Panties For Men Interview

How Interest in Panties for Men Began

How did you become interested in selling feminine lingerie? Years ago one of my businesses was selling on eBay and through mail order a line of lingerie for women called, Panty Puns®. They were silk-screened panty underwear for women, with different sayings and things on the front of them.

In addition to my regular orders I was surprised to receive questions from men as to whether they can buy panties for themselves out of a different fabric, in a different size, and with different sayings on them. I quickly learned there was a market for men to wear feminine underwear. Frankly, I somewhat knew this myself because that's what I wore, but I didn't know there was a big market to sell that stuff.

About PantiesForMen.com

Ross of PantiesForMen.com

Tell me about your business PantiesForMen.com. I started PantiesForMen as a division of my Marketing business "Half Moon Enterprises" about eight years ago. I bought the URL in 2000 and began selling panties for men on eBay under the seller name "VictorsSecretLingerie" in 2001. We opened our web site and e-commerce business at PantiesForMen.com about two years ago.

Donna is my business partner and seamstress. I might think of something but she's the one that designs the pattern, does the original item and, if it's something producible, will get it done. She works harder at this business than I do. I do the thinking but she does the leg work. She's located about 150 miles away so we do most everything over the phone, except go to trade shows together. Donna's in her 40s, married woman, mother, been sewing all her life. Certainly not someone people might think would be in this business.

Common Myths: Why Men Buy Feminine Lingerie

Would you say there are any common myths about men who enjoy feminine lingerie? The two most common, which is obvious, is that people think that men are gay and/or feminine by nature. Where in actuality I find the exact opposite to be true. According to studies on cross dressers (1) , a smaller percentage of them are gay then men in the general population. The reason seems to be that gay men are interested in men so they (more often) wear men clothes. Men who wear feminine clothes, it is usually because they have a strong identity with women, they love women. It's certainly true in my case.

The other is the femininity side, most studies have found that, for cross dressers again, it's a relaxing environment for them, it's a way for them to let down. Because most often their jobs are either very masculine -- construction workers, military, high-power businessmen, that have to be very powerful and strong in their everyday life. So this becomes a way for them to relax. One of the most famous cross dressers was Herbert Hoover, (former) head of the FBI.

Again, these are all generalities, there are of course gay men that wear panties also. But, In general, men that wear feminine lingerie are straight, married and with masculine or high-powered jobs.

Fetish Wear or Fantasy Wear

Would you say this lingerie style is fetish wear or fantasy wear? For men that have women in their lives that know of the fetish and go along with it, for them it is fetish wear because it becomes part of their sex lives. But for most men it is a secret, so it's a comfort level in their head and a private fantasy for them, I suppose.

There is actually a third group. And my guess is that each of these groups is about equal in size, 33, 33, 33 (percent). The third group is the men that enjoy the fabrics and the feel but are not into the fact that they're real feminine. They just as soon wear men's underwear if it was made out of the same fabrics.

Manly Man Panty Line

PantiesForMen.com

I noticed garments on your Web site that look like men's underwear, but are just satin or silky. That's what we call our Manly Man line and it serves two purposes. Number one is it sells to this 3rd group of men who want the feeling of silky, soft underwear, but not necessarily for it to be real feminine. And the other is it is used as a break-in vehicle for the men who want the women in their lives to know that they wear, or enjoy wearing, panties – and kind of need to break them (the women) in slow. So, they will start wearing the Manly Man stuff and their hope is that, of course, that their wife will enjoy the feel of it also, and be able to slowly feminize it.

How Women Respond to Panties for Men

Do you find women are easier or slower to adapt to men wearing feminine lingerie, then you'd expect? Again, this is based on feedback from our forum of 2200 members…based on that and our Panty Poll on the front page of the Web site: Only about 25 percent of the wives or women in a guy's life know about it, and only a small percentage of them (of that percentage) accept it. It's not very accepted by women, for the misconceptions you asked about in the beginning. Women think that the guy is gay or feminine – he is not the macho man they thought he was.

Unique Nature of Clients

Is there anything unique about your clients, which you would like to add? For one reason or another, the greatest majority of them, I'll add myself, so, us. We tend to be baby boomers, to come from the 50s and 60s. Based on our Panty Poll of over 5000 members to the Web site, 60 percent are 46 or older. [Discussed theory of sexual imprinting, how it was for boys to see women's or girls' underwear was a big deal back then, and the changes in fashion of the time, such as mini-skirts. We also touched on the more typically masculine expectations of men in that day as opposed to today.]

