Stock Up and Save on Men's Basics -- Savings Experiment

The best way to look good in your briefs is to look good in your birthday suit. Luckily, the trend of men running around with pants around their calves, wearing underwear as outerwear, has started to die down. But if you're looking for underwear that you can wear as, well, underwear, that also fits well and feels comfortable, there are several ways you can save money.

Stocking Up

I'll keep this brief: Buy in bulk. The easiest way to save is to stock up. You'll always need underwear, so there's no reason not to buy a lot. Department and other chain stores, like Macy's, Costco and Target, typically offer discounts year-round when you buy packs of underwear. If there's a particular style, say boxers or briefs, that you like, it's worth buying a bunch before the designer switches it up and suddenly starts selling pantaloons or whatever else is the newest trend.

Shop Online

While it's smarter to buy shoes, jeans, and suits in person, buying underwear online is easy, if you already know what you want. If there is a particular style you already know fits, you'll probably find the best deals on the web. That's because you can compare prices online, at Overstock.com, Amazon and any major department store website.

It's best not to buy a style or brand you've never tried before, because if it doesn't fit, you probably can't return it. In fact, any store that lets you try on the underwear, buy it, wear it, and then return it, is not a place where you should be shopping.

Designer Labels

Sometimes you can't judge a pair of underwear by its label. Now that designers are opening multiple lines, with varying production value, the brand name doesn't determine the quality as much as the stitching and type of materials used. Still, some designers are more diligent than others, even with their "lower" lines.

You can snatch up legitimate deals on name brands if you go to outlet stores, especially on what are called "discontinued" designs. Discontinued simply means that the clothier is introducing a new design and ending that particular line, or introducing a slightly newer color because it's a new season. (If anyone makes fun of you for sporting underwear that is "so last season," than they have no business being that close to you.)

Before You Buy

Check out the stitching, seams and sizing. If you spot pulls, holes, loose threads, or even spots, you'll know not to buy them. Since men's underwear often comes sealed, especially when you buy in bulk, at least look at the briefs through the plastic. This way you won't come home and find that a small is significantly smaller than you had anticipated.

Now can anyone explain why underwear, which is a single item of clothing, is referred to as a pair?