Tommy John vs. All Citizens — Key Differences
Both Tommy John and All Citizens are staples in the menswear communities. Still, like anything, there are differences between their products that should be assessed before making a purchase.
Let’s do some due diligence.
What Is Tommy John?
Tommy John is a men's apparel company based out of New York.
They’re primarily known for their underwear, although they have recently started to sell other clothing as well.
Tommy John does not showcase a charitable or sustainable mission, which is fine — but it’s certainly a big boost to the global community when brands decide to use their influence to make the world a better place.
For now, their biggest goal is to sell quality underwear to average Joes.
What Is All Citizens?
All Citizens is a menswear company that sells performance-based everyday apparel. THey are best known for their underwear and performance dress shirts but also sell high-quality apparel such as T-shirts, undershirts, pants, socks, and more.
Right off the bat, All Citizen’s very affordable price points easily tell you that their goal is to democratize comfort and more comfort more accessible to all.
While this is certainly a tall task, All Citizens makes it clear that they are here to use their platform for good — not just profit.
All Citizens is known to sell better than designer-quality underwear at the most accessible price out there.
How Do Tommy John and All Citizens Compare?
The Right Fit
Brands that sell clothing need to be inclusive. By inclusive, we mean offering options for every individual body shape and size. Everyone on this earth is beautiful, and a company’s sizing should reflect that.
Every company claims they’re “inclusive.” The best way to tell if they’re telling the truth? Their sizing options.
Tommy John is absolutely not exclusive. They’re a progressive brand. However, they simply don’t offer the same number of sizes as All Citizens.
Tommy John runs their sizes from S (small) through XXL, while All Citizens offers XS through 4XL.
Again, this is not a claim that Tommy John is not inclusive. It just so happens that All Citizens offers a wider selection, which includes being the only brand to offer specialized fits.
Performance Fabrics
A pair of underwear is only as good as the material it’s made with.
All Citizens products’ are made from their eco-friendly Re:Luxe Performance Microfiber that has technical qualities for all-activity and all-weather comfort. The performance fabric is moisture-wicking, quick-drying, and durable with 360°stretch — plus it’s anti-odor, cuddling-with-pandas soft, breathable, and everything-able. It’s made using 90% recycled polyester and 10% spandex from recycled plastic bottles - each pair diverts 2 plastic bottles from landfills, oceans and incinerators and lessens our dependence on fossil fuels.
Tommy John primarily uses non-recycled nylon, polyester and spandex. Their fabrics have the same performance properties as All Citizens’ eco-friendly fabric, but most of their fabrics don’t have anti-odor capability.
Ball Pouch
Both Tommy John and All Citizens include their fair share of features such as a hammock pouch, horizontal fly, and a no-roll waistband. They both also offer a ball pouch (known by Tommy John as the Hammock Pouch and All Citizens as the Paradise Pocket) - ball pouchs are a feature that all underwear should have, but not all ball pouches are created equal.
Tommy John uses a “U” shape design for their ball pocket where your majesticles go into the empty space in the middle of the “U”. This is the simplest ball pouch design and it unfortunately isn’t very effective in keeping your balls separated from your thighs. This works well if you stand perfectly still, but as soon as you take your first step, move around or sit, you immediately fall out of the pocket so you’re back to having your balls stuck to your leg.
This is the type of design brands use when they don’t focus on innovation and just use standard designs. And worst part of all, they usually charge higher prices for this added feature (we’ll get to the prices later).
Over a year of R&D and wear-testing went into creating the All Citizens Paradise Pocket boxer briefs. They studied how men (and their bits) move when you sit, stand, lay down, walk around, run and jump to ensure that you never fall out of the pocket, so you can say goodbye to stickage and that awkward elongated side step readjustment.
The Paradise Pocket ball pouch holistically wraps around your twig and giggle berries for complete separation from your thighs. The holistic design ensures that the lads never fall out of the pocket during any activity so you’ll be adjust-free all day. It has been ranked as the most effective ball pouch by experts and customers.
And best of all, All Citizens’ hammock pouch is made with a high performance mesh fabric that allows for much more airflow and ventilation for your “boys”.
