Calvin Klein Steel Micro Trunk

The Calvin Klein Steel Micro Trunk is an offering from Calvin Klein that is listed as being 89% nylon and 11% elastane. It’s short, tight and pretty straightforward: The garment’s value is in its quality, not any gimmicks. The version I tried had a silver waistband with red brand lettering, and the body was blue with horizontal red stripes. 

Materials and construction: This pair gave an initial impression of being impeccably well-constructed, but after only two or three washes on the gentle cycle, developed some conspicuously loose threads. I don’t expect this pair to fall apart at any moment, but that was a surprising development. Not only is the main material quite stretchy, but all of the seams on the pair are very flexible, which is an advantage that it has over most pairs of underwear. The pouch is enclosed and supported by U-shaped seams. There is no attached tag, but rather words printed on the inside of the waistband, which is always a nice feature. 6/10

Comfort and usability: Putting on the pair leaves me impressed with the feeling of a well-proportioned and wonderfully supportive fit. The feeling of the fabric is probably as comfortable as any other pair I own. It’s tendency to hug the skin makes its flaw almost immediately obvious, though: the pouch is not big enough. Wearing this for the full day that I feel is necessary for a review left my package feeling somewhat abused. Still, it feels great on the skin and support means that it can be used for short periods as workout gear when I need my package to stay firmly in place. 6/10

Aesthetics: The brand name stitching looks great, and the color combination works well. The textured metallic shine of the waistband looks great. This is one of the best-looking pairs of underwear I own. 9/10.

Overall rating: 7/10

Big enough? Not for daily wear. I’m keeping this and might pull it out occasionally as workout gear. If there was a version of this with a big pouch, it might be among my favorite pairs of underwear.