How Men’s Boxers Became One of the Biggest Trends in Womenswear

Photographs: Getty Images, Coach; Collage: Gabe Conte

Ah, the eternal menswear dilemma: Boxers or briefs? The debate has continued to rage in high fashion circles of late, but not in the way you might expect. The no-pants look has taken hold on the runways of labels like Miu Miu and Loewe and in the closets of A-list celebrities, but stepping out in public wearing bikini bottoms isn’t exactly for everyone. That’s why a certain subset of uber-stylish women and non-binary folks have turned to breezy, baggy boxers to get their underwear-as-outerwear fix.

It’s not hard to understand the appeal: When the temperatures rise, the standard options for showing some leg all come with their fair share of downsides. Skirts ride up; shorts often hug the thighs uncomfortably; skorts are hit or miss; and pants, in humid climates, are simply out of the question. Boxers—especially when paired with a flowy dress shirt, as Zendaya recently did on the Challengers press tour—provide a smart, airy, and effortless alternative. Now, labels across the fashion spectrum are offering up boxers designed specifically to be worn as tasteful shorts, from mall brands like J.Crew to streetwear imprints like Sporty & Rich.

That innate elegance is a little ironic, given that boxers are often maligned as a sloppy and unflattering underwear choice for men. This stigma is partially rooted in the disdain that white society showed to Black men who sagged their pants during the 1990s hip-hop boom. Today, sagging is back, and has become adopted into a sort of gender-bending, non-binary skater youth culture. It’s become so ubiquitous, in fact, that ultra-femme celebrities like Beyoncé have donned boxers peeking through unbuttoned jeans to experiment with contemporary androgyny in fashion editorials. And while the consensus online seems to be that briefs are for men and boxers are for boys, that youthful flair is part of the point of the women adopting the shorts as their own.

And, of course, boxers are yet another way for women to dabble in the still-trending old money aesthetic. Especially when rendered in a striped dress shirt fabric, the right pair of boxers calls to mind Carolyn Bessette strolling to brunch in Cape Cod, Princess Diana walking to her car after light yoga, or one of Bella Hadid’s off-duty-model looks.

There’s not really a one-to-one analogue to the boxers trend for men—the attention-grabbing short shorts favored by the likes of Paul Mescal and Chris Pine are of a similar length, but they don’t quite have the ease and grace of a crisp pair of boxer shorts. In which case: Fellas, don’t be afraid of sharing. If you’ve got a few nice pairs of unworn boxers lying around, let a lady in your life have ‘em. They’ll work far more wonders on her than they ever will gathering dust in your skivvies drawer.

Originally Appeared on GQ

More Great Style Stories From GQ

• The Balenciaga Platform Sneaker Is the Chonkiest Shoe Ever Made

• Bradley Cooper Went Full-Dad Mode in Rare Air Jordans and Two Pairs of Glasses

• The End of Merch

• 21 Surefire Ways to Dress for the Beach

• For Years, Sylvester Stallone Secretly Owned a Legendary Watch—It Sold for a Fortune

• Not a subscriber? Join GQ to receive full access to GQ.com.