50: To Speedo, or not to Speedo?

[+ sf westcoaster]

Although this thread has been about speedos, I suspect we could have the same discussion about a number of clothing items. For example who should or should not wear a "wife beater"? The list is never ending.

[MrMiniver]

You swim like a fish in speedos. They are as necessary a tool for efficient swimming as pedals are for biking. Wear them at any age.

 

Let's be honest. No one we've been discussing here or what we've been talking about here is wearing speedos for "swimming." LOL.

[MrMiniver]

The guy on the right he may find a "Chub Chaser" the other 2 Classic "Don't Do It"!

 

My theory is when the "Waist and Butt is Gone" throw away all Speedos!

 

When you look down and can no longer see your feet, throw them away!

[+ Italiano]

No man should wear a speedo bathing suit after 21 years of age as it is a garment for the young and beautiful.

 

HAHAHA what a BS!

[+ friendofsheila]

Let's be honest. No one we've been discussing here or what we've been talking about here is wearing speedos for "swimming." LOL.

 

Yup.

[+ friendofsheila]

And indeed there will be time

To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?"

(courtesy of T. S. Eliot, with slight emendation)

 

 

I do agree with this in that I would wonder later if I should have dared.

 

I'd rather have dared and learned

than not-dared and caused myself to wonder later.

 

Thanks, Charlie.

[+ friendofsheila]

http://thedailyshow.mtvnimages.com/images/shows/tds/videos/season_03/episode_127/ds_03127_10_zen_v6.jpg

 

 

The guy in the middle looks reasonable. (Can't tell much about the one on the left.)

 

I wish I could find other reasonable-looking, over age 45 men in Speedos. I'd feel encouraged that way.

[+ Gar1eth]

I wish I could find other reasonable-looking, over age 45 men in Speedos. I'd feel encouraged that way.

 

Ask and ye shall receive...

 

http://cdn01.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/headlines/2008/12/giorgio-armani-speedo.jpg

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gxhCUUFyrjQ/T3T42_wopLI/AAAAAAAABtI/8P012gnROhA/s400/Abbott+in+speedos.jpg

 

 

 

 

Gman

[JT Brooklyn]

Above 2 reasons that it is Time to Close this down!

[+ FreshFluff]

How about Tom Ford from last year's "Looking Good for an escort" thread?

[Steven_Draker]

No man should wear a speedo bathing suit after 21 years of age as it is a garment for the young and beautiful.

 

I love when the Fashion Police walks in and starts giving orders what other people should wear. That's so 1920's ...

 

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e1/7d/5a/e17d5a30d4059e243d1b48775ab37461.jpg

 

Personally, I think that people should wear at the beach what they're comfortable wearing, independently of what others might think.

 

Now the fact that speedos are not commonly worm by older men in the U.S. but are in Europe does not make one behavior correct and the other one incorrect. It is simply a different cultural outlook.

 

Why older men only? You can safely apply that to all men, including youngsters who massively wear these very attractive baggy shorts at the beach.

 

Unfortunately American Puritanism is not ready to see men exposing their bulges in speedos. Probably in 50 years things might change ... or not.

[Newly]

I'm fascinated by the way everyone sees this as a sexual thing. When bikinis first started being used they were seen as scandalous. Now just about every woman uses them. I kind of see wearing speedos as just whatever makes one feel comfortable, it doesn't mean a person is trying to entice anyone. Just like mixed saunas in Finland aren't about sex. It really must have something to do with puritanism in the States. Oh my God, that woman took off her top while sunbathing, obviously she must be trying to come on to every guy anywhere near her!

[+ Italiano]

The final thought is (whatever robbenbaron4u and a few others can think) wear at the beach whatever makes YOU feel comfortable!

[MrMiniver]

Tackiness has nothing whatsoever to do with "American Puritanism" -- whatever the heck that is.

[Steven_Draker]

Tackiness has nothing whatsoever to do with "American Puritanism"

 

Why Are Guys Afraid to Wear Speedos?

American men need to get over their Freudian fear of showing off their junk.

By Simon Doonan

 

Summer is here, and again I am seething with frustration. Why? Every year I scan the beaches for men in Speedos and every year I am disappointed. The ridiculous board-shorts trend shows no sign of waning. I had high hopes for change after last year’s Olympics, when the entire nation was gripped by the spectacle of those jackknifing water sprites in their micro-briefs. (Those preposterously teensy swim skivvies worn by Tom Daley et al could only be explained by some kind of harsh polyester-rationing scheme: “Sorry, boys, but only 1 square inch of fabric per customer. Don’t worry. It is quite stretchy.”) I just assumed that, come this summer, one might see an increased willingness on the part of the U.S. male to embrace a little European savoir-faire. But, yet again, all I see are men in billowing shorts.

