Editing Boxer shorts

{{short description|Men's loose-fitting underpants}}
[[File:BoxerShorts-20070901.jpg|thumb|upright|A man wearing boxers]]
'''Boxer shorts''' (also commonly known as simply '''boxers''') are a type of [[undergarment]] typically worn by men.
The term has been used in English since 1944 for all-around-elastic shorts, so named after the shorts worn by [[Boxing|boxers]], for whom unhindered leg movement (''[[Footwork (martial arts)|footwork]]'') is very important. Boxers come in a variety of styles and design but are characterized by their loose fit.

== History ==
[[File:Man sagging woven boxer shorts.JPG|thumb|upright=0.5|Man wearing [[jeans]] over boxer shorts]]

In 1925, Jacob Golomb, founder of [[Everlast (boxing)|Everlast]], designed elastic-waist trunks to replace the leather-belted trunks then worn by boxers. These trunks, now known as ''boxer trunks'', immediately became famous, but were later eclipsed by the popular Jockey-style [[briefs]] beginning in the late 1930s. The two styles, briefs and boxer shorts, had varying ratios of sales for the following fifty years, with strong regional and generational preferences.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

In 1985, in the U.S.  men's briefs were more popular than boxer shorts, with four times as many briefs sold compared to boxers. Around that time many of the men who preferred boxers were older men who became accustomed to wearing them during their time in the U.S. military, and best selling color of boxers was white. 

Boxer shorts got a fashion boost in 1985 when English model and musician [[Nick Kamen]] stripped to white [[Sunspel]] boxers in a 1950s-style ''launderette'' in a [https://info.sunspel.com/the-laundrette-1985 Levi's commercial] <ref>{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712183258/https://info.sunspel.com/the-laundrette-1985 |date=2018-07-12 }}</ref>.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/years/1986/fashion1.shtml |title=I Love 1986 – Fashion – Boxer Shorts |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=2008-05-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://info.sunspel.com/about-sunspel/the-laundrette-1985|title=About Sunspel|work=Sunspel Journal}}</ref> After that time boxers were beginning to become popular among young men, who wore boxers with varying colors and prints.<ref name=Kannerp30>Kanner, Bernice. "Briefs Encounter: The Long and Shorts of It" ("On Madison Avenue" column). ''[[New York Magazine]]''. [[New York Media, LLC]], April 29, 1985. Vol. 18, No. 17. ISSN 0028-7369. Start p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jbkBAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28 28]. CITED: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jbkBAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 30].</ref>

Since the 1990s, some men also opt for [[boxer briefs]] as a compromise between the two.  {{As of|2006}}, one American manufacturer reported that woven boxer shorts made up 15–20 per cent of men's underwear sales, but had been declining in popularity compared to boxer briefs since 2003.<ref name="NAFTA">{{cite book |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Laura |title=Woven Cotton Boxer Shorts: Probable Effect of Modifications of NAFTA Rules of Origin for Goods of Canada and Mexico, Inv. NAFTA-103-13 |date=2006 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |location=Washington DC |isbn=978-1-4578-1912-4 |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkgUc6cxhpYC |access-date=8 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

== Design ==
[[File:Boxer shorts.svg|upright=0.6|thumb|left|Boxer shorts with one fly button]]

Most boxer shorts have a [[fly (clothing)|fly]] in front. Boxer shorts manufacturers have a couple of methods of closing the fly: metal snaps or a button or two.  However, many boxer shorts on the market do not need a fastening mechanism to close up the fly as the fabric is cut and the boxers are designed to sufficiently overlap and fully cover the opening. This is commonly known as an open fly design.

Since boxer shorts’ fabric is rarely stretchy, a ''balloon seat'', a generous panel of loosely fitting fabric in the center rear of the shorts, is designed to accommodate the wearer's various movements, especially bending forward.  The most common sewing design of boxer shorts are made with a panel seat that has two seams running on the outer edges of the back seating area, creating a center rear panel. Most mass-produced commercial boxer shorts are made using this design.

[[File:Boxershorts-gripper.svg|upright=0.6|thumb|left|Gripper boxer shorts with one snap and one fly button]]

Two less common forms of boxer shorts are ''gripper'' boxers and ''yoke-front'' boxers. Gripper boxers have an elastic waistband like regular boxers but have snaps, usually three, on the fly and on the waistband so that they open up completely.

[[File:Boxershorts-yokefront.svg|upright=0.6|thumb|Yoke-front boxer shorts with three yoke snaps and an open fly]]

Yoke front boxers are similar to gripper boxers in that the wide waistband yoke can be opened up completely, and the yoke usually has three snaps to close it while the fly itself, below, has no closure mechanism.  There are two types of yoke boxers:  one in which there is a short piece of elastic on each side of the [[waistband]]  which snugs up the yoke to fit the waist; and ''tie-sides'' which have narrow cloth tapes on each side of the waist yoke, like strings, which are tightened and knotted by the wearer to make an exact fit. This style of underpant was very common during [[World War II]], when the rubber needed for elastic waistbands had to be used for military purposes.

