What Are Boxer Shorts?

Where do boxer shorts come from?

Boxer shorts are named after the shorts boxers wore in the ring, but no documented inventor or date of origin has been found. Dictionaries disagree on when the name appeared. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of “boxer shorts” to 1930. The Online Etymology Dictionary gives 1943 and says they are “so called from their resemblance to the attire worn in the ring”.

The name arrived as men’s underwear was changing shape. In a V&A article, the fashion academic Shaun Cole writes that until the 1930s men’s underwear was generally concealing of the body beneath. The American company Cooper’s launched the Jockey Y-front, a close-fitting style of briefs based on French “slips”, in 1935.

Did Everlast invent boxer shorts?

Not on the evidence we could find. The International Directory of Company Histories says Jacob Golomb and his wife Hannah founded Everlast in the Bronx in 1910 to make swimsuits, and introduced boxing trunks with an elastic waistband in the mid-1920s. It does not say those trunks became underwear, and it gives no exact year. Treat any claim that Golomb invented boxer shorts as underwear, or that it happened in 1925, as unproven.

How have boxer shorts changed since?

By the early 1990s, boxer shorts had a hybrid rival. The V&A describes the boxer briefs advertised by the label Calvin Klein in 1992 as combining the leg length of boxer shorts with the fit and support of the brief. In a 2006 report, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) recorded one manufacturer’s estimate that woven boxer shorts made from the cotton fabrics the report covered accounted for about 15 to 20 per cent of the US men’s underwear market. The same report said boxer shorts had been losing sales to other types, including boxer briefs, since May 2003.

What makes boxer shorts boxer shorts?

Boxer shorts are defined by a loose fit: short, roomy legs that hang away from the thigh, joined to an elastic waistband. Merriam-Webster’s definition rests on that one feature, calling them men’s underwear shorts “characterized by loose fit”.

The rest is cloth. Describing woven cotton boxer shorts, the USITC said the outer shell “comprises the essence of the garment”, with the elastic and thread of the waistband making up the rest. The shells it studied were plain-weave cotton. So the shell cloth decides how a pair feels: a plain weave such as poplin or broadcloth is crisp and light, while a knitted jersey is softer and stretches.

What are the main types of boxer shorts?

Boxer shorts vary mainly in three things: whether the cloth is woven or knitted, whether the pattern is woven in or printed on, and how the front opens.

How do you tell well-made boxer shorts?

Check four places: the pattern at the seams, the inside seams, the waistband casing and the buttons. The Clothing Quality Standards published by Texas 4-H, adapted from a University of Arkansas extension guide, set a standard for each.

Check the pattern and the grain

On checks, plaids and stripes, the pattern should meet across the seams: the standards say a good seam will “match fabric designs such as plaids and stripes”. In woven cloth, the lengthwise and crosswise threads should cross at right angles unless the piece is cut on the bias. If the checks climb the leg at a slant on a pair not meant to be bias-cut, the cloth was cut off grain.

Look inside at the seams

Turn the shorts inside out. The standards ask for seams that are even in width, secure and stitched at a consistent length, with a finish suited to the cloth that “does not create excess bulk”. As a general rule, the lighter the fabric, the shorter the stitch, so fine cotton should have small stitches. Overlock stitching is acceptable where it suits the fabric; what matters is neat edges, reinforcement at points of stress and no thick ridge where the seams meet between the legs.

Feel the waistband

Where the elastic runs through a fabric casing, the casing should be flat, uniform and of even width, stitched along both edges, and slightly wider than the elastic.

Test the buttons

On a button fly, each button should be “securely fastened with double thread” and have a thread shank to allow for the cloth’s thickness. Buttonholes should run with the grain, with secure stitching and neatly cut slits.

Red flags

• Checks or stripes that break and jump at the side or back seams
• Long or uneven stitches on fine cotton
• Elastic that twists inside a tight casing
• Buttons hanging on a few loose threads, or buttonholes with frayed slits
• Bulky seam allowances where the legs meet

How do you wear boxer shorts?

Wear boxer shorts where room matters more than support: under looser trousers, in bed and around the house. Buy by waist size, because the elastic does the fitting; the waistband should lie flat without rolling over or digging in.

Under slim-cut trousers, the spare cloth in a loose leg can ride up and crease. That is the gap boxer briefs fill, keeping the same leg length with a closer fit. For warm nights, woven cotton boxer shorts with a T-shirt make simple loungewear.