Men's Briefs (Underwear)

Nothing covers the thigh on a brief. Side seams measure 2 to 3 inches, the leg openings are cut high across the crease where the hip meets the leg, and the garment ends there. Hold comes from a shaped front panel pulled up against the waistband, with no fabric below it to shift or drag.

Because there is no leg, the fit lives entirely in the front and the band. Knit cotton or modal with around 5 percent elastane is the usual build, doubled or lined through the front so the panel keeps its shape instead of stretching out by the afternoon. Rise separates the two versions on the shelf: a full rise sits at or just under the navel and covers the whole stomach. By comparison, a low rise drops 3 to 4 inches from there and disappears under low cut trousers. The Y-front fly, where two panels cross over one another to make a Y at the front, belongs to the traditional version and is left off plainer ones. Leg elastic settles the comfort question, so a soft bound edge beats a bare band of rubber sitting in the crease of your hip.

Trunks answer the same idea with a 3 to 4 inch leg, keeping the close hold and adding a square line under the hip. Boxer Briefs stretch that to 5 to 7 inches and become a different product, since they exist mainly to keep skin off skin. Boxers reverse the whole design and hang free. Measured against all three, a brief is the coolest thing you can wear on a hot day and the least forgiving if your thighs meet.

Heat makes the strongest case, since no fabric wraps the thigh and air reaches most of your skin. Slim and lightweight trousers make the second, because there is no leg hem to print a line across the thigh. Long days on your feet suit the hold, as does anyone tired of pulling a leg back down. Skip the style if your thighs touch when you walk, and think hard before buying a low rise if you carry weight at the stomach, where the band rolls under the fold.

Pull the leg elastic away from the fabric and let it go, because slow recovery there means gaping openings within a month. Check whether the front is one layer or two, since a single layer of light jersey goes sheer under tension and loses its shape early. Warm water and a drying rack keep the elastic alive. A hot dryer takes the leg openings first, and once those hang loose the pair is finished however good the fabric still looks.