Men's Underwear With a New Twist

   RIPT FUSION V-NECK T 

So, I'm standing with my friend...let's call him "Joe." (Why, "Joe?" Well, that's his name.) And Joe says to men, "Man, my corset feels sooooo good." And I look at Joe for a few beats, thinking, "Is this some kind of pickup line? Joe's not a transvestite."

In fact, Joe was wearing a very finely tailored men's suit and looking, well, a tad more buff than he had a few days ago. 

"Really," I replied. "Did you say 'corset?'"

"Yup he answered," as he took his shirt out of his pants and exposed his midriff. 

("Okay," I thought, "Joe's going through some sort of identity crises.") And then I realized that Joe was, indeed, wearing some sort of corset. Not a woman's corset (although, I do think he'd look kind of cute and charming in one. Sort of like a sexy Lilly Tomlin. If one CAN imagine the look.

Joe was wearing the latest in slim wear. And this new item is a big hit according to TMC News. An article published on December 1, 2009, notes that "Men are buying specially designed vests and t-shirts to make their bellies look smaller while investing in underwear to enlarge other areas so they can look like David Beckham in his advertising copy for Giorgio Armani."

 Helix Mapping T-shirt

The undies are being carried by the online underwear retailing site figleaves.com and they have become a big hit, accounting for 10% of the site's men's underwear sales.

Figleaves.com underwear Senior Buying Manager, Zoe Ellis reports that the company has been inundated by men's corset orders. As TMC News reports, Ellis said, "Since May, it's come from out of nowhere really.... it's doing really well for us. I think men are looking after their bodies a lot more." (Does that last statement make sense to you? It doesn't to me. If they were, after all, really "looking after their bodies a lot more," why would they need a corset? Corsets are for people with bulges in the wrong places and who have  deficits in other places.)

 Bottom Long Trunk

Whatever... the fact is that men are buying up the various men's shaping underwear. Gay men were the trendsetters, buying most of the slim wear. But now, according to figleaves.com,, straight men are investing in the slimming undies. 

So, if the workout routine isn't panning out or paying off, you may want to invest in the latest trend in men's underwear: corsets.