It’s Here! Time to Break Out the Swimwear!
It’s that time of year here, Memorial Day weekend. It’s the unofficial start of summer. If the weather is warm enough, it is time to frolic on the beach. Now the water still can be a bit chilly in areas, but soaking up the sun is always a relaxing option.
If you haven’t dug out your beach swimwear yet then it is time to do so. Though if you are like me you probably have been testing them out for a month or more. Maybe you even bought a new swimsuit or two or more. When the new year starts, I’m always looking forward to breaking out my swim briefs. I’ve been exploring my options for quite some time now.
I’ve picked up some new swimwear options. Though not all potential for wearing to the beach for me. I picked up a string bikini and 2 thong swimsuits from ASOS at the end of last summer, because I wanted to test them out. You can read the review of the string bikini one here. I bought a swim brief from MCE Creation. Then Haut Underwear (Gonna plug my affiliate code TBDHAUT for 15% off again. They do have a nice selection of swimwear.) sent me a 2EROS swim brief to try. I’m looking forward to wearing it on our beach vacation coming up soon. Watch for the review probably in early July.
As in the past I plan on sticking to my guns and wearing my swim briefs at the beach. Though it seems I’ve been being challenged lately. Last year was a beach trip with the in-laws who hadn’t exactly seen me in a swim brief other than maybe a photo or two. They were introduced from a distance initially since they didn’t go on the beach. They did get the up close look at the pool though. This year’s challenge is the sister-in-law and 3 teenage kids who are joining us on this trip. As far as I know they have no clue of my swim brief wearing. The in-laws will be along again too.
I’ve been mentally preparing myself for the new challenge. I have no plans of resorting to trunks on the trip. To insure that I won’t be packing them. That really means no choice but wearing a swim brief. It’s the best way to just do it. I’ll be shocking and awing. Well maybe just shocking.
Well, I’m hoping for another summer of decent amount of swim brief wearing. I at least know I have about a week for sure. Anyone else have summer beach plans or a goal related to swimwear this year? Or for those who had summer, how was your beach time and accomplish any goals?
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“I’ve been mentally preparing myself for the new challenge. I have no plans of resorting to trunks on the trip. To insure that I won’t be packing them. That really means no choice but wearing a swim brief. It’s the best way to just do it. I’ll be shocking and awing. Well maybe just shocking.”
The above is what I’m facing as well. I have stocked up on several new swim briefs and one new thong, but as I have taken them all for a test drive in front of a mirror, I’m not very happy with what I see. Just a couple extra pounds, and I’ve lost a ton of confidence.
This contemporary “body image” thing has really screwed us up. Where is the law that you have to look like a body builder to wear small swimsuits? I don’t think there is such a law, but it’s burned into our brains, and that’s where your “mentally preparing” comes from. We have to mentally deal with what we think others might think based on what we think of ourselves. Rare is the guy who is so self-assured that he can wear a string bikini in public while sporting even a minimal gut, much less in front of friends and relatives.
So I’m doing the mental prep, and physical too, trying to drop a few before going public.
But here’s a story from the past that might encourage. I’ve always worn Speedos since my youth. As a young adult we vacationed with some relatively conservative friends. They guy wore swim shorts, I wore my Speedo. What else would I do? And as years went on, my suits got smaller. The guys in our group eventually wore Speedos too! And, in what I still consider a major victory, one guy was so interested in wearing a suit at least as small as mine that he appeared on the dock one day in tiny bikini underwear (to a bit of ridicule from his daughters), but stuck with it. At one point, when we were a few beers into it, we both went waterskiing while pulling our bikini suits up into thongs. Again, I think I won that round. But that was many years ago, and we’re not quite in the same frame of mind. And he’s not around to support me.
So…let’s just say, “working on it”. Perhaps by August……
I’m feeling a bit jealous you Northern Hemisphere guys are heading to the beach, its freezing down here in Melbourne Australia.
The only good thing about it is that I can spend my time checking out the bathers sales here, as no one wants to buy during the winter, so I can get a few good deals.
I’ve also been buying swim thongs recently for my next trip up north where its a bit warmer.
Have a happy summer enjoying the swim briefs and thongs.
I have decided to be more adventurous this summer – I have bought a pair of rainbow thongs on etsy. These are really minimal, and feel great to swim in. You don’t need to be gay to like these gorgeous colours, and the feeling of freedom. DesignShopByKatrin on Etsy.
