Posts: 100

1. 

   SEE THE NEW BLOG

   20.Apr.08, 20:35 EDT
   
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   And now for the new blog. It's called MAKING ROOM. To feed my frenzied love of all things domestic, of housing and houses, of chairs, cars, forks. Probably not that many forks, but if they make a woodgrain fork, maybe.
   

2. Random beauty from F-sh-n Week

   10.Feb.08, 14:12 EST
   
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3. 

   Remember this

   31.Jan.08, 09:21 EST
   
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   Vaughn Lowery for Joe Boxer, 2002

   
   

4. Going Commando

   30.Jan.08, 09:57 EST
   
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   from Wikipedia, so read it with a grain of salt:
   

   Earliest uses

   Slate's Daniel Engber dates the modern usage to 1974 college campuses, where it was perhaps an outgrowth of the Vietnam War.^[5]

   The origins of the phrase are uncertain, with some speculating that it may refer to being "out in the open" or "ready for action." According to Engber many soldiers do go without underwear to "increase ventilation and reduce moisture." The earliest known use of the term in print is January 22, 1985 when Jim Spencer wrote in the Chicago Tribune:

   <blockquote>

   "Furthermore, colored briefs are 'sleazy' and going without underwear ('going commando', as they say on campus) is simply gross".

   </blockquote>

   The origin of the term "going commando" may connect to the tradition in military units of Scottish heritage to not wear underwear under their kilts. The first Commando units were raised and trained in World War II in Scotland (which is where the present-day Commando Monument is). It is said that Scottish soldiers once used the expression "regimental," to describe the state of wearing no shorts under a kilt; allegedly, Scottish drill instructors carried a long stick with a mirror on the end to verify that soldiers were properly regimental.^{[citation needed]}

   In the British Forces, the term 'going commando' actually refers to not washing and generally being dirty, as Royal Marine Commandos and other elite regiments tend to have a reputation of doing when on exercise, or on patrol.^{[citation needed]}

5. On Mom's Arm

   27.Jan.08, 11:37 EST
   
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   ---

   Love this photo of Kate Moss
   and her mother walking.
   I remember the feeling of
   holding my mom's arm,
   the scratchy tweed of her
   jacket, the way it slid over
   her silk shirt underneath,
   the feeling of her arm
   under that, the muscles,
   the tendons, the age, the comfort
   that she's there.
   

   
   

   ---

   
   
   

6. The problem is the rubber bands

   25.Jan.08, 14:03 EST
   
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   This from Stefan Petrucha, the writer, on the problem as he sees it (feels it) with men's underwear:
   
   

   I find I don't really have all that much to say about men's underwear other than I've always found the little rubber bands that become visible after pants themselves are threadbare from use are sometimes painful and disturbing. But perhaps that's enough to fill a cellphone novel.
   
   
   

7. Celeste's Obsessed

   25.Jan.08, 09:06 EST
   
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   Jana,
   When I think of men's underwear I think of Marky Mark (I'm sorry, Mark Wahlberg) on that Calvin Klein billboard above Times Square. And then I really can't think about anything else at all.
   CFD
   
   
   
   
   

8. 

   From the Underwear Glossary

   25.Jan.08, 07:37 EST
   
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   VPL: (noun) visible panty line; total embarrassment in junior high school; also associated with DB (double-butt). Origin: New Jersey.
   

9. 

   So Say the Birdwatcher

   25.Jan.08, 07:27 EST
   
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   The birds do not care what underwear I wear, said the birdwatcher.
   What about your wife? I said.
   Haven't asked her, he said. We've been married too long.
   
   
   
   

10. 

    How do you sleeve it?

