Importance: Look, Feel, or Function

I thought this might be an interesting question: When you're buying diapers what is the ordering of your criteria?

I am a DL, and functionality has never been a high priority for me. Aesthetic, on the other hand, ranks high on my list. I loved the feel of Molicare diapers, but the weird conch shell pattern is enough to keep me away from them.

I make my purchases based on look first, feel second, and functionality at a distant third. How about you?

For me, also a fellow DL I am a little different:

1st - Feel - I prefer the plastic backed type to the fabric with a good robust outer shell.

2nd - Functionality - I like them to be nice and absorbent and be able to take a fair amount of wetness. I always wear them out, about and during my daily errands all the time and will use them as and when I feel like it, so thats important not to leak.

3rd - Look - The majority of the time I tend to wear nappies under my cloths and dont really get to see them. Although I have had AB/DL nappies in the past, I tend to just go with the medical types these days. They do the same just as the AB/DL nappies but cost considerably less/better value for money.

Although I'm strongly DL and don't have a medical need, strictly speaking, I still give very strong consideration to function. I have skin irritation/rubbing issues during the day, so good leak guards are important, as is comfort. When you wear diapers all day at work, you don't want to be uncomfortable, and looks are much less important then too. Even though I like the idea of wearing a thicker diaper at work, it's just not practical under tight clothes - testicle compression pain by noon is reeeeally unpleasant, and makes me look forward to getting out of my diaper by quitting time. I'd much rather look forward to being diapered than getting OUT of my diaper! So quality feature/design and thinner trumps good looks for daytime. And it just happens you can't get good thin medical looking diapers anyway, so tykables little builders are one of my few good options. They look okay, but for me the looks aren't part of the decision at all.

Overnight... well again who sees your diaper while you're in bed? Not even you! But then I am looking for good capacity, as I can either get a good rest wetting my diaper or get a terrible rest getting up frequently overnight. So there again, function is an important consideration. Though here I prefer a diaper with a soft feel to it, that doesn't bother my wrists as I sleep my with my hands on my hips while laying on my back. Looks aren't a big deal, but similar to the tykables during the day, high capacity and comfortable shell (feel and function) is most commonly found in ABDL diapers, so despite looks not being a major consideration, I usually end up with that too. I like a safari or space for nighttime, but I'm just as happy with an inspire/incontrol, paws, or simple, or any of the crinklz line. Bambino, abena xplus, and confidry247 might do if I haven't drank a lot.

It's during the day an evening at home where I can focus more on looks and feel as the primary deciding factors. I don't wet much during those times, it's easier to use the toilet and conserves the more expensive diapers anyway, or more frequent changes are easier to do if I don't mind using several diapers that day. So there I wear almost exclusively good looking (and usually good feeling) diapers, with little consideration to capacity. (Rearz Select is one of my favorite daytime diapers - all white, single wide tapes, crinkly smooth plastic shell) even though capacity is only midrange. Crinklz and little paws are nice for daywear but are a bit of a waste of capacity that I don't often indulge in.

Do you think I'm making this too complicated?

I would say Function, Feel, and then looks.

If it isn't functional then how it feels and looks doesn't really matter.

Good thing we have a lot of good products and don't have to choose, we can get all 3, though it can come at a cost.

It's a complicated internal calculation. I would say it is marginally feel over function for me and then looks. The most important parts of "feel" are the outer shell and I would say tapes get counted for both feel and function since if they start to come loose, the feel is ruined. As an example, I was able to accept Depends Fitted Maximum Protection as my minimum acceptable diaper largely because of the feel of the plastic shell. However, since they returned to plastic backed from their foray into clothlike covers, the tapes have dropped in quality and it's now just too annoying to wear. I was willing to put up with woefully low capacity for something that felt right. I'm happier now with a mix of Plastic Preschools and Northshore Supreme Lites, which I would say also indicates a preference for feel in terms of a not too bulky day to day diaper.