Boxer shorts are available in white and solid colors including pastels, and come in a variety of patterns and prints as well; Traditional patterns include ''geometrics'' (small repeating geometric designs), plaids and vertical stripes. Additionally, there are innumerable ''novelty'' boxer short patterns.  Boxer shorts are produced using various fabrics including all [[cotton]], cotton–[[polyester]] blends, jersey knits, [[satin]], and [[silk]].

== Fertility ==
Some studies have suggested that tight underpants (like [[briefs]]) and high temperature are not optimally conducive for [[sperm]] production. The [[testicles]] are outside the body for cooling because they operate for sperm production at a slightly lower temperature than the rest of the body, and boxer shorts allow the testicles to operate within the required temperature range. The compression of the genitals in briefs, boxer briefs, or [[thong]]s may cause the temperature to rise and sperm production to fall. There is a similar theory regarding [[testicular cancer]] risk.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Diurnal scrotal skin temperature and semen quality|year=1990|journal=Reproductive Toxicology|volume=4|issue = 5|pages=229–232|publisher=Sanger & Friman|doi = 10.1046/j.1365-2605.2000.00245.x|pmid = 11012789|last1 = Hjollund|first1 = Niels Henrik I.|last2 = Bonde|first2 = Jens Peter E.|last3 = Jensen|first3 = Tina Kold|last4 = Olsen|first4 = Jorn|doi-access = free}}</ref> Other sources dispute this theory. A study in the October 1998 ''Journal of Urology'', for example, concluded that underwear type is unlikely to have a significant effect on [[male fertility]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brucegilbertmd.com/uploads/assets//Journal_Articles/boxersvbriefs.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724172518/http://www.brucegilbertmd.com/uploads/assets//Journal_Articles/boxersvbriefs.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-07-24 |title=A critical analysis of the role of underwear type in male subfertility |access-date=2019-06-11}}</ref>

== <span id="Girl boxers"></span>Boxer shorts for women ==
[[File:Edward Joseph Snowden - Arrival at Sheremetyevo International Airport 23.jpg|thumb|150px|A woman wearing shorts with a pattern similar to common boxer styles, 2013]]

Boxer shorts for women have come onto the market in recent years. They are often worn as loungewear. They differ from [[boyshorts]] in that they are commonly longer and more closely resemble their male counterparts. There have been reports that women have been buying men's boxers for use as [[underwear]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/oct/29/is-this-the-end-of-gender-specific-underwear-or-just-a-load-of-pants |title=Why women are buying men's underwear |publisher=Theguardian.com |access-date=2019-06-11}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
In 1975, a [[Sears, Roebuck and Company|Sears]] catalog photo of boxer shorts created a recurring [[urban legend]].<ref name=kunz>{{cite news|last1=Kunz|first1=Marji|title=Catalog Rumours Just That|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19751013&id=d7daAAAAIBAJ&pg=7191,2809332|access-date=19 December 2014|work=The Evening Independent|agency=Knight Newspapers|date=13 October 1975}}</ref> A model appeared to have part of his penis exposed in the photo, which a Sears spokesperson stated was a printing defect.<ref name=cole>{{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=Shaun |title=The Story of Men's Underwear |date=2012 |publisher=Parkstone International |location=New York |isbn=978-1-78042-882-6 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EEEmuePeDX4C&pg=PA98}}</ref> Despite widespread press interest at the time, Sears reported that only a few letters were received from the general public, and noted that when the image was reprinted in the Spring-Summer catalog, it showed no such flaw.<ref name=kunz /><ref name=cole /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Staff writer|title=Sears Ad on Shorts Hot Item|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19750918&id=PhBXAAAAIBAJ&pg=6008,1130146|access-date=19 December 2014|work=The Reading Eagle|agency=Associated Press|date=18 September 1975}}</ref> No recall of the catalog occurred.<ref name=erik>{{cite news |last1=Lacitis |first1=Erik |title=Rumors? Erik Sets The Record Straight |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970613/2544317/rumors-erik-sets-the-record-straight|access-date=19 December 2014|work=The Seattle Times|date=13 June 1997}}</ref> The incident inspired the singer [[Jack Barlow|Zoot Fenster]]'s 1975 single "The Man on Page 602".<ref name=cole />

A noticeable comedy routine that involves boxer shorts, most notably used in [[Cartoon|cartoons]], is to have a character wear boxer shorts that has a humorous print or pattern on them, usually hearts or [[polka-dots]], when one's trousers had fallen down or ripped apart.<ref>{{cite web| last1=UnderMyPants|title=Cartoons... and their PANTS! - Part 1 |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://youtube.com/Q9cUHMn4sDI|access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Kacchera]]
*[[French knickers]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|boxer shorts}}
{{Commons category|Boxer shorts}}
*[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=boxer&searchmode=none Etymology OnLine]

{{clothing}}
{{men's undergarments}}

[[Category:20th-century fashion]]
[[Category:21st-century fashion]]
[[Category:Men's underwear]]