Women have been wearing boxers, briefs, and boy shorts for decades, and now it's time for guys to up their underwear game. Enter Homme Mystere, a line of lingerie for men. The Australian brand's "sexy underwear" runs the gamut from panties and g-strings to bras and garter belts designed specifically for men's bodies. What the line isn't designed for is any one particular sexual orientation or kind of kink. According to Homme Mystere's FAQ: "We provide our lingerie for guys. We are not concerned if you are gay, straight, vegetarian, republican, anglican, martian or any other persuasion. We just design and manufacture attractive luxury underwear for men."
While you might personally find the idea of unzipping your dude's jeans to find a lacy thong underneath abhorrent, the way Homme Mystere's line adroitly reconceptualizes and normalizes alternate gender expressions for men is important. Clothing isn't inherently gender coded, although we're enculturated to think so. The editorial shots on the site of guys doing all kinds of mundane activities (like shaving, lying in bed, and hanging out with a lady friend) while wearing lingerie provides a great visual subversion of heterosexual, masculine ideals. As someone whose 7th grade crush was Dr. Frankenfurter from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, I'm pretty excited by these sexy skivvies, particularly if it gives men a chance to explore alternate forms of aesthetic expression without stigma.
Images: Homme Mystere
