HE'S GOT GUTS
Guys, are you feeling the pinch?
PAISLEY DODDS
Associated Press
March 21, 2009 at 9:58 PM EDT
LONDON — In a land where metrosexuals reign, a London department store was hoping to cash in on the lucrative men's underwear market recently by launching a throwback to the Victorian era: a gut-cinching garment that designers say will help men make it through these belt-tightening times.
Called a man girdle - or "mirdle" - it's for the guy who has a little too much of everything.
The stretchy contraption resembles a normal sleeveless tank top or long-sleeved T-shirt - only shrunk down two or three sizes in a special blend of Spandex, nylon and polyester. Control underwear will be launched later this year.
"It makes waists look trimmer, improves posture and helps men get into the latest slimmer-fitting suits," said Gavin Jones, head of the Australian company Equmen, which launched its male shapewear line at Selfridges.
"Men are under a lot of pressure right now to perform financially, socially and romantically. Why shouldn't we have the same products that women have had for years to make us feel better?"
Europe has been at the forefront of the metrosexual revolution, illustrated by larger-than-life images on London's double-decker buses of a svelte Daniel Craig in a fitted tuxedo and a near-hairless David Beckham in white Armani bikini briefs. Even Clive Owen, the British actor known for his rugged good looks and reticent characters, is the face of Lancome's new anti-aging skin-care line.
As male vanity has increased in the past decade, so have retail sales. In the United Kingdom, sales of men's grooming products - moisturizers, home waxing kits, manicure kits - totalled some £840-million ($1.18-billion) last year, according to a report from market research firm Mintel.
Similarly, men's underwear sales are growing faster than women's. In Selfridges, sales of men's underwear were up 21 per cent whereas women's underwear grew by some 10 per cent last year. The U.K. alone tallied roughly £679-million ($957-million) in men's underwear sales in 2007, whereas the U.S. tallied about $4.9-billion in 2008, according to Mintel.
Equmen's undershirts promise "to do for guy's chests what Spanx have done for flabby female thighs."
"Brands like Spanx have been huge for women, so we thought pretty soon the same thing would happen for men," said Mithun Ramanandi, a Selfridges underwear buyer. "We saw the brand last year and it was something that didn't look like a corset - something that men could wear to look slimmer without looking silly."
Spanx, one of the leading brands of shapewear for women, exceeded $350-million in retail sales last year. It's now also considering a new line for men.
"We have something in the works," said Misty Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based company. "Men have been asking us for it and, let's face it, they want to take advantage of the style tricks women have been using for years."
U.S. department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue are also offering lines of male control wear. Saks started carrying a line last year from 2(X)ist featuring briefs and slimming undershirts.
Men's control wear has been around since Victorian times in Britain, where dandies such as Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde were known for their fanciful and slightly feminine outfits. Advertisements for male girdles became popular in the 1930s, but many of the products struggled to look different than women's undergarments.
Today's man girdle looks like something Marlon Brando might have worn in A Streetcar Named Desire - a slimmer and more coifed Brando, that is.
"An old relative of mine said there used to be men and women and now there's this grey," said Pete Bainbridge, a 31-year-old financial-services consultant. "I suppose some people want to look good. It's not my taste."
Retailers say it's not about making men more feminine, but about giving them more options. Some agree, in theory. "I suppose I would buy products I wouldn't have 10 years ago," said Adam Lazarus, a 51-year-old business consultant.
Jones, who founded Equmen in 2007, said he got the idea by looking at specialty clothes that athletes wear. "I thought if there is apparel that can help shave off a second of the time for swimmers or cyclists there must be something that could improve the performance of hardworking men who have kids and a mortgage to pay - a man who doesn't necessarily have time to get off the merry-go-round and make himself look and feel better."
Selfridges, which opened up a spa last year for men, has increased their underwear department by more than a third in its flagship London store. In its other U.K. locations, the underwear department has tripled in space to make room for specialty garments like Equmen's.
"If it's going to be called a bloody girdle or 'mirdle,' then I'll take it on the cheek if it gets men to try it," says Jones. "But I think there needs to be line drawn between a man whacking on a bit of mascara and buying a product that's going to give him more confidence and keep his belly from hanging over his belt."
Equmen's precision undershirts start at £49 ($69). Other lines for warmer climates will be released soon.