Smart Features
When looking for the best underwear, the features that are packed into each pair are just as important as the fabric they’re made of.
Mesh Breathe Zones
All Citizens added mesh Breathe Zones that are strategically located where guys sweat the most (between the legs and on the lower back) so that you have uncompromising breathability and ventilation down there. Sweat doesn’t go away without air, and the mesh zones help to create a constant airflow to keep sweat where it needs to be: evaporated. The mesh Breathe Zones complement the Paradise Pocket since both are made with mesh, so they allow much more air to reach your general and soldiers.
Tommy John has one mesh zone on their sports underwear, and their Apollo line is made with a mesh fabric all over the underwear and costs $42. Although mesh fabric all over allows for a lot of airflow, mesh is usually see through, so you may look like you’re wearing sheer panties. The rest of Tommy John’s underwear lines don’t have mesh zones.
Grip Thighs
Premium underwear needs to, at a minimum, have thighs that don’t ride up because ride-ups and bunching causes wedgies and the need to constantly readjust and pull the legs down every time you move.
All Citizens has Grip Thighs that have a gentle hold on your legs to keep them in place.
Tommy John cuts their leg fabric in a fit that is meant to be non-riding, but simple fabric in a certain shape isn’t has effected as a dedicated leg gripper. Expect to have to pull your legs down often when wearing Tommy John unless you get their Longer boxer brief that goes all the way down to your knees.
Quick Access Horizontal Fly
Tommy John and All Citizens underwear both have a quick access horizontal fly that makes it much easier and faster to hit the head when nature calls. All Citizen’s fly is much wider than Tommy John’s so your hand doesn’t feel squeezed or crammed each time you use it.
Packed With Tons of Smart Features
All Citizens underwear also has reinforced stress points to stop rips and holes, so it is incredibly durable, and it has plenty of room to breathe in the crotch, which it’s spacious enough to prevent squishing, mashing and awkward re-adjustments.
Both Tommy John and All Citizens underwear have a thick no-roll waistband but All Citizens has a minimalist waistband while Tommy John has a branded waistband with large logo letters. All Citizens underwear also has a ton of other features such as a center crotch seam to get rid of chafing and hide the outline of your “mushroom” for polite company, and a free motion gusset for a complete range of motion. Oh, and don’t forget the locker loop — All Citizens’ care label also doubles as a loop so you can hang your undies for quick drying anywhere from the gym locker to a tree branch.
Versatile Styles
Every wardrobe needs to have some fun variety mixed in, and your underwear is no exception.
You need underwear when it’s time to be fun and when it’s time to be serious. Unfortunately, Tommy John only offers the latter.
Unique patterns and colors on your underwear reflect your personality, but Tommy John only offers solid colors with a few blocks and stripes mixed in.
All Citizens offers a wide variety of colors, patterns, and fun designs that are sure to bring out your fun side. When it is time to get serious, the solid black, gray, white, blue, and more are there for you.
For the lighter times, All Citizens mixes things up a little. The best part is that some of their fun designs offer a charitable contribution with each purchase.
Company Mission
Just as underwear is only as good as its material — a company is only as good as its impact on the global community.
The All Citizens For All Social Mission brings to light the lack of accessible comfort throughout the world. In addition to multiple charitable contributions, All Citizens donates a specific need to different communities with purchases of certain underwear - from planting trees to donating meals to providing artists living with autism living wages and a stable source of income.
Tommy John does not mention any charitable causes or a social mission.
Companies — no matter how big or small — should use their platform to make a positive change in the world.
Cost
We’ll finish with the easiest section.
All Citizens prides itself on offering the best pound-for-pound and bang-for-your-buck underwear on the market. The most expensive pair of underwear All Citizens offers is $18 and their most affordable are $12.
Additionally, All Citizens offers a drawer refresh where you can get 7 pairs of their Classic boxer briefs for $99, and a complete drawer refresh with 14 pairs for $189.
Tommy John, meanwhile, has underwear ranging from $28 to $42 for one pair of underwear.
Underwear is very important for your comfort, but it’s not something that should make a dent in your bank account.
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