The Backlash Against Polyester Has Gone Too Far

Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Kwangmoozaa / Getty.September 1, 2026, 5 PM ET ShareSave Lately, the men of the internet who are obsessed with self-optimization have found a new fixation: their underwear. Many standard pairs use polyester or spandex, or sometimes both. What are they doing to the environment and their bodies, wearing clothes that shed all of those microplastics and leach forever chemicals? They want the underwear of their ancestors—underwear made from natural fibers.