In Praise of Y-Fronts - 12 Other Underwear Brands

This mitchmen selection of other modern 'visible seam' underpants shows a variety of approaches to capturing the Y-Front style..

The 2Xist attempt is very creditable, the modern low cut waist doesn't spoil the sense of working underwear. There's another 2Xist picture in post 9 in this series.

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Aussie Bum combines spacious comfort with a pleasing dipping waistband but despite the model pulling out all the stops (!) the overall effect is a bit odd. Actually this model looks a bit too hippy to be wearing this underwear.
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Mark Dalton's Hanes look comfortable but even he can't make these baggies sexy!
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This model wearing 'Hung' underwear has a fairly average body but he doesn't even have to stay awake to look sexy with all that help down below.

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In Praise of Y-Fronts - 11 Clingy Calvins

On a slimmer man the baggy fit is usually less interesting but fortunately CK has thoughtfully developed a more clingy model. On this young man the conventionality of the garment almost suggests a lad still 'young' enough to be dressed by his mother. He studies the tight fit which seems to symbolise the restraints on his development into independent manhood.

On a more mature model, the elastic material permits glorious shaping of the front and rear

This sleeping man squeezes every last drop of sensuality out of the 'humble' underpant.

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In Praise of Y-Fronts - 10 Comfy Calvin's

The mitchmen Y-Front survey today takes a closer look at Calvin Klein underwear on men.
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The comfort fit does not have to be unattractive provided the body shape is right. On this big hairy man the folds in the fabric point to weighty contents.

In this amateur body builder pose the hitched up garment adds a sense of the innocent being drawn into deep waters.

No innocent here but how useful the extra space is!

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On Praise of Y-Fronts - 9 The Competition

In the old days there was a rival to Y-fronts, the Wolsey X-Front design. The advertising picture attached shows the design but doesn't do justice to the garment which in later versions had a lower waist and broader 'X'. It looked quite good on a suitable model where the large X seams curving round the lower abdomen suggested restraint (to me at any rate!).

I can recall a striking advert where the X-fronted model was presented in a 'Tarzan' style scene, back pressed against a tree in the jungle with head turned trying to see round the trunk. In the background a camp fire could be seen through the trees suggesting wicked goings on from which he had just escaped from or in which he planned to intervene.

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After a period in which plain slips and boxers have been the staple underwear fare, fashions in men's underwear have veered back towards the Y-front sort of design in recent years. Visible seams have come back with Calvin Klein leading the way. Calvin's share with Y-fronts the essential qualities of loose fit and comfort which means they do not necessarily look terribly sexy on the average guy, but lets face it, we look through the eyes of non-average images!

The success of Calvins seems to have caused a general revival of interest in other brands. These days even porn stars wear seamed underpants – though generally they are not Y-fronts.

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In Praise of Y-Fronts - 8. Rear View Fantasies

As Mitchell is a fetish artist and mitchmen.com is a fetish interest site the sight of a male rear view inevitably conjures up fantasies of spanking.

The associations of 'should be worn and not seen' adds an extra twist of humiliation to this situation. This guy could almost be straight, that bedroom was certainly created by a woman and here he is presenting his Y-fronts and being punished for it.
(Picture by Young Designers Emporium of S Africa – but it's just an ad)

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The second picture from Man's Hand shows a public spanking of a man in Y-fronts, surely that's not a gay man? Have the revellers at the Folsom Street fair jumped a workman who made derogatory remarks as he passed by? Probably not but it's a nice fantasy.

Add a touch of bondage and the eroticism ratchets up a level.

Sorry no source info for this picture.

The way the leg seams shape the buttocks and highlight the thighs in these pictures is a feast for the eyes. Some of these underpants may not be Y-fronts although the effect is similar.

above: Cory from Captured Guys

Next time I'll look at contemporary rivals.

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In Praise of Y-Fronts - 7. From Behind

The high waist on Y's really comes into it's own when the wearer is seen from the rear.

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The sight of a substantial bottom filling out a pair of white Y-fronts is unbeatable!

The entire buttock is covered in white which hints at the treasure within. Bagginess banished.

The curve of the leg seam on the right guy makes me quiver and this image pops up quite a lot in my mitchmen drawings.

The pool table images are from the excellent Buk Buddies but I can't find the model on the current roster at the site.

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In Praise of Y-Fronts - 6 Seams and Pockets

Such has been the impact of Y-fronts that they have become a universal shorthand for men's underwear over the years although none of the competition have the upside down 'Y' seam which gives the garment it's name. The fork of the Y frames the pocket in which the male organs rest in a most satisfying way.

The shape and size of the pocket varies, small ones creating a 'trapped' effect while broader styles bring the area forward visually.

The other salient feature, traditionally, is the high waist which looks a bit old fashioned in this day and age – but in a way that's part of the appeal suggesting an innate modesty in their wearer which is endearing. The wearer is no flashy kid but a mature adult who favours comfort over image and who expects to reveal his underwear only to the select few.

Modern Y-fronts however do make concessions to the trend to skimpier fits and this picture shows a lower waisted example which is by no means short on erotic appeal. The superman tattoo on this model makes a nice connection to the hey day of Y-fronts in the 50's and the joke about wearing of underpants on the outside.

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