[sebbie]

Several years ago I found and purchased a Speedo Swim brief that was sent to me from Hawaii. NWT, the only catch was that it was US SZ 26, which if a Mens SM US is 28-30, this was going to be way small. I had worn swim briefs in smaller sizes than my waist size, but usually I stop downsizing at US 28. It used to be that Speedo sold briefs in "Mens" sizes from 28 up but 26 and smaller was considered a Youth size, as in for boys not men. Nowadays, however a lot of their brief come in sizes from 24 to 38 or 40 and maybe even down to 22. The whole "Youth" sizing has largely disappeared.

I suspect my Hawaiian brief came from a time when 26 was simply the largest "youth" size.

Neat brief but very conventional. typical of a brief with 3 inch sides. More recently, getting into one of the Gay briefs in size 32 was a quite a struggle for me, but I had gotten into the Hawaii Brief SZ 26 some time ago and still looked presentable. The 26 incher even (well nearly) covered the Y of my butt crack. The Hawaiian brief was capable of stretchiung horizontally a lot. But depending on the amount of the horizontal stretch, the sides kept getting narrower and narrower. But still, a guy who wears a 32" in the Gay brief can look presentable in a 26-inch Old(er) School Speedo.

Years ago guys would make choices with respect to waist size only partly based on their actual measured waist. If you liked a snugger fit, just downsize your Speedo two inches. Not snug enough? Go another two inches. These smaller sizes stretched enough so getting in and out of them was not a big issue, and the smaller the waist size the narrower the sides would look despite the sides being essentially the same for all the waist sizes.

REAL swimmers undersized more than the more casual swimmers, partly to intimidate the competition. Real males are proud of their anatomy and undersized more than the other guys in an effort to show their stuff in any number of respects.

But with many of the new Speedos it seems waist size has got to be spot on because there is so little horizontal stretch to the fabric. Maybe real swimmers no longer choose Speedos with the idea that the smaller the waist size the narrower the appearance of the sides. Still, if guys want to intimidate the competition in swimming competitions by choosing a brief with a narrower side so be it. I have some Seobean Briefs that are conventional swimwear but very narrow sides, though I have trouble seeing those being worn at a conventional high school or college swim meet.