Due to tremendous customer curiosity we have been forced to reveal what goes on below the waist line here at Brass Monkeys.
You will see that even our humble undies go through more stages of production than a NASA space shuttle (and we are infinitely more reusable) and despite being produced for many hundreds of thousands of bottoms - each pair is still lovingly hand crafted and nurtured from "knit" (knitted fabric) through to "nuts" (our customers bits) by devoted monkey midwives.
Conception
The conception of each Brass Monkey really takes place every time you, the consumer, has experienced discomfort or disappointment with your underwear. Our brand and our products were the response to the often inadequate styling and incomprehensible fit of much of the Men's underwear offer in the early 90's. Underwear suppliers fell into two camps - the cheap and not very cheerful or the pretentious and extortionate priced. Brass Monkeys was conceived to fill the obvious void and supply great pants at affordable prices.
So it is really down to you that we exist, we are here to provide the best possible experience next to your skin and with that in mind our designers swing into action.
Design
Many underwear designs have striven for greatness, many have had greatness thrust upon them but few have achieved the accolade of the "Loin King" . Our shorts as with any other of our products must adhere to our fundamental principles or they will never see the light of your bedroom.
Comfort - above all other criteria our pants must give the wearer the best possible comfort, flexibility and support. In such a sensitive area we have to ensure that everything stays in place and you remain able to feel nothing but sensual pleasure from our fabrics and shaping - whatever the temperature and whatever the action.
Aesthetics - To most people, clothing is a seamless extension to their character and image. Fashion is a universal language of our race and your personal fluency begins with your first layer of apparel. Our designs seek to give the wearer a confidence of individuality and yet make a statement that welcomes aesthetic appreciation from their society. Whatever layer you undress down to your partner or colleagues will see the true you.
Proportion - Another often overlooked facet to male underwear design is that the product serves to protect and hide the single most powerful element of manhood. This ultimately means that the natural shape and proportion of a man is lost to social conformity. Whether size matters is not relevant here - but proportion does. All of our designs we seek to emphasis the shape of the male form, making the best from what nature has provided and ensuring that this is displayed in a confident and forthright style.
Preliminary Testing
If our designs can meet our (and your) design principles we then produce a small batch of garments and "road test" them . Trail wearers have the task of meticulously noting every aspect of our pants design - comfort - durability - strength - sexual and sensual ratings plus any more unusual responses from female admirers. Feedback and trial results are compiled by our design director - where necessary we will amend our garment patterns or alter any aspect of the garment until it is absolutely the best pair of pants.
Fabric & Cutting
Each Brass Monkey begins his journey - or birth - in being cut from the finest of fabrics. The majority of fabrics are knitted locally in the UK from combed cotton yarns - imported to our British shores from all around the world - China, Brazil, USA and India being typical sources. Once in the undyed or "griege" state our fabric is checked for stability, consistency of construction and even "freshness" . Only the best makes it through to dying and finishing - again performed locally in the midlands.
Cutting of panels is an exact science - any variation against the original pattern can result in discomfort or bagginess to the finished garment, all cutting is very closely monitored and quality audited.
Quality of Components
In addition to the very best of fabrics, we take great care to source the very best of trims and components. All are sourced within the UK and whether it is a small branded button , or our high quality jacquard waist bands, everything is rigorously checked for quality and suitability to the garment. Our Brass Monkey embroidery application is performed under "laboratory conditions", as only the pure of shape and secure of stitch get through, any ill shaped or lack lustre results have to be caught before they could get through to our sewing rooms.
Sewing Monkeys
Unlike many items you will buy, Brass Monkey garments are all hand made - that is no automated machinery is used in the process of sewing together the various panels and components. Sewing machines provide the consistency of stitch size and strength but each manufacturing operation is controlled by the dexterity and hand skills of the machine operative. Great care must be taken to ensure that each panel is joined in exactly the right place and that just the correct amount of fabric trimming takes place - again the garment can be rejected for being just 5mm out of tolerance. All key dimensions are measured by both machinists and Quality assurance supervisors to maintain our high standards of fit and comfort.
The typical boxer short will go through some 14 operations, take approximately 8 minutes to sew and will use 150gms of dyed cotton cloth and approximately 18m of sewing thread.
Unlike nearly all other underwear labels, we produce all of our products in the UK, we pay for the realistic UK based costs of skilled labour. Most of our competitors prefer to pay third world labour rates and adopt lower quality standards in their finished products.
Final examination
The Monkeys now exist - but they must have any loose ends trimmed from them and be thoroughly examined inside and out for any fabric, cutting or sewing faults or non conformity. Only once these checks are completed and passed can the garment then be packed and our pants be deemed suitable for your consumption.
