FASHION : First Bras, Now Briefs Go Public

Sexy or scandalous? Which is it when a man wears what looks suspiciously like underwear as outerwear?

Rockers Mick Jagger and Axl Rose have been prancing around for years in what appears to be underwear.

For his last tour, Jagger wore second-skin knit pants that were a combination of knickers and football pants. More recently, Rose strutted on stage at the American Music Awards in anatomically explicit white shorts--a hybrid of sweats and bicycle shorts.

And teen-dream musician Marky Mark of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch makes graphic use of briefs in his act.

But now, the man who doesn’t happen to be a rock star can join the ranks of the overexposed.

Calvin Klein is just one of the menswear designers who showed bodywear in his spring collection. Klein’s $40 wrestler-type suit may have raised eyebrows and elicited titters, but it foreshadows the coming trend of underwear as outerwear.

Men’s bodywear is made of stretchy cotton knit fabrics, and the shapes are similar to the unitards, leggings and bicycle shorts women have been wearing.

In fact, mixing elements of sportswear and bodywear is something women have been doing for several seasons; for example, blue jeans and bra tops, tailored jackets and bustiers.

Since boxer shorts went public several years ago, both sexes have adopted them as a summertime favorite. And the trend of showing a couple of inches of brightly colored boxers under low-hanging jeans is still seen around town and in the music videos.

Thigh-length unitards and cotton knit shorts, two staples of the new business, are being worn with jackets, under oversize shorts and overalls or with jeans by the young and hip. Hard bodies wear physique-revealing sleeveless T-shirts and shorts to the gym to show off their pecs, while soft bodies go for long pants and loose-fitting Henley T-shirts, the official uniform of the sofa spud.

Some of the new bodywear will remain as underwear. At the recent menswear shows in New York, Donna Karan showed a piece that combined a men’s brief with a dress shirt.

“Some men tuck their shirts into their underwear anyway, so why not?” she says. She has been making similar women’s garments for several years with much success.

Michael Kors also showed dress shirts or hooded sweat shirts attached to briefs. Both designers’ garments caused comment. Not everyone understands the look or wants to wear it.

“I just don’t understand it,” says Tom Gillman, owner of the trendy but tasteful Studio boutique in Santa Monica. Bodywear “is not for me or my customer.” But then, Gillman’s customer is the type who wants to look hip, but hedges.

Los Angeles designer Drew Bernstein makes tight-fitting, show-every-roll clothing for the rock crowd under the Lip Service label. Jagger and Rose have worn his clothes, Jagger most recently on the February cover of Vanity Fair.

But Bernstein says even some of his hip and fit customers won’t wear form-revealing Lycra-based knit pants. “A lot of people say they are too much like leotards and it’s a ballerina look. But I don’t see it that way at all. I see it as a Robin Hood style.”

Nordstrom, May Co. and Robinson’s all bought Klein’s wrestler-style suit. A Nordstrom spokesperson says men’s bodywear is a must-have this year because it is multifunctional and economical, popular attributes in an uncertain retail climate.

Probably bodywear’s biggest appeal is that it’s comfortable and sexy. “Men never thought about this kind of comfort until they began wearing knits,” says Colby Mc Williams, men’s fashion director for Neiman Marcus. “Now they are thinking more like women, they want the comfort and they like the sex appeal. A sweat suit is comfortable but it isn’t sexy; these clothes are.”