Where’s the Briefs?
A slight rip off of a Wendy’s slogan, but a question I ask. Every time I’m sporting a swim brief I like to know where’s the briefs? Swim briefs that is, also referred to as Speedos.
I’ve been the lone swim brief wearer every time I’ve worn one, but once. That one time there was a teenage kid in one, but he was only there for a short time. I do believe he wasn’t a local and from another country. I know it is based on location for finding swim brief wearers, but why are they so rare in so many places? Wish I knew the real answer to that. Here’s some thoughts on it.
Society’s View of Swim Briefs
We’re wired or most of us are wired to want to fit in. You know society says we should do this or that. Though I think over time our mindset changes on that. In general, we’re afraid if we do something others aren’t doing that we’ll become an outcast or a weirdo. A lot of societal views nowadays on swim briefs are a joke. You see them used all the time to get a laugh along with thongs for guys. I don’t know how many kids’ movies I’ve seen that they are used for a joke. Definitely not going to get a kid interested in wearing a pair when people are laughing out loud at them in a movie. Another example is publications that list swimwear for the year. Very rarely will you see anything other than trunks. I know a couple online ones I have seen swim briefs listed. So society is factoring in on the where’s the briefs problem.
Swim Brief Modesty
Maybe guys are more modest than women?? Though I guess that modesty would come down to putting the manhood size out there. Because you know penis size measures your manhood. At least that is what I’ve heard through the grapevine that size matters. If that is the case then I guess I’m in trouble especially, since I feel I’m even smaller looking in a lot of the swimwear I wear in public! If a reserved and shy guy like me can put myself out there then surely there are more guys that have the balls to do so. Do women’s breasts measure their womanhood? Most women are wearing form fitting swimwear. Stop letting showing your manly bump from letting swim briefs be seen as viable options for men to wear.
Swim Brief Means Being Buff
Why does being a certain body type always come into play with wearing skimpy items? You have to have a six pack and pecks to wear a swim brief. Ummm….usually guys are already bare chested in the norm of trunks and board shorts. Then a beer belly in a swim brief really isn’t any different than in shorts. I would argue it is more about the legs and butt in swim briefs. Those are the areas that a swim brief puts on display over swim shorts. Oh, I guess there is the package too, but buffness doesn’t increase the package size as far as I know. Being buff doesn’t make a person more appropriate to wear a swim brief. It may or may not look better on them than someone not buff. I know in my eyes I’ve seen so called buff people I didn’t think pulled off the skimpy suit. Then I’ve seen heavier individuals that did pull off the skimpy suit they were wearing. Of course we all see things differently. We just need to stop thinking we need to look a certain way to wear a swim brief. Don’t wait until you hit a certain weight or get those abs of steel. Just do it now. Stop me from saying where’s the briefs when I’m out wearing mine.
Female Acceptance of Swim Briefs
This could be a big sticking point for the where’s the brief issue. Not having the acceptance or approval of a woman to wear the style. Guess first we shouldn’t need approval to wear what we want from anyone. Now having someone accept your choice is a different matter. We like to be accepted and have respect given to us. Not being made fun of for our choice in underwear or swimwear. You rarely see any positive feedback to swim briefs from women. When you see surveys in the bigger magazines about what they like to see guys in, you rarely get an answer that doesn’t fit in the norm of underwear and swimwear for men. A lot of the crap you see online from women is bashing swim briefs unless you have a certain physique. It is really hard for me to believe that most women have the same view of the few speaking out. I know my wife respects my choice of wearing them and in the beginning gave me the support I needed to finally just wear them at the beach.
Swim Briefs Equals Exhibitionist
I think there is a perception that when a guy wears a swim brief they are an exhibitionist. He’s wearing something skimpy and form fitting, so he is trying to show off. Does that mean all those women in their form fitting suits are out there to show off so they are exhibitionist too? No, wearing skimpy form fitting swimwear doesn’t make one an exhibitionist. It’s a particular behavior that goes along with swim brief wearing that could make it an exhibitionist action. Is “where’s the brief” caused by this misconception?
