Advice For My Son
 

Hi there! I'm a single mom, aged 38. My son just turned 18 and graduates from high school this year. I've been a lover of swim briefs since I first started to notice boys.

I've never felt it necessary for toddlers to wear swimsuits, by parents didn't either, so my son was a naked swimmer until about age 5. When he was old enough to need a swimsuit, I got him a cute little brief. Once he started to pick his own clothes, however, he promptly switched to shorts and has worn them since.

We're planning a graduation trip to Europe this summer. One evening at dinner while we were talking about the trip he asked if he'd need to wear one of those "euro bikinis" while we're travelling. I told him that I'm sure it would be fine for him to wear his regular trunks.

I didn't think about it again until a couple of weeks later. We were in a sporting goods store. I went off to do my shopping while he wandered around. When I was done, I found him cautiously looking at a rack of swim briefs. I asked if he needed a new swimsuit, but he said no and was clearly embarrassed about being caught.

A couple of nights ago I was browsing the internet. I typed in an "s" and the address bar suggested swimoutlet.com. I checked the history, and it seems like he'd been looking at swim briefs on the site.

I think he wants to try wearing a swim brief. I'm happy to get him one, but not sure how to bring up the subject. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any suggestions?

The simple solution
 

Suggest that he might want to get himself a swim brief to wear mostly as a liner under his shorts. A lot of the shorts being sold have no liner at all. Then, on vacation, if he gets into a situation where he thinks he would feel comfortable wearing just the brief, he can simply slip off the shorts at poolside and he is ready to go. If that does not happen, that is fine too! Part of this depends on what the other guys are wearing at the various locations he will be at on vacation. If, at a pool, he is the only one wearing shorts and all the other guys are wearing briefs, that is not a neat situation to be in, either. What guys wear for swimming in large measure depends on what they see the other guys are wearing.

He is 18, an adult, a man. Let him make up his own mind and buy his own clothes. He is not a little boy anymore so Mommy shouldn't be picking out his clothes. Unties the apron strings and let him be a man with his own mind.

My mom bought me my first swim brief when I was about your son's age, and I'm glad she did.

You mentioned he wore them when he was younger. Maybe pull out some old albums together, come across some pics of him in the swim brief, and see how things go?

Your son is well on the way to buying his own swim briefs but would be too embarrassed to take you to the store's fitting room to check the fit. Casually (maybe after dinner) offer him $20 for new swimwear for the trip and suggest he gets something he really likes, don't attempt to suggest he gets a brief or men's bikini style and don't ever ask him to show you what he has bought, leave all that up to him.
Whilst on your trip together just go to the beach with him, don't mention what he may or may not be wearing, the more you tell him you want to see him in briefs the more shy and resistant he will be about it.
Finally when you are on the beach both stripped down to your skimpy swimwear act cool, go for a swim, lie around for a while, have lunch. Don't pull out the camera until he has forgotten what he is wearing and is comfortable in his swim briefs, get him to take a few shots of you first and then see if he is happy for you to point the camera at him.

A subject that often comes up here on the internet is American's unpreparedness for European public pools. Many, especially in France and Belgium REQUIRE swim briefs for men. Usually there are vending machines there to purchase them; but the UK, France, Germany and Italy all have different sizing schemes.

I can't say this from experience although I've been to Europe seven times, (if I go in the water there, I usually seek out a nudist venue) but I do know that the stores there have about 5 times as many men's briefs as are available here. We were next door to a public pool in Oslo, and I couldn't help but notice that I've never seen that many young guys in briefs anywhere before.

Perhaps he should purchase a pair of briefs here that fit him, just to keep his options open.

sunbuff

I dunno, PSDave, if my mom had told me she thought I might want to buy myself a pair of swim briefs when I was 18, I would have done cartwheels on the spot!

By time I was 16 I was shopping for my own clothes. I was working and making my own money and the last thing I would have wanted is for my mom along to help me shop - especially for swim briefs. I thought teens were more independent now and picked their own clothes.

Thanks for the replies. :)

My son buys most of this own clothes, but he (thankfully) doesn't mind shopping with me from time to time.

I don't think there's anything wrong if you buy him a swim brief and give it to him - perhaps surprise him and leave it in the bag on his bed - don't say anything, just leave it there for him to discover. He probably will want to have the opportunity to try it on in private and get used to wearing one again.