Over the years I have bought a lot of things over the net and consider myself fairly well versed.

Well the item arrived in just a few short days and I was well impressed. The postage was a couple of pounds which is reasonable, in fact a bonus here for not feeling ripped off on the p&p.

The documents that came with the t-shirt had a clear returns policy and instruction on what to do, again good as you don’t always get this.

The garment itself. This came in a sealed protective clear plastic bag with a printed crest type logo on the front. The bag itself was secure but easy to open (I don’t know how many times I’ve had to wrestle with packaging just to get to the goods). Finally the t-shirt was packed with tissue.

Okay so I finally got it all out, the material was very nice to the feel. Tactile experience is important, especially as I’m going to be wearing it. The cut was what you’d expect and the seams were of good quality.

Overall, I like my new t-shirt very much. In fact I’m wearing it right now.

However, I’ve checked the site. It’s real, and there are photos of Daniel Craig. Or they’ve done a real stitch-up!

I will also allow for a brief moment of parochialism: support of a UK company. (A matter of balance, as #10 in my “Male Underwear: Marketing the Male Package & Mundo Unico Series” will be critical of another UK underwear company.)

Also, I Googled to see whether this challenge appears elsewhere yet. It doesn’t seem so, so I don’t feel spammed.

But it had an unexpected consequence.

“Talk about Newsnight” for the programme on Monday, 21 January, 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2008/01/monday_21_january_2008.html

Under this there’s a comment (#20) on Sunspel shorts. (Jump to text: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2008/01/monday_21_january_2008.html#c5817682 )

“Although I have not worn M& S pants for years. (I found them to restrictive.) I have seen a similar reduction in quality of Sunspel Boxer shorts, it used to be case that I would wear them out over a few years but now the elastic fails well before the cotton wears thin. Unfortunately my wife cannot replace the elastic whereas she could sew patches over the worn through bits on their older better quality product.”

Yes, I know, one critic doesn’t mean 150 years of experience has fallen apart at the seams.

But it does make their “money where their mouth is” challenge all the more interesting.

I, as joint owner of Sunspel, would challenge anyone to trial a pair of our underwear and not agree that they have recieved the most comfortable underwear you can get. We have been making underwear in Long Eaton, Derbyshire for the last 150 years and therefore know a thing or two about it. We have made it for all sorts including Johnny Depp, Liam Gallagher, Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Craig as James Bond, Levis 501’s Nick Kamen, even Cyril Smith and Prince Charles.

It is not a simple thing to get right, however years of experience gives our designers a unique, almost boffin-like insight into the essentials of fit and fabric quality. Sunspel’s unique fabrics have been created for softness, lightness and strength – all 100% long staple Egyptian cotton.

To back up this claim if you follow the link http://www.sunspel.com and use the voucher code paxo-challenge, we will offer you a 50% discount on any of the underwear or t-shirts we sell, including all those made for Casino Royale – try it out and see for yourself what Paxo is missing.