Before there were Instagays and overtly gay underwear brands, the International Male catalog offered a somewhat coded window into homoeroticism, and the company behind it was happy to reap the rewards.
A new documentary titled All Man: The International Male Story explores the catalog’s history, beginning in the 1970s and peaking in the ’90s when roughly three million copies were mailed out each quarter. At that time, annual revenue exceeded $100 million.
Watch the trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEFeXZMNYh4
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A release date for All Man has not yet been announced.
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Dymension
I used to love looking at this magazine and pretend shop!
Hussain-TheCanadian
Who else on Queerty has converted their Instagram into the international male catalog 😉
michaelmt1009
Where can this documentary be seen?
Patrick
The article states that a release date for the documentary has not been set yet. There is a Facebook page that you can follow.
rustyiam
Ahhh the days before nasty tats!
radiooutmike
I suddenly started to get them in college. I’d come home for break or a holiday and there would an issue with my mail.
My ma and dad would be like, “Yah, this came for you.” I remember reading it and liking it– but not putting two and two together. I got them for a few years until I didn’t.
I still don’t know how I got them in the first place?
dannysax
Undergear was a subsidiary of International Male, and that is still extant, catalogs by email, etc. , undergear.com. And I think the child of Intl. Male must be International Jock, since it has the same sexy clothes in some part.
dannysax
And with all the sexy stuff I bought from the original catalog, I actually found a jeweled Renaissance fair shirt and a hooded faux fur coat! They had some unique things I think you won’t find anywhere else.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Always had very hot models, unfortunately the clothing they sold was absolute garbage of the lowest quality….
Max
sounds like the were the H&M of disposable clothing targeted toward dudes who like dudes
Bob LaBlah
Thats just what nearly ALL of their underwear amounted to. Thirty years ago I was just as many pounds lighter than what I am now and I decided to give someone a pair of cute, sexy briefs for a Christmas present and get a pair for myself. $40 I paid for both pair in 1989 dollars. When those pos arrived in the mail I could have kicked myself for not believe the rumors about the quality of their merchandise. After that incident I began to take note of just how cheesy their clothes looked in the catalog and before long I just stopped looking at it when I went into Crown Books in Dupont Circle. How they lasted for as long as they did is a sign of the times. There was no internet one could get on and log complainants about the quality of their underwear, clothes and lack of diversity that would effect their sales like there is now. I honestly do not remember ONE issue that had an asian, black or dark skinned mestizo latino in it. Not one.
azjeff17
I used to love their catalog and shopping at their store in Weho.
RichNYC
When I first come out, I had a trip to LA planned. When I got there I made a beeline to that store. I’d only been out 2 weeks, there I was in West Hollywood, cruising around in my rental convertible playing Pet Shop Boys. Young, blonde muscular and cute…days I will never forget. OK OK the nights were quite…uh…interesting too…especially the Navy boys I met at one of the bars…
Beauty is wasted on the young!
CityguyUSA
I used to get it all the time but what cheap crap they sold.
Man About Town
Yes, their stuff was made of ridiculously cheap material. I remember buying a couple of casual pullover shirts, & the first time I washed them they emerged completely frayed & no longer wearable. But I had a great time looking at the hilarious pics, especially stuff like shredded leather chaps!
IanHunter
Bought my prom tux from there.