the-mill, beer-guzzling, cigar-chomping, deer-hunting male heterosexual is likely to flinch at some of the men’s underwear, seen on the Moot site.
Moot’s Parisian is a pair of frilly knickers sculptured for a man. The Stardust is a thong with a heritage lace pouch. The Westwood comes complete with garter belts, which have been “re-designed to fit the male form.”
(Photo: Sasha Kargaltzev/Wikimedia Commons)
Obviously, Parker isn’t alone in hoping for a bright future for the budding men’s lingerie industry. Serena Rees, the co-founder of Agent Provocateur and Les Girls Les Boys, is just as hopeful about the market for male shapewear.
“I went into Selfridges to see a display of our underwear and I was really surprised to see a range of Spanx for men on display,” she told The Guardian recently. “I giggled to myself but then I thought, ‘Why not?’ Of course, men want to pull their tummies in, too.”
That being said, neither Rees nor Parker believe male lingerie will be filling mainstream underwear drawers anytime soon.
“Do I think it’s going to take off in a big way for men?” Rees muses. “It might happen, but it won’t happen overnight.”
Parker, for his part, recognizes that the notion of men wearing lace and fishnet lingerie isn’t exactly kosher at the moment. “It’s been utterly taboo,” he says. “You can pierce your skin, tattoo yourself or shave your head, but don’t mess with men’s underwear.”