 

My interest is not entirely sordid. My primary motivation is, in fact, safety. Dudes are getting waterlogged, and dudes are sinking. In the course of my far-from-extensive research, I spoke to legendary West Coast swimwear magnate Mr. Turk. He shares my conviction that “board-shorts aficionados are drowning because their swimsuits are so voluminous.” A California lifeguard pal of Turk’s has been obliged, on more than one occasion, “to pull guys out of the surf because they get tangled up in huge baggy shorts.”

 

Drowning is not the only peril: Yes, I’m talking about gender misidentification. This past weekend I spotted two burly figures walking toward me wearing what I assumed were large peasant skirts. “What made these two beefy, short-haired possibly lesbians decide to go topless?” I asked myself. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be a couple of dudes with man boobs in garishly printed board shorts, prompting the question: Why do American men insist on concealing their willies ’neath yards of fabric?

 

If only Freud could have lived long enough to dissect the semiotics of Speedos. What would he have made of the U.S. male’s horror of being caught in a tiny swimsuit? (I use the word “horror” advisedly. For my straight friends, the most traumatizing moments in HBO’s recent Liberace movie Behind the Candelabra occurred when Matt Damon, Mr. Bourne Identity, was forced to prance about in panty-size swim briefs.) I was raised in the U.K. and grew up thinking sassier swimwear was normal, but I then moved to the U.S. and became indoctrinated into the cult of Speedo shame. So I feel uniquely qualified to address this issue. I have, as it were, a foot in both gussets.

 

Clearly there is a class issue. WASPs don’t do Speedos—old money has no need to resort to gratuitous flesh exposure to achieve social currency. Butt cracks are banned at the country club. Nobody has ever come upon a cache of old Kennedy family snapshots and found images of Jack, Bobby, and Teddy strutting round Martha’s Vineyard in stretch velour leopard swim briefs (like the ones I once purchased at Frederick’s of Hollywood when I lived up the street in the early 1980s).

 

Speedo-wearing is also a cultural flashpoint. Revealing men’s swim garments are, for the U.S. consumer, irrevocably associated with “foreigners” and, most terrifying of all, friends of Dorothy. However, there is something even more mysterious to this issue than the persistent fear of being mistaken for a bisexual Serbian cruise-ship croupier: American dudes are driven by a Wizard of Oz–like desire to “curtain off” their genitals. They are impelled to gird up their loins with yards of fabric, thereby protecting—symbolically and literally—their reproductive equipment, while sinewy Spaniards, hard-body Greeks, bronzed Aussies, diverse Latin Americans, and pale squishy Brits take a reverse approach. These fellows prefer to wear swimsuits that say, “In case you wondered, I am the proud possessor of male genitalia, and in case you don’t believe me, here it is!”

 

I argue that the Puritans who colonized America are to blame. There they go again, spoiling all our European fun with their exaggerated notions of modesty. If I run into any Puritans on Long Island this summer (stranger things have happened), I intend to give them a piece of my mind: “Why do you persist in making dudes wear dirndl skirts while you allow their girlfriends to dress like vacationing strippers?”

 

As The Soup’s Joel McHale says every week, “Let’s talk about chicks, man.”

 

American women have never presented themselves with more over-the-top va-va-voom than they do now, especially on the beach. Bikinis have never been smaller. Hoochies have never been hotter. Tramp stamps have never been trampier. It’s obviously time for men to correct this inequity, join the partaay, and start channeling their inner Magic Mike … or inner Borat.

 

Lastly, let me address the elephant in the Vilebrequin. I am talking about lard. Are most American dudes simply too fat to wear a Speedo? Is that what’s inhibiting men from embracing this comfy, functional garment? Does it only work if you are some Tom Daley-esque Adonis? Mr. Turk weighs in: “Your moobs [man-boobs] and your widening gut are going to be visible either way. I say throw on a pair of groovy ’70s shades—like the guy in those Southern Comfort ads—and learn to strut in a nifty brief or a spiffy square-cut trunk.”

 

Watch out for riptides!

 

source: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/doonan/2013/06/men_in_speedos_american_men_need_to_get_over_their_fear_of_wearing_swim.html

[+ Funguy]

Having just lost a great deal of weight and I am NOT sagging too much anywhere from that loss, I think I actually look better naked than with a speedo - the speedo just draws attention directly to your abdomen above the line and your ass if it doesn't fill it out (and something else but we're not really talking about that). Especially a red speedo!

