“There must be more to men’s boxer shorts than this” said Matt gazing despondently at his mass produced, boringly striped, slightly tragic looking boxer shorts.

“So what would they look like?” I asked.

fi & matt In no time we’d talked out the kind of boxer short brand we would like to exist in the World.  A different sort of design, British made and ethically sourced for men with confidence who aren’t afraid to try something a bit unusual.  And so began Penny Dreadful.  A brand that challenges the concept that gorgeous and interesting underwear is for women only.

Matt and Fiona are a husband and wife team who live in Guildford with their teenage twin daughters.

Matt is a pop cultural sponge who is obsessive about music, words & thought provoking film… and Star Wars.  He is a champion of the four day working week in which his day job is Creative Director at a content agency which hones his keen eye for detail and design.

Fiona is a freelance creative & director.  She is always making something if not physically then mentally. She cares deeply for nature and the environment and goes weak at the knees at the sight of certain colours.

Our ambition is to support upcoming talent by regularly featuring new illustrators for our Penny Dreadful boxer shorts and giving the artists a share of the profits.  We want to grow the collection to produce a wider range of men’s essentials with a twist, sourcing our materials ethically and continuing to manufacture in the UK.

Pleased to meet you.PD SCRIPT ONE LINE copy


The phrase has re-entered popular culture of late but what actually is a Penny Dreadful?

Well it dates way back to the 19th century and the dawn of the industrial printing age.

Alongside daily newspapers a somewhat naughtier form of printed entertainment appeared trading in serialised, salacious stories of morally dubious deeds.

Nefarious highway man Dick Turpin first appeared in a Penny Dreadful as did the demon prankster Spring-Heeled Jack.

Each edition cost just one old Penny hence The Penny Dreadful.

Also known as Penny Awfuls or Penny Bloods, the Penny Dreadful was designed to get the pulses of the youth racing while scandalizing the stuffy old guard.

It’s this spirit of scandalous adventure and rebellion that inspires the devil in the detail of Penny Dreadful Menswear.


Very early on we decided Penny Dreadful underwear should be more than just a great pair of boxer shorts, but also a canvas for fantastic art.

In a bid to support new talent each season our shorts will feature a set of prints from an up and coming illustrator to whom we will give a share of our profits.

Our inaugural artist is Sarah Dvojack whose witty, playfully sexy, mid 20th century characters we instantly fell in love with.

Here’s Sarah in her own words.

“I come from the wilds of Washington and spent my formative years digging for gnomes on the school playground, pretending to be Cornflower Fieldmouse and running internal monologues in the voice of Anne Shirley.
I have an unnatural obsession with circus history and am highly defensive of clowns.
I am a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.”

You can see more of Sarah’s fabulous work at http://www.sarahdvojack.com/