A fabric like that makes a ton of sense for boxer briefs, but employed in a pair of boxer shorts and the comfort gets turned up to 11. Ortiz says the fabric offers the same luxurious feel as CDLP’s flagship boxer briefs, “but the boxer shorts version is even more satisfying. Plus, they actually have shape in the rear which prevents my back end from looking sad.”
Best Multipack Boxer Shorts: Polo Ralph Lauren Woven Cotton Boxer Shorts (5-Pack)
Material: 100% cotton | Sizes: S-XXL | Fly: Functional; open | Colors and Patterns: Available in 2 colorways
Ralph Lauren’s boxer shorts are just as good as his button-ups—after all, the fabrics used for both are basically the same. On top of that, we love that the front of the waistband lies flat while still allowing for plenty of elastic to conform to your size. The fabric is lightweight and smooth, the construction is solid, and the fit was well-tailored—enough room to move around, but slim enough to prevent bunching in slimmer pants.
“If you want to remodel your underwear drawer in one go, these are the best to buy in bulk,” Ortiz says. Uniqlo’s boxers are affordable, no doubt. But they’re not offered in multipacks and from what we’ve experienced, the considered fit and slightly better fabric make Ralph Lauren’s a winner if you like to refresh your underwear in big chunks.
Best Designer Boxer Shorts: Tom Ford Silk Boxer Shorts
Material: 100% cotton | Sizes: S-XXL | Fly: Functional; open | Colors and Patterns: Available in 2 colorways
If you thought boxers were shapeless, frumpy, and woefully unappealing, uh, we don’t blame you. But don’t let the worst offenders of the genre speak for the whole crowd. With an opulent silk-blend fabric, and sultry velvet waistband these Tom Ford skivvies are some of the sexiest pairs of underwear around, boxer briefs be damned. But don’t take all that sex appeal to mean that they’re cut slim. These have a relaxed fit that’s comfortably roomy and perfect for lounging around. They’re better suited for special occasions, of course, like the luscious velvet curtain before a saucy show. But if you’re after some rest, relaxation, and luxuriating, these are a great source of dopamine.
More Boxer Shorts We Love
Calvin Klein Cotton Classics Knit Boxers (3-Pack)
Tommy John Second Skin Trunks (3-Pack)
Under Armour Boxerjock Shorts (3-Pack)
Hanes Boxer Tagless Boxer Shorts (6-Pack)
What to Look for in a Great Pair of Boxer Shorts
The boxer shorts community only takes up a modest sliver of the GQ offices, but we remain steadfast and we came together to figure out what makes a great pair based on our decades of personal experience and the countless pairs that have made their way into the office. We wanted to filter out the cheap chaff and get down to the golden wheat, the kind that could satisfy the lifelong boxer shorts advocates and convert (or at least crack open the minds) of the immovable boxer briefs soldiers.
Comfort came first, naturally. Waistbands shouldn’t be too tight, nor too loose, and there should be plenty of room in the crotch and legs to move about freely. Quality was a no-brainer—fabric needs to be breathable, comfortable, and soft. And then it came down to the finer design details like the way the fly functions, how the panels are shaped, and how the elastic is constructed. Ultimately, many of these smaller details will be subjective. For instance, some folks preferred button fly boxers over open fly boxers. With that in mind, we wanted this list to encompass a wide range of options and have each superlative pair be the best representation for a given sub-genre within the boxer shorts universe.
How We Test and Review Products
Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.
Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there’s bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ’s testing process here.)
