Old Britches, New Stitches
Old school boxers reborn in Denver

Tired of wearing your same old boxers? Or, worse yet, are you enduring the stifling tighty whities that you grew up watching your old man wearing? Well, there's a Denver designer and entrepreneur who is out to change the way men (or least hip twenty something fellows) think about undergarments.

In a world where everything old is new again, Vintage Skivvies founder Eric Baird has come up with a pair of boxers that gives equal nods to comfort and history. After all, if they were good enough for the "greatest generation," it stands to reason, they'll be quite fitting for you.

Baird was researching a graphic design project when he stumbled upon the vintage drawers in old apparel catalogs from the 1950's. Up to that point, he says, "I thought that we had just two choices - boxers or briefs." His research, however, led him to discover that there were countless classic models that had been given up for gone once the elasticized waistband became ubiquitous.

What started out as a graphic design project morphed into an idea for a company: Why not renew old underwear classics for everyone? But why now? Why Boxers? Well, in case you hadn't noticed, countless cool young men these days are wearing jeans and shorts that take up residence somewhere around mid-thigh. "Saggers," as they are known, are the poster children for showing off one's underwear and, as Baird is quick to point out, "The combo of relaxed jeans and tie-side drawers is amazingly comfortable."

If my test ride is any indication, Baird may be on to something big. His first model, tie-side boxers, was inspired by a pattern of boxers that was the standard issue to GIs back in the 1940's. They're a white cotton extra full cut, button-fly pair of britches that wear like a dream - no elastic to cramp your style and lots of fabric to, well, experience.

While currently available only at the website (www.vintageskivvies.com; priced at $25.00), Baird is actively pursuing retail placement where the aforementioned saggers (and anyone who rides any form of a board) are known to shop. And if they aspire to be comfortable as they skate and board around, Vintage Skivvies may become a hot-seller.

Indeed, Baird sees a lot of upside for the future. His hopes are to topple Joe Boxer, which perhaps indicated the beginning of its end by selling wares at the troubled Kmart chain, and take up a rightful place alongside Calvin and Tommy as an uber-designer of underwear.

If the enthusiasm and drive Baird has brought to Vintage Skivvies to date are any indication (not to mention the wonderful drawers themselves), he may just deliver on that promise.

He has made his mark as an original and edgy commentator on style and culture. Now, in his fortnightly column on men’s fashion, Jefferson Hack reveals how a pair of Savile Row seamsters accidentally 'converted’ him to designer boxer shorts

Most men don't have a clue about luxury underwear. They live in a world of M & S multipacks, unaware that finely woven cotton briefs and silk boxer shorts exist.

There is such a thing as knicker nirvana and, if you'll excuse the image, it's right under your nose.

My introduction to luxury underwear was by accident rather than design, when I was having my first ever set of measurements taken at Gieves & Hawkes (020 7434 2001, www.gievesandhawkes.com).

Two gentlemen were taking care of me - one making notes and holding pins; the other wielding a tape measure and wrapping it around my waist, ever so careful not to make physical contact.

I was standing still, legs shoulder-width apart, when my mind started wandering: deadlines, dinner, dancing, that kind of thing.

"Now, sir. Please could you remove your trousers so we may measure your inside leg?" asked the tailor kindly.

Without a thought, I unbuckled my jeans and calmly tugged them over my hips. As I was about to step out of them, a stereo gasp from the tailors either side of me filled the room. I looked down and realized that I had gone commando that morning. Quickly, I yanked them back up.

"Ooh, sir," said one of the seamsters, practically fanning his flushed cheeks, "I think we have something for you."

He hurried off, returning with a boxed pair of fine white shorts made from two-fold, high-weave cotton, with mother-of-pearl buttons on the fly.

I took them to the dressing room, changed, and returned to be measured. In true British style, we carried on as if nothing had happened. I left the store still wearing the boxers; I think they were relieved to "gift" me a pair.

Like travelling first class, once you've experienced the comfort zone there is no turning back. The next day I ordered seven pairs, one for each day of the week.

Like Tom Ford - who famously wears nothing under his trousers - I prefer to go commando. But now when I'm wearing my three-piece or am out on the town, I work myself into some first-rate, high-end boxers.

The Rolls-Royce of men's underwear is made by Zimmerli of Switzerland (www.zimmerliofswitzerland.com), a 135-year-old company specializing in the finest fibre production and meticulous finishing. Its classic light-blue cotton boxer (£25 from www.iwantpants.com) is a must-have for a man's third drawer.

The Aston Martin DB of boxer shorts is the pinstripe kind in herringbone silk from Brioni (020 7491 7700; www.brioni.com).

James Bond has been wearing the suits by this Italian fashion house since 1995's GoldenEye. I doubt Daniel Craig went commando in Casino Royale, but I'd advise him to take advantage of the sponsorship deal and grab a pair or 10 of the £100 undershorts before he checks out of the franchise.

When it comes to new-trend boxers, I have discovered Tie Sides by Vintage Skivvies (www.vintageskivvies.com).

Originally produced in the 1940s for US soldiers, these elastic-free boxers are made in black and blue plaid, have a three-button fly and a hip-hugging cut, and are sold online for $25 a pair.

They also have a cool "surfer meets media mogul" look that suits me to a tee.