Brilliant, enjoy
Just want to send good luck wishes to anyone who is thinking about wearing a speedo, string bikini, or thong on the beach or at a pool for the first time. Takes a lot of courage to break away from the dork shorts wearing sheep and even more so in certain countries. Hopefully the positives will far outweigh any negatives and you will enjoy the challenge of pushing the envelope in the future. Just don’t look back once the summer has gone and regret not achieving your goal.
Monday, Memorial Day, my wife and I went to a state park with a secluded beach where I skinny-dip. Wore my black TYR brief on the one mile hike through the forest. There were no other skinny-dippers at the beach and we did not pass anyone on the trail. Still, it’s the thought that counts.
Totally encourage anyone wondering about wearing speedos to just do it! You’ll wonder what all the fuss was about afterwards. I’m a young guy in the UK and always wear speedos when swimming at my local poool now. Sure I was nervous to begin with but its really not an issue – I’ve never had a negative comment and don’t think twice about it now. There’s nothing ‘gay’ about it, briefs are a totally legitimate (and obviously superior) garment choice for swimming which anyone can (and should) wear who wants to, and it needs to be normalised. You’ll feel so liberated after and wonder what all the worry was about!
Speedo, a British company founded by a Scotsman, had roots in Austrailia, but isn’t there now. The “Speedo” suit, the brief style as we know it now, originally made it’s debut at the 1955 Melbourne Summer Games when the Austrailian Mens swim team (sponsorded by Speedo) who took 8 golds wearing the new suits. That’s the MENS team, thanks a bunch. And every competitive swim, diving and water polo team has worn them since. Guys, all of them. The girls joined in but for decades now it’s been one-piece suits, though in the last few years they’re nearly a thong back (which is great).
The Thong was supposedly developed “to protect, support or hide the male genitals…” And many African and other warm climate people had their men wearing them, almost exclusively, for centuries. That’s the Men, not the women. (from Wiki). The Japanese had the Fundoshi, a thong formed from a long strip of material, even earlier, as a traditional form of MENS underwear. Still are popular in Japan as traditional garb. On MEN. For centuries.
So where did the gals come in? Not exactly in as recent or prolific way. As a result of the 1939 Worlds Fair in NYC, the mayor insisted that the city’s nude dancers cover up, so they used “g-strings”. But that was hardly “public”, and certainly not for swimming. In 1946 Louis Réard introduced a swimsuit he called a Bikini, and his first model had a thong back with string sides. That model made a splash, but his specific design wouldn’t be commonly worn until the late 1970s and early 1980s, The “bikini” of the 50s and 60s was, in fact, most like…wait for it….a mens Speedo! In other words, men had a lead of decades with the bikini, and a several thousand year lead on the gals with thongs. Men “own” those designs because they had them first! The girls stole it from us.
Speedo style suits, and smaller, were HUGELY popular on guys in the 1970s and 1980s, then things got all weird and screwy, and now we have to contend with people’s attitudes. They changed their attitudes, we, wearers of Speedos (as a generic term) and thongs, did not. They did. I think one thing that happened was the increase in public awareness of gay men. No offense to anyone, but they’re still very much in the minority, with current stats putting gay men below 5%, depending on the survey and source, much less than that. So you guys don’t “own” Speedos or Bikinis either! Though you’re welcome to wear them of course.
That should mean They, the folks with the attitude change, have to deal with it, not us, right? Men got them first, Men own the design, Men get to wear them with impunity, and there’s no gay connection historically, though men do look pretty great in them, and that works for everybody.
Just getting into my bikini head-space. Hope it helps.
June 8, 2023
Jimmy,
Good history of the swimwear. I grew up in the mid to late ’70s and believe me, the shorts we wore as teenagers would be scandalous on men today. I remember several times hearing high school girls talking about one guy’s butt and how good it looked at the swim club.
Now, thongs weren’t really around then, but nudity was not a big deal. Sure, you couldn’t openly tan nude, but I’ve heard stories about couples tanning nude in the woods along a path and then openly walking out without a stitch of clothes on. (I assume they put on their clothes before entering the parking lot area!)
Skinny dipping at the local lake was almost a rite of passage in high school.
I started a bit late with thong swimwear because I didn’t know it was “a thing”. Then I saw two high school girls wearing them at the park and was amazed such a swimsuit existed.
I looked around in stores and found mainly thong underwear at the local Frederick’s of Hollywood. Before the internet was opened for business, you had to screw up the courage to walk into that store and purchase your items. I made friends with some of the sales ladies, trying on thong suits!
