Quirky World ... After hitting the skids sales of Y-fronts clean up

UK: They are the dreaded Christmas present from your grandmother, the underwear you might want to rethink if you are hoping for a sizzling end to a date.

But despite yo-yoing in and out of fashion, the humble Y-front is celebrating its 80th birthday. More than half a million pairs of the famous pants are expected to be given as gifts in the UK this Christmas, according to Jockey, the US manufacturer of the original Y-Front briefs.

Although sales have occasionally hit the skids in the face of the popularity of boxer shorts, Y-fronts have never been far from the public consciousness — from Tom Cruise cavorting around in a pair in 1983’s Risky Business to David Beckham famously posing in his “kecks” for H&M.