I had a dream last night about being on a European beach. Problem was that I only had a solid black speedo – it was a solid black Arena speedo actually.
All the guys on the beach were wearing speedos but they were more fashionable speedos. I’ve never been to a European beach but if I did I think I would have to expand my speedo collection since most of my speedos are for lap swimming and aren’t really much of a fashion statement.
What would you guys suggest?
Any comments from European guys?
I’d suggest Tulio–Brazilians know how to do fashionable (abbreviated!) swimwear.
Many other companies have nice offerings out there (Clever, Gigo, Go Softwear, Pistol Pete, HOM, 3G, JM, etc.), but I think Tulio’s are some of the nicest and most tasteful, and would appeal to the widest number of potential onlookers, as it were. I have things by all those other designers, and I like them all…
And, as you yourself know, AussieBum is certainly up there as well! Though, I’ve not been as impressed with their more recent offerings (both in underwear and swimwear) as I was with things from 3-8 years ago.
I’ve only been to a few European beaches (in Britain and Switzerland–granted, it was the boardwalk/beach on Lake Geneva, but that still counts!), and there were few to no Speedos visible to me on most of them; the guys who were wearing them tended to be older (and often more out-of-shape), but there were some squarecuts and trunks and such among the mix. The world has changed slightly over the last ten years, alas, in relation to speedos in public, I think–they’re even not allowing them at some hotel pools and resorts and such these days when they didn’t used to. What the hell? Has the world started to go all Liberty University on us? Damn…
two more companies, both popular in the gay crew: ES and XTG
Speedos on British beaches? It must be a dream!!!
Love the funky speedos in the pictures Dave, or maybe it’s the guy? Whatever! :o)
Sorry, that wasn’t meant to be anonymous
I lap swim and go to the beach in these:
http://www.proswimwear.co.uk/speedo-8-042695579-walter-14cm-briefs-trunks-28-30.html
Nice cut, and a bit more coverage is welcome at the beach.
Well clearly in Spain or France the Speedo-sytle swimwear is the most usual
Speedos used to be standard male swimwear in Europe until about 1990. During the nineties, most young man switched to board shorts, because they were considered to be “cool”, like everything else coming from the US. By the way, why are those ugly bags called “shorts”? I like to refer to them as “trash bags”.
Consequently, those trash bags are now the standard also in Europe. However, you still may wear your speedos in most European countries without any problems; the only exception I ever heard of is a park in the UK, but that is no surprise, because the UK never considered itself really a part of Europe.
An interesting link about the history of swimwear (especially the third page):
http://www.out.com/entertainment/2007/02/01/speedophobia