Tom Ford’s Sexy Flesh Colored Underwear Makes a Near Nude Statement: All the Different Skin Tones Make a Statement

No one understands and can deliver sexy like Tom Ford. The recipe is as complicated as mastering the perfect Bearnaise sauce. The ingredients to achieve sex appeal include (but are not often limited to) wit, confidence (but with equal parts humbleness), integrity, edge, street and book smarts, and perhaps most importantly an air of mystery.

I was an early adopter of the glamorous, louche and languid, jet-setters lifestyle Ford was selling in his years as creative director of Gucci. He then brought that magic to Yves Saint Laurent and after taking a few years off with some notable side projects, including creating the award-winning film A Single Man, Tom Ford came back to design again with his namesake label.

Let’s go back to that idea of “wit” and throw in some humor. Ford may come across as the most polished man (at times making even 007 look like a schlub), but he is willing to make light of the culture of fashion and even to poke fun at his profession. Some of the funniest moments I’ve had of late were the videos circulating on Instagram a few months back of brilliant Australian comedian Celeste Barber and Ford.

The designer, in some videos, is fitting her in his latest collection (with the help of duct tape and some headscarves that are all too reminiscent of Little Edie of Gray Gardens fame) and then others schooling her on achieving the disaffected supermodel runway walk.

I make it a habit of trying to watch all of the full runway shows online. (Alas, I still haven’t secured front-row status.) When I was watching the fall 2018 offerings, I immediately became intrigued by how Major Tom closed his menswear show — with models in underwear.

This was new. Entirely fresh. And more than enough to start the fashion crowds tongues a wagging.

Underwear History

I’ll date myself by sharing that I remember, vividly the last moment when my eyes opened wide to the potential for men’s underwear. It was the early 1990s and I was still in college. The commercials featuring Marky Marky (formerly of the Funky Bunch and now using the more respectable, official name of Mark Wahlberg) grabbing his crotch through his Calvin Klein briefs was the topic of many conversations.

When said ads also began featuring the relatively unknown Kate Moss, those conversations became magnified to global proportions. It was the re-invention/re-invigoration of Klein’s underwear line that helped keep the floundering company afloat.

Tom Ford’s underwear line features standard colors of white, black and grey, but what makes this launch so intriguing is the range of skin tones being offered. Ford’s inspiration came from the 1960s and ’70s when he noticed women wearing flesh-colored stockings matching their skin tone. In designing the underwear, he created six different skin tone colors in cotton with the idea that a man could literally look almost naked when he took his clothes off, apart from the Tom Ford waistband.

Also present in the collection is a variety of animal prints and metallics, which are a staple in Ford’s collections.

The underwear collection comes in a variety of shapes, colors, and fabrications. Silhouettes consist of briefs, trunks, short boxers, and regular boxers, while fabrications include cotton stretch jersey, classic cotton, and silk. Perhaps you can have a variety in your skivvies drawer to suit your mood for the day — disco dandy one moment and redneck trucker the next.

Opening at an entry-level price point, Tom Ford underwear will range from approximately $65 for cotton styles to $350 for silk. For those wanting a piece of the Tom Ford lifestyle, without the price tag of one of his signature suits, you now can be a TF-Man. The line is available exclusively at his stores and online.

I know what I’m hoping to find in my stocking this Christmas.