For me it was probably more breaking what society says guys should wear for swimwear. Being a quiet, reserved individual it is quite a step being the odd one. People are going to notice that I wasn’t wearing trunks. I don’t like to have attention drawn to me and sporting skimpy swimwear is sure going to draw the eyes. There could have been some modesty involved too, but I think for me that is more so with nakedness especially nowadays. With several years of swim brief wearing under my belt now, I’m definitely pretty confident most of the time when wearing them to the beach. It takes a little more guts when I’m on my own than with the wife and kids. I just mind my own business and do my thing. I don’t pay much attention to the other beach goers. I’m not doing anything different than the women. I’m there to enjoy the sand, sun, water, and relaxation. Would be nice if some day soon, I won’t have to think “where’s the briefs?”
Did you have struggles breaking away from trunks and board shorts? Or are you trying to break away from them now? What was or is keeping you from taking that step? Did I mention it above? Or is or was it something else?
Ways to Support The Bottom Drawer by Shopping
I never had to break away from board-shorts simply because I never wore them. Speedos were the common swimwear when I grew up, and only surfers used board-shorts. I’ve stuck with Speedos ever since until recently. Now I wear a Kiniki half-back swim tanga, but there is not much beach swimming now, mainly pool.
I still see a few older men in Speedos, but rare for younger ones, board-shorts seem to become regarded as swimwear some years ago for some reason. Speedos are still used in water sports though, but I don’t know if that’s by choice or by regulation.
Right on!
I really enjoyed this post. I was both nodding in approval and smiling. There are at least some of us who enjoy collecting, owning and wearing Speedos — briefs and thong styles. I have since i was a teen and now have a large collection of dozens of brands. Keep up the great posts.
Sadly, I think briefs & swim briefs have been out of fashion at least in Canada & The USA since the 1990’s thanks in part to Marky/ Mark Whalberg and Calvin Klein – made boxers & boxer briefs the “normal” underwear. Also, other male celebrities such as Nick Lachey saying he would never wear a speedo. Even competitive swimmers such as Michael Phelps began wearing speedo jammer style suits which is becoming the norm. Then of course all the surveys conducted to both men and woman of what they prefer – boxers or briefs. If anyone answers briefs they get ridiculed. Years ago a woman I worked with was asking guys this question. I answered – you should ask – thong or jockstrap. She thought I was joking, but I was serious. Much to my surprise a male coworker answered – both and stated he prefers skimpy underwear for freedom of movement and more comfortable without all the extra bunched up fabric. She and others were a bit shocked and he said he tried boxer briefs for awhile due to trends and his girlfriend buying him some as a gift and hated them . I wish more guys were like him and had the confidence to state their preference and why they go against the “norm”. Many of us are out there as we are on this site and clearly thongs & bikinis would not be manufactured if they were not selling in large quantities.
The acceptance of brief swimsuits on men has certainly changed over time, and that’s something I still don’t understand. When I started wearing speedos as a kid, they were very much accepted, and dominated regardless of body type. It was simply a serious swimsuit. Competitive swimmers wore them, so the rest of us did too. I even went through that unfortunate phase where, because a Speedo has very little structure, and things inside weren’t all that protected, I wore a swimmer jock underneath, which had visible strap lines and all. I had girls sometimes ask if I had to wear it, and I just said no, but it’s better for swimming and more comfortable. End of discussion. I wore an actual Speedo until the early 1990s when I got a much smaller brief. In fact, if I ever didn’t wear it, my wife would ask why I was so covered up. They were so much the norm in the 1970s that nobody even discussed them at all. And before they were made with more lycra content, the fabric was very much nylon, which was actually a bit looser and more revealing. I had a swim coach as a kid who wore his Speedo low and loose. His man bulge was frankly a bit shocking, and did get some comment among the women, but the comments were more of awe than disgust.
