A story about gitch

Gitch. Gotch. Ginch. 

Call them what you want, they're all underwear and of late, I've needed some more. It's a combination of realizing that my 10-year-old Pac Man underoos have very few outings left in them and the fact that the Fruit of the Loom pack I bought last year never really lived up to their promise. 

So it was in that environment that I was on the search for something new a few weeks ago. I investigated some new styles, learned about breathable cotton and all sorts of things. Through this sea of options, it occurred to me that maybe I could be finding something Canadian or local to buy. And that's where I found Do + Dare. 

It's a small company out of Toronto that makes underwear here in Canada out of bamboo. They've been on Dragon's Den and overall seemed like a good match for what I want. 

I put in an order for a couple of different styles, including, of note for this story, a 3-pack of "Shorties Undies" which were listed under the Unisex section of their site. Honestly, what I'd been looking for was something closer to a brief over boxers, and these seemed to be the closest thing they had. 

Now, I'm not so naive that I didn't clue in right away that these really looked more like women's "boy short" style underwear, but I thought maybe there was something about the material or make that I didn't see. They were listed as "unisex" after all. 

A few days later, a little paper-wrapped package arrived with my new underwear! It was with the type of glee one can only experience when new underwear arrives that I ran upstairs to try them on. And they... they weren't right. 

To the uninitiated, wearing women's underwear is a strange thing. Sure, there's the kink of it all. We can all enjoy that. But they just don't fit. And it's not just the pouch in the front. It's like they aren't tall enough. Like the bottom of the underwear comes up just a little too high. That's the experience I had putting on these underwear. 

But fret not, this wasn't a waste! By some serendipity, while Rhonda and I are of very different heights, we are nearly identical around the waist. So Rhonda got herself three new pairs of Canadian-made underwear. Everyone wins. 

A few days later, I got the usual "review our product email" and did so by giving the product 4/5 stars and commenting that maybe they shouldn't be categorized as unisex because they're clearly designed for people with female anatomy. 

Imagine my surprise when I got a personal text message from the owner of the company asking to discuss the issues I had and offering to make things right! We had a really productive and open conversation about my experience, and he was very open to my observations that this wasn't an issue with the product but an issue with the marketing. To his credit, he shared that the underwear is indeed designed for women, but they found a lot of men in the LGBTQ+ community were buying them, so they thought they'd give this a shot. I didn't say it to him at the time, but the thought occurred after that: maybe there's some kink to buying women's underwear, and you're actually taking that away with the permission that unisex grants. We also talked about sizing and how maybe an XL of this product would have been a correct fit.

All this to say, a company saw that I had even a minor issue and reached out to see if they could fix it. I do note that the shorties are still listed under the unisex category, and there isn't a change to the sizing guide. But maybe that's coming. You can't change every time someone makes a complaint. Plus, they gave me a $10 credit, which I used to buy some 4" Boxer Briefs, which fit great. 

And wouldn't you know it - there was another minor problem in that I ordered a 3-pack and the colours I wanted were out of stock. So in came another text message to make a few quick substitutions and another text from the owner saying he'd made sure my new order was sent out with care. 

All in all, it ended up great. The new undies fit like a dream, and I have a company that I'm prepared to sing the praises of. 

Oh, and there's an epilogue to all of this. Wouldn't you know it if I got an email last week inviting me to test drive their new underwear style - men's briefs. Dammit. By the time I got on the website, my size was sold out, but you can bet that I'm going to be waiting with baited breath for them to go on sale!

Incidentally, I understand that my only reader is my brother, so a post on underwear is uncomfortable. But I spared you the details of the thong, and I didn't post any pictures of me in the shortie undies to illustrate the poor fit. So just say thank you and move along.