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Something I have noticed over the last 20 years: Male underwear. The stuff I used to buy in the 1990's would function until it fell apart because of holes worn in the actual cloth. The stuff I buy now (boxer shorts) appears designed to fall apart. Mainly, the rubber stuff making them elastic breaks down faster than anything else, so in about 12 months, they are horrible to use, because the broken rubber makes them slide off me, in a way that is more impractical than sexy. Given that this was not a problem in the early 2000s, I conclude that some MBA must have optimized them in the meantime. There is probably some brand that costs 4x as much where this isn't a problem - but those I used to buy in the nineties, didn't cost 4 times as much.

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Anecdotally I still have some of my high-school underwear and it seems to be outlasting any new underwear I buy!

Another annoyance: some underwear brands put a booklet of long labels exactly between the cheeks.

Some brands have some pretty great ways to avoid this issue. Decathlon stuff tends to have a short piece of fabric the same material as the rest to which the label is sewn. If you use scissors to cut that piece of fabric you're left with a little lip of soft fabric, instead of the sharp edges of a cut label. Muchacho Malo has managed to invent a fabric for their labels where you can easily and without damage tear out the label, leaving no remains of the label at all. I've also been seeing more and more T-shirt brands just straight up print the label on the inside of the shirt, avoiding the issue entirely.

It's definitely still a problem, but I'm seeing slow improvements in the products on offer.

I always buy underwear in Brazil when I visit. My aunt knows where to get the good stuff, those things last for 10 years, easily. I don't even know how much they cost as she makes a point to not let me pay for them :D but they're probably very cheap compared to most places/brands.

I see ZR on it, so I think it's this brand: https://www.zeerucci.com.br/cueca-boxer-sem-cost-3439?srslti...

The ones I get in Europe and Australia literally have holes in them after two or three usages, even more expensive ones, it's just a joke. Same thing with jeans... how can they not last longer than a few months???? My old Brazilian jeans from the 1990's still look in perfect shape, if only I could wear them without looking like outdated by 30 years. I still keep them anyway, waiting for the very-lose-jeans fit to come back one day!

Most modern jeans include a percentage of elastane (lycra), which makes them both more comfortable and more susceptible to wear damage.

Weirdly, American Eagle, yes the teenager brand, makes really good boxer shorts.

Socks are horrendous, they don't last more than a year. I only noticed this 3-4 years ago. This didn't seem to be a problem for the 45+ years I wore socks before then.

What if you handwash them? Do you think it would last longer? As in, do you think it has to do with the washing machine (and quality)?

Wouldn't that only be relevant if the old ones weren't also machine-washed? Also, what % of people in developed countries are handwashing their underpants? The only semi-widespread handwashing I'm aware of in developed nations are for wool sweaters and sometimes women's bras.

Lots of the modern world still line-dries laundry, but this is exceedingly uncommon in the USA.

Line-drying is very different from "hand-washing".

I "line-dry" (drying rack) a lot of my clothes (pretty much all my dress pants, dress shirts, anything that I don't want shrinking in a hot dryer). But I don't use a bucket or tub to handwash and handwring my clothes; I still machine-wash on delicate with cold water even if I line dry. I've never met anyone who hand washes, in any country (though I know it's popular in many less-developed nations, I haven't met anyone who does).

I have occasionally handwashed very expensive wool sweaters, but I prefer dry-cleaning them, not only because of the labor but also because if I let them soak even just a little too long the wool fibers start separating and permanently changes the sweater.

Line drying was not common in the 1990s (in the US) when the claim is underwear lasted. Washing machines have switch to low water use versions, so that might be a factor (I doubt it, but it the only other thing I can think of)

On this thought also dryer settings (high vs low heat) can play a big part especially with synthetic materials like elastics degrading faster than expected.

there was an 'arms race' in detergent strength throughout the 2000s. modern detergent contains more specialised enzymes, is more concentrated, and is more effective - but is (reportedly) much harder on the lifespan of garments

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