    24.Jan.08, 10:14 EST
    
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    Boy's underwear isn't fashion, scoffs a male friend of mine whose name shall not be mentioned, lest he be mobbed for his sartorial ignorance.
    First of all, he goes on, underwear for girls is called lingerie, not underwear. Second, underwear for men doesn't matter. Underwear for men is never called, like, Intimates.
    What matters? I say.
    Abs. Flat abs. Strong legs. A good package, okay? If you don't have that, you just turn the light out and hope for the best, he said.
    Bet you're getting all sorts of action, I said.
    Boy's underwear is CRITICAL, I told him. It's just that, once between the sheets, girls tend to be a bit resigned. Or kind of forgiving. Perhaps we're just too nurturing. But what are we going to say? Well, just because you're wearing stained ex-white BVD's from a 3-pak from K-mart, despite how much I like you, I'm out of here?
    Maybe in a P-Diddy video, but not out in the world.
    So, guys, what do you wear? Girls, what do you like? And girls, what do you wear? I know girls who rock the boxers real good. I know girls who go all boy for it. Yo, L7.
    And we're heading into Valentine's Day territory, that giant pond of anxiety regarding love, chocolate, mushy cards and suggestive gimmicks, and I want to know. How do you sleeve it?
    
    THE OFFICIAL VERSION HERE:
    The F/D's doing a survey on MEN'S UNDERWEAR. It's a much-maligned, way-too-overlooked subject. And if beauty is in the eyes of the BEHOLDER, so is a missed opportunity to really turn it on. So, darlings and otherwise, the F/D wants to know. Is it BVDs, biker shorts, Euro-styles, commando? Baggies? Stretch? Tight? Are you trying to rock a Richard Hell, Richard Gere, Richard Simmons, or 50 Cent? What is going on down there? And we're talking underwear here, not action. So keep those nonsartorialist dreams to yourself. We're talking fabric, 'kay? Why? I was inspired by this conversation, which says so much about how little those little briefs are understood.
    
    "Boy's underwear isn't fashion," scoffs a male friend of mine whose name shall not be mentioned, lest he be set upon by a mob of fashionistas (or ex-girlfriends) for his sartorial ignorance.
    
    "First of all," he says, "underwear for girls is called lingerie, not underwear. Second, underwear for men doesn't matter. Underwear for men is never called, like, intimates. It's just not that important."
    
    Hah! There must be a million people of all genders and etceteras who would heartily disagree.
    
    "What matters?" I say to my misguided boy pal.
    
    "Abs. Flat abs. Strong legs. A good package, okay? And if you don't have that, which most of us don't, you just turn the light out and hope for the best," he says.
    
    "Bet you're getting all sorts of action," I quip.
    
    
    Look. Here's the, um, bottom line. Boy's underwear is CRITICAL. It's just that, once between the sheets, sometimes girls tend to be a bit resigned. Or kind of forgiving. Perhaps we're just too nurturing. Understanding. We're taught that, right? And really, what would we say? Well, nice boy, because you're wearing stained briefs from a three-pak from K-mart, despite how much I like you, I'm out of here. Maybe in a P. Diddy video someone says that (she probably looks like, or is, that hot babe of a manufactured pop star Nicole Sherzinger), but not out in the world.
    
    This is the season of love after all. We're heading into Valentine's Day territory, that giant pond of anxiety regarding the emotion I already mentioned, not to mention chocolate, mushy cards, and suggestive gimmicks — and if there were ever a time when underwear shouldn't be ignored, including men's --
    
    So, guys, what do you wear?
    
    Girls, what do you like?
    
    And girls, if you wear it, what do you wear? I know girls who rock the boxers real good. I know girls who go all boy for it. Yo, L7. And who makes the ultimate decision to get those smiley-face shorts? Do you do it for her or does he do it for you?
    
    I want to know.
    
    How do you sleeve it?
    
    Or, what do you want your man/lover/matey/boyly-girl to wear?
    
    
    Boxers? Trad BVDs? Y-fronts? Euro-style? Thongs? Crazy prints? Retro? Trompe l'oeil (no, I didn't make it up, check out the Paul Frank panties!)? Bikini? Stripes? Polka-dots? Superheroes? Or just plain ol' bold Commando?
    
    Let the Mama F/D know how it blows. Cause it's way more than dressing right or left, ain't it. Take a look down there and start POSTING. And please keep it clean, cause we're not talking dirty laundry.
    
    Jana Martin has been known to sleep in boxers.