After trying one in a tanning bed the next year, I was amazed at how great the tan lines looked! I decided right then that a thong was going to be my swimwear and I’d have to find a beach where you could wear it without legal hassle.
I found one and there were nearly as many guys wearing thongs as women! All the guys who were “regulars”, and whom I talked to when I saw them, had one thing in common. Not gay; nudists.
Several years later, I actually did talk to an older guy who was gay and asked about the “must be gay” comments — even when Maria was sunbathing right next to me! He said the gays were the first ones to wear thongs, but they got hassled so much that they quit wearing them.
So as far as thong=gay, there’s really no basis for that belief. Yet this mistaken belief persists.
Today, it’s easier to wear one, even without a woman next to you. Oh, some or many of the people might still think the same way, but at least most of them don’t say anything about it because it’s not politically correct.
I still try to “read the crowd” before deciding where to lay out. But I’m also too old to give too many f*&%s about it. I don’t have the ability to give out a snappy reply off the top of my head if someone has to give their unwanted opinion about what I’m wearing. But over the years, I’ve accumulated enough replies that I thought of 15 minutes after I should have used one!
I do see brief trunks being worn by some guys at that beach. But I haven’t seen any guy wearing a thong or g-string, so I guess they’re stuck with me if they want to see a spicy suit on a guy. That’s what happens when a generation has seen and worn only board shorts for swimwear. They can’t conceive of any need for shorter swimwear. Only the adventurous seem to do it anymore.
Maybe the music reviewers on Youtube of my era’s music will start to include clothing too. Properly short shorts and brief swimwear will be featured and hopefully convert some people, or at least plant a kernel in their brains for future use.
That’s enough for now. I’ve taken enough space in the comments!
Well said. I just find that thongs and g-strings fit me best, and I certainly don’t want to carry a gallon of water with me swimming in board shorts! Yes, you occasionally get some smart ass making a juvenile comment, but such morons are not worth the time of day. Political correctness probably helps as people feel they are not allowed to make remarks about people’s sexuality – not that clothes define sexuality.
I have friends who are a gay couple. They bought property in the country, but sadly, one neighbor was homophobic and gave them a real hard time. Things heated up over minor issues, and they eventually took eachother to court. The homophobe accused one of the guys of wearing a thong where his kids could see. The guy said to me (pretty close quote)”Thong? Seriously? I’ve never worn a thong! I would never wear a thong! I don’t even own a thong!”. My wife and I just smiled because I owned several.
On the flip side….on a trip to see the inlaws in CA, we were talking about the growing trend in thongs with her folks. My wife, knowing the suit I brought, said that she liked men in thongs and bikinis. The father-in-law said, “Yeah, that’s what the gays wear”. Withing the hour I was at the pool in his complex tanning in my zebra stripe bikini with 1/2″ sides, and playing frisbee with our son. I think that kind of shut him up. But in that particular area, he also wasn’t far off. The gay population did wear bikinis and thongs, just not every single one of them. On the girls it was way higher percentage. Even older women in their 70s were seen in small bikinis. On men, it was a time when hetero men were backing off from bikinis, early 1990s, so I was already a bikni loner. But the area had a lot of spring breakers, and that meant clothes came off and girls walked down the streat in thongs. Wild times.
I grew up in the 60’s when every boy wore Speedos at the pool and the beach. I never out grew those Speedos and now days wear thongs at the beach and when surfing. I live in Hawaii so the weather is great year-round and , yes, guys here do wear boardshorts. But, thongs and g-strings are legal here in public for both sexes. Nobody gives a hoot about who’s wearing what at the beach and the local kids and families enjoy the beaches like everyone else. I do admit that I see only a very small number of guys wearing their thongs or g-strings at the beach , and, I’m beginning to see more and more men being more open to other men wearing thongs. Needless to say, the girls and women sure look great wearing g-strings and thongs, and they feel the same way when they see the guys wearing a thong. I’ve received lots of positive comments and smiles from both gals and the guys. I am a naturist and most comfortable wearing nothing, so I keep myself in pretty good shape. My wife is very liberal and accepting, even though her lifestyle is quit the opposite of mine. I hear the European men wear Speedos as the norm, and my wife and I will be going there for the very first time in a few days for a well deserved vacation. I’ll be packing light so thongs and g-strings are a must. I bought a new set of Desmitt swim thongs to take with me. I love the fit and cut of this brand and they have held up well over my many years of swimming and surfing. And, the tanlines look great, too.