[+ Gar1eth]

But it's not just a speedos. I also usually prefer to wear a t-shirt at the pool or beach. Believe me, I'm taking pity on the beach/pool going population by not exposing my man-boobs, gut, and chest. I do it partially as a public service for the general population. It's also a shield for me, so that I don't have to broadcast the fact that I have tiny genitalia to the world. You don't know how much I envy guys who have an obvious bulge in their pants. Mine only becomes obvious when I have an erection. And then that's too obvious. Besides I can't imagine I'd find the skimpiness of a Speedo comfortable. ( I don't find skimpy non-aquatic underwear comfortable either. Who needs a thong riding up their butt-cr:)ck? And I can't stand the feel of footies/ankle socks. I wear above the ankle crew socks. The ones with a heel.)

 

As for tinier and tinier bikinis on women, personally-most likely because I'm gay- I'd prefer they suited up more.

 

And speaking of tight clothing, one complaint I've had when I've done weekends with escorts and we are doing something casual is how tight their t-shirts are. I think I only mentioned it to one of them in a joking way once. But I'm sorry even if I were in good shape, I don't think I would be wearing a skin tight tee as a normal part of my apparel. Maybe if I were in good shape, and I were going clubbing, I'd wear it then. But I will admit my attitude on this probably comes from the fact that #1 I'm not very attractive so I've never been cruised by anyone #2. I dress for comfort more than for fashion.

 

Gman

[MrMiniver]

Freudian? Puritanism? Anyone want to throw in Jungian? Or some other ism?

 

It's funny that some simply can't comprehend that a lot of people just consider it TACKY. And it's as simple as that.

[Steven_Draker]

a lot of people just consider it TACKY.

 

A lot of people hanging in Augusta?

 

Yes, in Europe it seems the only men who wear speedos are EXACTLY the ones who shouldn't.

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9mAsuKk4zkM/UMibD7_JGaI/AAAAAAAAEV4/MBF9Gw1_Txg/s1600/speedo5.jpg

 

Quite the opposite. I'm glad that the majority of people I know are not so judgmental like some of the folks who posted in this thread.

 

Europeans have much more relaxed attitudes when it comes to Speedos and proudly wear them on the beach. :-)

 

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OU9gW7W3rlg/TUesIprz4uI/AAAAAAAAPUk/_h02ZCLp5TU/s1600/Speedos.jpg

[+ Italiano]

Too many things could be "tacky". Of course you are free to think that a man with a not-perfect-body lot a big belly looks tacky in speedo, but it's yr opinion, as I have the right to think that yr comments look to me very limitative. You have the choice not to look at the tacky man in speedo. He has the right to walk on a crowded beach wearing whatever makes him feel comfortable without caring of judgmental people.

 

Long live super comfortable speedos! And, even better, long live nudist beaches!

[+ Gar1eth]

My Uncle who is in his late 80's said that when he was a boy, they swam naked/nude at the YMCA in Dallas except on Family Day. I'm glad they changed that policy at some point long before I started going to YMCA's.

 

Gman

 

PS Anyone notice how 'naked' is dirty and sinful, but 'nude' is natural and beautiful?

[MartyB]

All of us truly know how we look in a Speedo or in the nude. I don't admire men who ignore that understanding especially on the beach or pool. As for European vs. Americans the issue is about taste. Now in private we should all look and wear whatever makes us happy.

[+ Gar1eth]

Since Summer both officially and unofficially is almost here in the Untied States for 2017, I'll give my men's swim attire 2 cents. It is my opinion that the reason so many men don't wear revealing swim outfits like females do is because of the revealing protrusion of circumcision which is extremely uncommon in Brazil, Greece, and most all other countries where Speedo type suits are far more common.

 

Ironically, women's fashion this year calls for 1 piece as the not trend, while 2 piece suits are out. I only see men not giving a damn and having fun with what they have on at gay pool parties in pictures. I love wearing revealing swim g's, thongs, and body suits at hotel pools with no families around. I would never wear them at a public swimming pool or at a friend's house.

 

I could be wrong as I'd never wear a speedo. But if I had such an inclination, me being circumcised would not stop me.

 

Gman

[+ Italiano]

All of us truly know how we look in a Speedo or in the nude. I don't admire men who ignore that understanding especially on the beach or pool. As for European vs. Americans the issue is about taste. Now in private we should all look and wear whatever makes us happy.

 

I totally disagree. This "in private" thing reminds me of the fact that two men or two women should only "kiss in private", as so many narrow-minded people think.

You don't necessarily have to "admire" all people at a beach or pool who are there mostly to have a good time and have the right to feel comfortable and happy whatever they wear.

Of course good common sense should be part of everybody's life, of course I would not wear a G-string or thong in a public pool or beach, but..... a speedo?.... OF COURSE!! And whoever looks at me like thinking I am "inappropriate", it's their problem!

[LookingAround]

My bf is European 37 and has a 28 inch waist. He says he wouldn't wear a speedo at his age.