A commendation also goes to the Hermès cotton boxer (www.hermes.com), from £170, which comes with a cotton button-bag.

Definitely the chicest underwear to travel with. When it comes to that time-honoured debate, "Boxers or briefs?", most men have a preference.

I have little time for briefs, apart from the American Apparel range (www.americanapparel.co.uk). Its retro, no-logo Y-fronts in bright block colours are available in London, Brighton and Glasgow.

Just as Nick Kamen's appearance in the Levi's launderette ad in 1985 sparked the revival of cotton boxers, David Beckham has been doing his bit to spearhead the resurrection of the brief.

His appearance this month in the fashion magazine W, for which he posed naked but for a pair of white budgie- smugglers, chimes with an auspicious anniversary. It is 25 years since Calvin Klein turned men into walking advertisements with the introduction of the branded waistband. Klein later claimed: "We made underwear sexy, something fun."

Following the actor Mark Wahlberg and the footballer Freddie Ljungberg on to hoardings wearing only their Calvins is the Blood Diamond actor Djimon Hounsou, the poster boy for the latest range, Calvin Klein Steel. Available from £17 at Selfridges and Calvin Klein stores (stockists: 020 7290 5900), the tight-hugging "gripper" brief, in man-made micro-fibres, is no doubt useful for high- stress activities such as squash, rugby and diamond smuggling.

Me, I'm all or nothing, delusional and full of grandiose desires. As the boys at Gieves & Hawkes explain: "When it comes to luxury, subtle tailoring doesn't have to be visible."

Listen to the Interview, click here

A Denver-based entrepreneur is getting into the ongoing boxers vs. briefs debate with his new vintageskivvies.com elastic-free underwear.

Available online at www.vintageskivvies.com, the all-cotton underwear are replicas of the underwear issued to American soldiers during World War II. Oversized to give extra room and comfort, the underwear has ties on the side to ensure they remain in place.

The front of the underwear features four cat's-eye buttons while the oversized balloon seat and legs offer more room than traditional boxer shorts. Read more...

These days, billboards, magazines and even local newspapers are filled with pictures of curvy models in push-up bras and tiny panties, but a hundred years ago, "undies" were "unmentionables."

One Denver man is taking us back to our underwear roots (though not as far back as the loincloth, thankfully) with the premiere of his Vintage Skivvies Fashion Show, tonight at Boulder's Gallery Sovereign. "I was looking around on eBay, and I stumbled upon some vintage catalogues featuring types of underwear that I'd never seen before," says Eric Baird, founder of Vintage Skivvies and a graphic designer by trade. "I thought they were so cool."

After researching the garment industry, Baird started his own line of classic undergarments, remaking everything from a 1940s one-piece Athletic Union Suit to tie-side boxer shorts. "I wanted to reinvent these underwear into something that the younger generation would embrace," he says. And although Baird's line was designed for men, ladies have also jumped on his bandwagon. "I run into women all the time who say, 'Hey, I'd like to wear that,'" he says.

Located at 1537 Pearl Street in Boulder, Gallery Sovereign will be pulsing with models strutting down the catwalk and local DJs PJ Stroller and Sex Clown providing hot beats. Tickets to the fashion show, which starts at 9, are $5 and can be purchased at the door. Call 303-987-3511 or visit www.vintageskivvies.com for the inside scoop.

Boulder, Colorado, is normally a laid-back oasis of hippies, health nuts and other horrors, but last month, a vintage fashion show laid bare the hip and hot underbelly of the Rocky Mountain Region. Vintage Skivvies, a collection of men's underwear designed after styles dating back to the early 1900s, was featured in a high-fashion runway show with stunning models, eclectic artwork, and the very cool vision of the company's founder and chief designer, Eric Baird.

The event was held at Gallery Sovereign, a large and eclectic art gallery on Boulder's famed Pearl Street Mall. Music was provided by DJs PJ Stroller and Sex Clown, who converge jazz, funk, trip-hop and ambient music into a unique collaboration they call "four-on-the-floor progressive tek-funk." While visitors waited for the show to start, gorgeous models flitted about backstage like butterflies, trading barbs, cigarettes, and underwear at a furious pace.

Shauna Fitzmorris, a regional fashion consultant and one of Denver's most stylish mannequins, provided dozens of male and female models for the show. "It was an evening of enjoyment from the 1940s World War II-era that could engulf all of history," Fitzmorris said excitedly following the event. "We were able to pull it off in this great art gallery in Boulder, one that shows an eclectic style of humanity as well as expressive growth. I think Vintage Skivvies complements the place nicely because it's all about bringing the old into the new."

Eric Baird introduced Vintage Skivvies just last year and the line has really taken off. The company's award-winning site, Vintageskivvies.com, includes a glossary, a history of the science of underwear, an ad gallery dating back to the turn of the last century, and a live auction of vintage items from the owner's own extensive collection. The site has more than 150 pages of content, 2,600 pictures and receives over 2 million hits a month.

"[The show] went phenomenally, but I wish it had lasted longer," said Baird following his foray into runway presentations. "I wanted it to last about an hour and it felt like it lasted ten minutes." Still, there's little doubt that Baird's unique fashion niche has legs and will endure far longer than his first event, as his work continues to inspire discriminating ladies and gents.