Spending Limits On Underwear
How Much Is Too Much?

My review of the Ed Hardy Orange Tiger Brief was an interesting one in that it had some fit issues that I couldn’t really reconcile in the final score without creating a split recommendation. You can read that extra-long review here. That analysis challenge inspired me to write this separate article about underwear pricing and what you’d be willing to pay for that extra-special pair of underwear. In the past I’ve spent upwards of $60 on a single-pair of foreign-designed underwear but that’s an extreme rarity for myself. Clearly I buy a lot of underwear but I have my limits so it has to be a really special feature, fabric or design element to justify a higher price point. I think the uniqueness of the design is a big factor for me and something that is created in a small run with limited distribution is more interesting because I know that I own something a little less common. I'm also willing to spend more for hand-made elements like embroidery or similar detailing because I understand the labor and quality control time necessary for those kinds of elements. Another scenario where I can justify a higher price would be for a locally-made product that supports smaller studio-based designers. Regardless of the "coolness" factor I still believe that the underwear has to provide basic functions like wearability, reasonable durability and some level of awareness of what works and flatters the male body.

As a result of those personal preferences when shopping for specialty underwear I’m not particularly brand loyal (although I definitely have my favorites) with underwear so just because there’s an Armani or D & G logo stitched on the waistband, that won’t create a compelling reason for me to buy it. I realize for many people the status symbol of designer-label underwear has a larger weight in why they may purchase a pair of underwear and I admit I like wearing CK underwear partly because I know it has a broad name recognition. I guess where I’m going with this is two-fold: What’s the most you would ever conceive of spending on a pair of underwear and do you expect something specific when you’re spending that extra money? Since it’s a two-part question I had to split the poll into two sections.

How much would you spend and why?

This poll is a special 2-part question where you answer the first part and then the second part. You should pick only one from the price ranges and then you can pick as many of the expectations or motivators for spending the extra money. I would spend this much on a single pair of specialty underwear (choose only one): $10 - $20 $21 - $30 $31 - $40 $41- $50 Over $50 I would spend that much money because of (check as many that apply): Specialty Fabric e.g. Soy, Hemp, Carbon, Silver, Bamboo etc. Special Designer or Brand e.g. Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Diesel etc. Artistic Design e.g. Metallics, printed artwork, zippers, pockets, belts etc. Special Fit Technology e.g. Wonderjock, Sling, Show-It etc. Other view results

I thought it would be interesting to feature some examples of more expensive underwear currently on the market (prices in US dollars):

AussieBum Animal Print Trunk $36.50 I have a pair of these in the snakeskin pattern and did a review a while back where I also touched on the topic of underwear pricing. Basically I liked these trunks but didn't totally support the current price-point.	Zimmerli Open Fly Brief $37.00 For some reason I have a harder time spending so much on plain white briefs-I want something more visually obvious if I'm going to spend that much money.	Punto Blanco Metalix Boxer $40.00 I do not own a pair of these boxers nor do I own any other underwear from Punto Blanco. The design is relatively plain so the price-point is mostly about the special metallic finish of the fabric and the Punto Blanco brand name.

Dolce & Gabbana Combat Trunk $45.00 These are actually on sale now but I wanted to quote the original full-retail price since that's what most people would have paid for these.	Emporio Armani Ginseng Piped Brief $63.73 These are interesting in that they employ a specialty fabric infused with ginseng. Clearly this would be a split between designer-name status and specialty fabric motivators.	Grigioperla Devorato Brief $75.17 I don't know much about Grigiopera other than the fact that most of their underwear is quite pricey. This definitely crosses my budget limit for a single pair of underwear.

Toot Underwear Velvet trunk with Swarovski crystals: approximately $165.00 Wow, these are quite possibly some of the most expensive underwear available to the general consumer that I've seen to date. Part of the cost is the fall in the exchange rate of the US dollar against many foreign currencies but regardless, these are some very expensive undies no matter what currency you localize the price to.