Sea Island Cotton underwear: Is it really worth over $100 (£66) ?

Hanro's mercerized cotton is cheaper (~$70 for undershirts & underwear). Pretty ludicrous pricing, but definitely superior in comfort and breathability. Gradually replaced all of my stuff with it.

This is not responsive to your specific question, but I just wanted to chime in that I was really disappointed with the cotton Zimmerli boxers I bought years ago. I had 2-3 pair, and none of them lasted long before they were too tattered to be worn.

I have a bunch of sunspel stuff, you can only decide if its worth it to you but I will tell you that it has outlasted anything else I've owned, the older stuff still looks like new (particular the collar on the v necks) and it still feels great. And I don't baby it, I home wash it and I sweat alot

Bespoke or commando, that's the choice.

If you value your boys, especially in the dead heat of summer, you'll appreciate the incremental step up into high-end cotton. I can't say if it's worth the crazy prices Zimmerli charges, but I do think Hanro is worth it if you can afford it.

There really is a very noticeable difference in quality and longevity between nice boxers and cheap ones. I don't know if I buy into the same assessment for undershirts, though, but that's mainly because I haven't had any issue with run-of-the-mill Hanes v-necks.

I'm actually the opposite, I think its worth the money on the v-necks, because he cheap ones get ugly very quickly and they also wear hot on me, unlike the sunspel. For boxer briefs, I have the high end stuff but I actually prefer the much cheaper "high tech" stuff that adidas, calvin klein etc do. I have some "dri-fit" type of boxer briefs from adidas that I wear now and I am never buying anything else ever again. They are probably 100% polyester, but they keep me dry and cool. The 100% cotton stuff, my boys sweat like crazy in.

Lace looks pretty nice too, but might not be durable. Haven't tried myself yet.

http://www.anelma.com/pitsi-unelma-koot-sxl-p-1259.html

http://www.anelma.com/miesten-asut-miesten-alushousut-c-32_56.html

Perdogg, I can help you, I have two pairs of Zimmerli's Sea Island cotton briefs. I've yet to write and add a formal review of them on my site, but here's some quick lines:

-pornographically soft
-very neat finish
-regular fit, as in not baggy or tight
-non-abrasive seams
-both have shrunk and now feel tight
-both aren't as soft now as they were when new

I'm disappointed and prefer Schiesser's 90/10 pima cotton boxers above my SI briefs. This line from Schiesser is the most comfortable and pleasing I've ever tried -- and I've tried dozens so far. Three pairs cost around 30 euros when ordered from Germany.

Oh...my...god. Wonder if they do made-to-measure, depending on size?
Edited by SharplyTailored - 2/27/13 at 10:37am

Weird, yeah, I have the polar opposite reaction. If I wear boxer briefs with so much as 1% man-made fiber content, my junk gets swampier than Florida in late July. But pure cotton keeps me in great shape. It sucks, too, because some of the high-tech / high-performance underwear really looks better on me. And pure cotton tends to wear out more quickly, especially in the waist.

I generally agree with the first part of this, and hope the latter is true, for both undershirt and underwear.

I machine wash, but line dry my Hanros, since they are very thin, and I assume that the dryer is the most stressful part of the wash cycle, especially for any elastic in the waistband.

Thus far durability for Hanro seems good, as I can't distinguish my newest from my oldest, though my oldest pairs are only ~1-2 yrs old. Hoping for 3+ years out of 'em, would equate to $400/yr run rate undershit+underwear expense. More than a person needs to spend, but well worth it terms of the additional comfort, in my experience.

They're also much nicer looking, which is a small plus.