Birds Boxers

Photo: Birds

For a place that's a bit of a sartorial desert, the San Francisco Bay area has a surprising number of boutique menswear suppliers. And men who come down on the boxer side of the boxers vs briefs argument may wish to consider Birds, a husband and wife team in Sausalito that strives to make the world's best boxer shorts.

Birds come in two hand sewn models made of a 2 ply 160-thread count Sea Island Cotton that gets softer as it's washed. The Custom Fit (the model in the illustration) is a reproduction of a custom-made boxer from decades ago, in even sizes 32 to 40. The Classic Fit is an elastic-waist slip-on boxer with a two-button tab-front closure that's sized S, M, L and XL. Either is available in white or blue cotton and both are closed with mother of pearl buttons. My only complaint is a bird logo on the front of each pair that should be moved to the inside waistband if it must be present at all.

At $76 a pair, Birds are a bit more than Zimmerli knitted briefs but then a man's choice of underwear is a religious issue and money should play no more than a secondary role in his decision.