Girdle Season

There’s something wonderfully sweet about marketing firms’ attempts to sell us men’s girdles (though you shouldn’t call them that). The problem is, super fit slim guys are not really the main buyers, we reckon. It’s the bigger boys who’ve realized that it’s summer and time for the beach, and well, where did that gut come from?

We first saw them in 1992, in Lethal Weapon, with Murtaugh (Danny Glover), defending his  to Riggs (Mel Gibson): “It’s not a woman’s girdle, it’s a man’s girdle.”
“They makes girdles for men?”
“Yeah, they make girdles for men!”
“They do, huh?”

Well, advertising has gotten a little slicker, and this effort from Equmen is in equal parts sexy and ridiculous. Ok, not equal parts – maybe 20/80. And the trick here is it’s not a girdle you put under something, it’s a really, really tight elasticated vest. But way cleverer than that -- in fact, by the time the hunky guys in the ad strip down, somehow their bodies have become ripped and thin – now that's worth the price.

Boys in Briefs Go Bananas!

What are you going to do with the next 69 seconds of your life? Why, you're going to watch this gratuitous Aussiebum PSA about banana-fiber underwear, of course. It's underwear! Made from bananas! Worn by the hot men who lug bananas through jungles, winking all the way. In Australia! Or something. Who cares.

You're welcome.

Previously > Best Dressed Men of the Night

Quickies: Manty Sales Are Up, Lindsay Get's Robbed, Paper Mag Turns 25, +

Men's underwear sales are up! The economy is saved! [The Cut] 

Jason Preston's (Marc Jacob's ex-bf) tweet to Courtney Love on Friday: "I miss u love!!! I feel this is gunna b a VERY bad weekend 4me rumor around town is he's getting married this weekend. :(" [CityFile] 

Lindsay Lohan was robbed over the weekend. She's "upset, but okay." [NYDN]

Paper Mag is 25! They're celebrating with five different covers featuring a slew of really cool people you should probably know if you are, ya konw, really cool. [Coco Perez] 

Jesus Luiz's Pepe jeans campaign leaked, much to everyone's dismay. [Coco Perez] 

Hellooo Freddie Stroma!

For any good gay who saw Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince already and found themselves lusting after Hogwarts student Cormac McLaggen, thinking "I'd like to see him jumping around in nothing but underwear," here's your chance. The British actor, Freddi Stroma, was Acne's skivvied model of choice for the A/W underwear campaign back in 08. Not enough for you? Here is again in underwear for CK:

Kinky Calvin

New Yorkers are making a big stink about the racey Calvin Klein Jeans ad on Houston and Lafayette. It's basically a still shot taken from their too-hot-for-TV ad campaign shot by Steven Meisel. And yet, the billboard has been there for a while Klein is a bone fide purveyor of racy ads. The big names at Calvin Klein couldn't be happier. Menswear designer Italo Zucchelli agrees, "I think it is a fantastic campaign. That is what Calvin Klein Jeans is supposed to be. Everyone needs to be scandalized and screaming. That is what we want." Head of womanswear Francisco Costa says -- most likely with a hair toss -- “Please! It’s so, like, old news. Don’t you think we should be a little ashamed for even having to discuss? I mean, it’s great for us. So if you want to talk about it, let’s talk about it. But there was no intention of making that controversial. Just make beautiful ads. And they’re beautiful ads. And I think, you know, we’re such a forward society, but we tend to be a little prudish sometimes. It’s New York City! It’s the 21st century! Honey, we have to move on! We have to move on.” And even if a few sticks in the mud aren't moving on, they'd better get used to the hot-spot on Houston, because CK just released the F/W underwear ad that will replace the current threesome in a couple of months:

Enough said.

via The Cut and WWD

BEHOLD

The newest David Beckham for Armani underwear ad. Not surprisingly, it caused mass hysteria in London today when it was unveiled at Selfridge's. 

Quickies: Bruno's (First) Lawsuit, Michael Bastian's Shorts, Karl Voices Cartoon, +

Surprise, surprise: Sascha Baron Cohen is being sued by a woman who says she was traumatized by his fashion frenzy alter-ego, Bruno. [Vulture] 

Michael Bastian, a now favored menswear designer, can't afford his own $540 shorts. [NYT]

Karl Lagerfeld will lend his voice to a cartoon villain, Fabu, in the french animated movie, Totally Spies. [Hollywood Reporter]

Kris Van Assche played art director for the newly launched, Londerzeel magazine. [WWD]

Gay men love underwear. But not these. [lemondrop] 

Quickies: Project Runway Debut, FiFi Winners, Anal Jewelry, +

Will Ferrell is launching a line of...sunscreen. Goofy? Incredibly. But all the proceeds go towards a charity that gives college scholarships to cancer survivors and amputees. Says Ferrell of the launch: "I've always dreamed of owning a lotion company. And I've always hated cancer." [People Style Watch]

Despite its move to Lifetime, Project Runway, which airs in August, is largely still the same show it was on Bravo. Apparently to Heidi Klum's disapproval. Sheisse! [EW] via [The Cut] 

Before helming one of the most recognizable labels in fashion, Miuccia Prada went to mime school for six years. Six years to become a mime? Seriously? [The Cut] 

Donatella Versace: "I think sex is part of life, like eating and breathing." [Interview]

The FiFi Awards honored P Diddy's I Am King as luxe fragrance of the year for the second year in a row. Insert quip here. [WWD]

According to Alan Greenspan, men's underwear sales are a good test of the resilience -- or lack thereof -- of the economy. [Economist] 

Arnold Schwarzenegger's most memorable fashion moments. The cat suit in Running Man was so fetch.  [Refinery 29] 

Anal jewelry. Enough said. [The Frisky] 

The New Guess Underwear Ad Campaign

Men in (White) Tights

As if tighty whities needed a PSA for gay men's approval. McKenzie James shot this stark, compelling photo spread for fantasticsmag. The tag line: "Because boxers are so junior high."

-- Seth Plattner