The Case of the Lace

The first meaningful position I was asked to fill was to head up the Munsingwear Mens and Boys underwear division. It was challenging because while we had a wonderful reputation in the underwear field, and even though we made a much better product, we were well behind Jockey. To give them credit, they had jumped out using their name to great advantage and we were constantly having to overcome the leading position they held. Questions arose as to how do we strengthen our reputation and become more of a leader in that field. Several innovations took place. A new colored underwear was added and I gave it the title of "Undertones" This was before Men were to become interested in wearing colored underwear and this became a new and interesting item. We also developed a brief not only colored, but in a style appealing more to the new jeans that now were worn lower on the hips than in the past. These were called "Dynamite" and were now an essential part of our broader product line. Other innovations were introduced. I had R and D develop a fabric that I wanted to add to a ski line. It was a double fabric that had the faculty of "wicking" moisture away from the body and absorbing it into the outer layer. I had several samples made up and sent them to men I knew were ski enthusiasts and have never lived down the chiding of my friend Herbie who raved about the new ski underwear in our line. I had to tell him that our Quality Control department had turned down my request to put it into production because it didn't meet our standards. Herbie claims it was the finest ski underwear he has ever worn and we missed the boat on the entire ski market. But all that aside, the diamond in the rough that I showed at one of our stockholder meetings was a shorter than ever stretchy mens brief. It had no fly, cut very low and was snug to the body and if I may use the expression, was designed to appeal to the Gay men of the day. In preparations to speak to those gathered at the stockholders meeting I had it stuck in the top breast pocket of my suit and in describing some of the new things we would be introducing in the underwear division concluded my report by pulling the lace brief out with a flourish. Literally, a gasp went through those assembled there. Flash bulbs were popping. People were laughing excitedly and it became the sensation of the moment. After the excitement died down and I had returned to my office, reporters from three newspapers all came in wanting to take my picture with our new product. It was almost laughable because I knew it would only be a very small part of our total business but it had generated enough excitement that my picture was in the trade papers. The brief was pictured with a news story and I had calls from various radio news jockeys who put me on their speakers so their audience would be made aware of this new product. All of this attention to a lacey, stretchy, garment that was NEW. The case of the lace resounded through news world and for a "brief" moment I was newsworthy. It was fun!!