Hi all! If you’re new to HR, I’m so glad you’re here! My name is Em, I’m nonbinary and use they/them pronouns, and this is a blog about fashion that prioritizes accessibility, a sense of humor, and cultural contexts from the sacred to the profane—anything goes, from How to Dress Like a Wong Kar-wai Character to Wearable Poetry to hating John Lennon while reluctantly appreciating some of his fits. Hit me up with anything you may need at contact@humanrepeller.com or on Instagram, and check out some of my writing and editing work for i-D, passerby, Magasin, Mildew Magazine, and more here. I’m still looking for work, and whoever gets me a job gets a free lifetime subscription to the paid editions of HR…if that doesn’t motivate ya…
Anyway! Thank you so much for giving me your time, attention, and KB of email storage space. To the post!
As a hater of today’s holiday, a fashion worker who’ll be on the clock anyway, and an expat in Argentina, I feel very disconnected from those of you in the US right now, but I hope you’re having a good day. This quickie post is a roundup of the best luxury underwear and socks that are on BFCM sale right this second for deals that make them make sense as purchases. I have literally never, not once, regretted buying high-end base layers, so if you’re fiending to buy SOMETHING, anything, and marxist moralizing can’t save you anymore, why not purchase something that you’re guaranteed to use and all-but-guaranteed to adore?
In my base layers, I look for:
As high a % of cotton as possible, usually going for 100% (non-itchy wool for socks is good too)
Hefty, thick fabric unless I’m specifically getting underwear to go under something skintight. The only way underwear and socks will last more than 6 months of consistent wear is if they are HARDY—some of the socks below I’ve owned for 5+ years and they still look and fit great
Minimum “hard stuff” e.g. exposed elastic waistbands
Do they look cute on their own, without the context of clothes? I love feeling like if I’m in a pinch and need to use my underwear as a bathing suit or wear boxers as shorts, I’ll be primed to look great
Brands that aren’t fucking WEIRD about gender. I love both femininity and masculinity as expressed sartorially, but I would so much rather order intimates from brands that use language to describe their products that doesn’t presume anything about their customers but their desire for comfort—I was shocked by a few of the brands that knocked this out of the park below!
Nothing’s marked “sale” below because it’s all on sale, it’s all under $75 (and as low as $3!), and the pieces are not sorted by gender or style. I really recommend getting your shopping joneses out by indulging in a little luxury that will genuinely add to your life and definitely won’t give you that feeling of dread when a BFCM package arrives and you already know whatever’s in it isn’t gonna fit. Items marked with ** I have purchased and endorse personally (not sponsored, sadly…HIT ME UP with brand deals contact@humanrepeller.com I need your money <3).
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Underwear
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100% organic cotton, enough structure to wear as shorts but not too bulky to wear as underwear, genderless, and affordable (especially on sale). I hope they come out with more colors soon.
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I LOVE the above color, and THREE DOLLARS???
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I’ve sung the praises of Oddobody time and time again (they sent me PR once and then never responded to my email gushing about their products and yet I continue to advertise for free because the pieces are genuinely amazing). The fabric is soft to an extent that it feels worryingly delicate, yet holds up NO problem in the wash.
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This brand is super cool and has myriad options for people with all genitals who want to wear any style of underwear. I don’t love that it’s not cotton, but my email and DMs are very open to 100% cotton alternatives to packing and tucking underwear.
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These might even be better than the way-more-expensive Comme Si version?
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For a company named “Boy Smells,” they do an incredible job at being gender inclusive, naming their pieces based on their actual characteristics (with front pouch or sans) instead of arbitrarily by gender. Not to mention, the pieces are 100% cotton, have great, saturated pastel colorways, and are priced super accessibly. Almost makes me want to try one of their famous candles…
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The leg openings look a bit weird on these, I’m used to a higher/more French cut on the legs of my briefs, but they’d be really cute as sleep undies!
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A little thinner than the other options, but I love the waist strap, and Baserange’s fabric is always scarily soft (like, forget-you’re-wearing-underwear soft).
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Socks
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The Socksss colorways scratch itches in my brain I didn’t even know were itching, and the part of me that never got to be a 12-year-old boy loves anything with a flashy (who am I, Captain Buggy?) flame.
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I really like the color choices on the gray and navy socks. The other two are just fine, but I’m sure they’d work into an outfit inoffensively.
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I’ve never owned cashmere socks but I assume it feels like all the upsides of sticking your feet into a fresh pie without any of the downsides. Someone please test for me. The red is an especially good shade.
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Nothing much to say except it’s hard to not be compelled by a stripteasing tomato.
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I LOVE this color selection, usually in packs like this there’s at least one shade I kind of hate, but not this one! I don’t love the logo, but the hypebeast wolf inside of me embraces its obnoxiousness. Apparently Pete Davidson wore these once, and now I do too. $6 a pair for this quality of sock is actually a steal.
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The above socks are the ones I’ve mentioned that I’ve had forever (in the green colorway) and hold up almost scarily well through hundreds of washes and much abuse. I’m actually wearing them right now. They fade very nicely and are thick and sturdy.
If you’re not celebrating today (“Thanksgiving”), I’m right there with you! If you are, I hope you find moments of genuine meaning beyond the day’s pomp and circumstance of patriotism.
<3 HR
I might make a small commission if you purchase from some of the links above, at no cost to you! If you do, send me a pic of you wearing the item and I’ll comp you a month of HR.