Looks wind up last but they do have some relevance. I've seen a few adult diapers I would have a hard time getting excited by even if they were really good in other ways. How the plastic catches the light is also something I think about. A diaper with a shiny, reflective surface is better than a matte finish for me. Although sissy/girly stuff is of no interest to me in an ABDL sense, I've seen some diapers that if they were amazing and I had them free or cheap, I'd wear without concern. They'd just be about feel and function then.

years ago, when wetting wasn't practical and my skin was more tolerant, I'm sure I would have put looks and feel ahead of function

Feel first - must be comfortable while I sleep at night or while wearing during the day (airplane flights, skiing, etc.)
Function second - if I have an accident in them (generally not a total loss) they have to be absorbent enough to contain and not leak. Training underwear and plastic underpants work well at night for me but a high SAP disposable for long plane flights is a must.
Looks third - I do not see them much except when I wake up in the morning or putting them on / taking them off. I do not like the look of a leak noticed on my bed sheets!

I’m incontinent so function is most important, closely followed by feel. Looks are also important because I don’t want to wear an ugly nappy.

Function, Feel, then Look when I'm alone or sleeping. But when I'm with a partner or just playing around, that list is reversed.

function, followed by feel, looks not a big deal.

1) Function - which, in large part, is a matter of fit. A snug waist and snug leg gathers to prevent leakage are essential, as is good capacity. I also like the Velcro tabs, especially in situations where the tabs may need to be opened more than once.

2) Looks - sometimes you want the classic white; other times, a childish print really does it. Currently, I like the Bambinos (which remind me of European diapers), Tykables, and ABU Space.

3) Feel - I do like a soft lining, though a good powdering makes most diapers at least tolerable.

Function - I do like a dry diaper but I wear primarily to use so function becomes the most important factor, although the details of function can change: is it for nighttime? is it for staying home? is it for going out?

Feel - If the diaper doesn't feel good, I won't wear it.

Look - Although I prefer baby girl-looking prints, I do wear other prints and non-print diapers depending on my mood.

This might be a bit of a cop out, but I find all 3 to be important.

Function and Feel are obvious, and often times part and parcel, usually a diaper that feels good will function well and vice versa. Those two are important for very obvious reasons as well. Babies need protection, and a functional diaper means no leaks and a happy baby. Babies also need comfort, so a soft, snug diaper makes for a happy baby as well.

Looks may seem like that last thing one should worry about, but aesthetics are important when I regress and I'm sure they are important to other ABs as well. I don't want to simply feel like a baby, but I want to look like one too... to some extent. So, I like my Babyish outfits and I love diapers with prints and single tapes. Medical diapers while not bad in terms of function and feel, simply won't cut it, they don't look like something a baby would wear.

When you take all of these factors into consideration, it should come as no surprise that I aim to purchase high-functioning, comfortable, babyish looking diapers. My favourites are the single tape brands from ABU (Kiddos, Cushies and SDKs) followed by Tyakbles and Bambinos.

So yeah, I don't pride one over the other, I am for a balance of the three, they are all important in their own special way

Feel, then look, then function.

I haven't really had a chance to fully utilize diapers in my life. I just really enjoy wearing them and their designs, but the feel is really the most important since it's usually over some clothes anyways!

For me feel and function are intertwined.... if it doesn't absorb well, swell up, or all the padding sags between the legs it's not nearly as good. Feel follows function.

Firstly it has to work. My nappy needs to soak up a lot of uncontrollable pee. It needs to be comfortable. If it is noticeable under my clothes then so be it. I am incontinent and waer nappies to keep my clothes dry.

I think function is number one for me. Then feel and lastly looks. I think plastic backed Depends are comfortable, but they don’t work very well. I think diapers that work better like Dry 24/7s don’t feel as comfortable because of their bulk but I like them because I don’t have to worry about leaks and can wear fewer of them per day saving money. As long as they look like a diaper that’s all I care about. Plain or AB doesn’t matter that much to me.

IC makes functional the most important factor as my wife tells me. “I don’t care what they look like or how obvious it’ is that your wearing diapers as long as they work”. I like ABDL prints and comfortably is an important factor being in them 24/7.

It depends. For nighttime diapers, function feel look. Daytime for playtime is look function feel. Daytime for use while doing other things is feel function look. Just one (little) guy's opinion