The vast majority of men that wear panties enjoy the full briefs or the granny panty styles, not thongs or sexy underwear or anything, more of the retro, vintage style panties.

Best-Sellers

What are your best selling products or styles? That is a tough one to answer…our problem in determining our best seller is that every time we bring out something new it becomes a best seller. Most of the stuff that sells well is custom made, so Donna has to make them one at a time, and because of that we can't sell that many. The Manly Man line – we get that made now, so by definition we sell lots of them. But I don't know if they would be the best-sellers if the others were widely available.

One thing I can answer for certain is that our number one color is pink by a wide margin, a pastel pink (46 percent). And number two is white (14 percent). [Black was number three (13 percent) but is a very difficult color to come by in the fabrics desired, and red was nowhere near the top, unlike women's lingerie where black and red are both very popular.]

Creating an Undergarment

How long does it take to create an undergarment? The majority of the time is spent cutting the fabric from a pattern and just kind of organizing it. She (Donna) tries to do several at once, and when somebody orders one, she sews it up. The sewing, a half-hour, and the cutting an hour, but she doesn't do it all at once.

Secrets of Men Who Buy

Ultra feminine style - PantiesForMen.com

What needs would you say your business fills? The number one reason men would buy from us rather than a store is the secret factor, but it's not as big a reason as you might think. Because part of the thrill is to buy panties for themselves and hope the cashier realizes it is for them, with out telling them. The embarrassment factor is a thrill...adrenalin rush....for us. Again you find this out in the forum.

The reason they'll buy from us is they get product they can't get at a store. Women's lingerie is more utilitarian, which I never understood that – though Victoria's Secret has changed that somewhat. Men want the most feminine panty they can get –bows and lace, and stuff women probably wouldn't be caught dead in (laugh). They can't get that in a store, or the right size. Sizing is an issue. He also wants a nylon or satin gusset and since the 70s you can't buy women's store-bought panties that way.

Advice for First-time or Embarrassed Buyers

What advice would you give first time buyers, who are either afraid or embarrassed to buy? Certainly for the men, he should buy either something like our Manly Man panty line, or if he is buying in the store buy a nylon women's brief so that it's not real feminine and he has the deniability issue, (saying) I don't like these because they are panties, I like them because they feel good and they don't make men's nylon underwear anymore. That's a good way to break the wife in and then maybe move on to some colors and slowly get fancier if the wife doesn't seem to put up too much of an issue.

The Market Size in the U.S.

How large do you think the market is for your business? The market is 6 to 8 percent of men between the ages of 18 to 65. That's a given -- because there have been a lot of studies, again for cross dressers, that would indicate that. This breaks down to about 7 or 8 million men in the U.S. [Discussed the difficulties of marketing to such a large but segmented age group] There is a fine line in marketing my panties. I can't advertise too much because I can't deliver without mass production, but I can't mass produce because I don't know if I have the customers or not.

Business Challenges

How is business going? Limited only by the ability to produce. It's a tough business to run. It's an expensive business to run. [Discussed why it's not feasible to have products made in China, where most women's lingerie is produced and the fickleness of the market.] We've put close to $100,000 in this business in the last couple of years, all the money that comes in we put back in. The vast majority of that is for industrial sewing machines and fabric (bought by bulk).

Why Buy from PantiesForMen

Any words on why customers should buy from you? We know there is competition but none have the fabrics we have. Two of our fabrics are exclusive to us, not even available to the general lingerie market: Our satin used in the Manly Man line, and our BTV nylon, standing for 'better than vintage'. BTV is as good or better than any vintage panty fabric I've seen.

In this business...vintage nylon used in the 50's and 60's is the Gold standard for fit and feel. Donna and I go to trade shows twice a year in LA and buy the fabrics that are used in couture stuff –so it's a real business. We make everything on industrial machines. Our stitching is better than everybody else; our fabrics are better than everybody else, and again I think our styles are as good, if not better.

1. Note: Studies noted in this interview typically involve cross dressers, as studies on the general male population are seemingly absent. This is not to infer that all or most men who wear feminine style fabic are cross dressers, as this is not technically or otherwise accurate.

-Thank you for the interview. For more information on panties for men visit the PantiesForMen Web site at: www.pantiesformen.com or on eBay at: VictorsSecretLingerie.

Interview by Donna Porter