Hanes Comfort Fit Men's tagless briefs.
I've worn the same brand underwear for well over a decade. On things like that, when I find something I like, I don't experiment with alternatives. I picked up a couple packs of these briefs a couple weeks ago, and they're different. I have old pairs to compare, and the differences are obvious.
The fabric is thinner and more brittle. I don't know if they changed the cotton, the weave, the thread thickness, the blend, or what, but this brand used to be a very soft supple cotton blend, and now the fabric is more coarse and thin.
Also, the waistband used to be about an inch wide. Now it is about a 1/2 inch to 3/5 inch. So not only does every pair have elastic that is less wide, the material needed to wrap around the elastic to sew it into the waistband is also consequently less.
Do I like them less? Yes, nominally so. Once they're on, I forget about it, but putting them on doesn't feel the same. It's not a deal-breaker, but I'm reminded every time I put on a pair that I'm getting less product for more money. If the way they are now was what people wanted to own, they wouldn't ever have made them the old way. This is purely an answer to declining consumer purchasing power. The Hanes company understands that in regard to underwear, men are willing to settle for less product at a steady price rather than spend more money for the same thing.