I don’t know what happened to Speedo acceptance in the USA, but it sure tanked. Not in every other country though. In fact I read where France banned shorts in public pools, requiring briefs for hygiene reasons. Go France! But I think it really went wrong in the late 90s, early 2000s, mostly among guys. I actually overheard an older guy at a resort pool say to his wife about a brief, “That’s what the gays wear”. Then I walked by with my smaller than brief suit with my wife and carrying my kid. But that gay thing really messed things up. And thongs? Even more so. Funny thing, I asked a gay friend about it once, he said he and his partner didn’t even own a thong, and never had tried one on. I had a drawer full.
I find the current “norm” just irritating. I don’t want to shock or offend, but I also will wear what I want when I feel I can. And if I ever get back to Tahiti, it’ll be a thong and bikini vacation.
I’ve never perceived a negative reaction to my brief suits until my son was a teenager. And I just ignored him. He’d moved to huge board shorts, but grew up in a brief.
Now, as a senior, my brief swimsuits and thongs make a different statement, not one I agree with, but I can’t really control that. So I still wear anything I want but not in general public. My dear wife always responds very positively to my suits. We even have opportunities to lay in the sun and swim without suits. We like it, and do it just for us.
I am in my fifties, have always worn swim briefs bikini style at the beach as that is what I wore since childhood. have tried shorts etc, but just prefer the freedom of briefs. I tend to go for narrow sided but flat fronted ones for wearing around people on the beach, I try to keep things acceptable to the majority, and I just behave naturally with confidence without being overt in any way. I have never had any problems or comments from anyone at all wearing swim briefs on a beach. Good news though, a couple that know went to Greece late last year and told me they saw several men of varying ages wearing swim briefs amongst the general groups of families etc without any problem. All hope is not lost then.
Very interesting analysis of the subject of wearing speedo style swimwear on men. Absolutely no one where I live wears them except me. Along the oven front where I walk I occasionally see men in brief swim but rarely. Me I wear them and simply stare down those that disapprove.
I used to think I wouldn’t get caught dead in swim bikinis, until around two years ago I just decided to try it and loved swimming in them, sadly I don’t get to go to the beach often as it’s usually cold out here and usually since I’ve been single for a long time I just go to the pool for laps and that’s it. Unfortunately, the only other place I could have worn it is the pool at my godfathers place but he didn’t like my square leg trunks even and said to wear something more modest so I didn’t bother wth wearing my bikinis since it’s his property y/house. I love the new dietz bikini Henry suits I wish they came in more color combos like the splice racing suits. The fabric blend is silky smooth. I also like the bang splash bikini which has a nice print design. I find it not such a big deal wearing it out when I’m by myself amongst strangers as I’ve been said to have an unapproachable air and I generally get left alone which is good and bad sometimes.
Thanks for the positive comments and telling your experiences over the years. I must have just missed the swim brief time period or it wasn’t occurring in my area though I didn’t get to the beach very often as a kid. I spent a lot of time on the river by us skiing/tubing and canoeing. I only recall one time I spotted a swim brief. I saw a guy in a full cut swim brief getting ready to canoe down the river. Kids on the swim team still wore briefs when I was in school, but that is the extent of the swim briefs I’ve seen as a kid.
If you google for images, you’ll find that school swim teams still wear Speedos, even in USA. Not all, but looks like most.
Enjoy the freedom is brief and bikini swimwear. I visit Chicago beaches in very brief swimwear. I don’t care what others think. It make my legs look longer. I frankly don’t care what others think or say.
Happy to report I’ve never worn dork shorts on any beach. Back in the 60’s and 70’s it was commonplace to see men wearing speedos and I wore them into my teens. As I got older and became more body conscious, I tended to shy away from beaches and swimming pools. Also, the weather here and all year round chilly seas were not ideal for beach going.
I remember wearing a speedo the first time I went to America over 20 yrs ago and being the only person not wearing dork shorts in the pool. Thankfully, when I began going to Sicily soon after, guys in speedos were everywhere, and not just at the beach(lol). I didn’t expect to see them being worn in shops and public transport, but no one batted an eye. So if any of you guys want to know where the briefs are, I would point you in the direction of Europe.
Blame liberal fashion media and militant feminism for forcing men to hide their bulge and masculinity .