[sebbie]

On Tighty Whiteys (and other topics)

When I was growing up, from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s, the preference for underwear style was nearly unanimously for the cotton brief, at least in the area I was from in the US (the Northern Plains). Interestingly, boxer shorts were all but unheard of (not enough "support" down there). The only real alternative was what was called a mid-length brief, similar to the brief brief that the vast majority of guys my age wore, but with longer sides. What we call the tighty whitey had typically a 5-inch side, but the mid length briefs extended the side to anywhere from 8 to 12 inches purportedly still with the same support down there that the brief brief, aka tighty whitey provided.

Mom insisted that I wear the mid length briefs, and that made me different from all the other guys in their real briefs. I did not escape the mid length briefs until I was into college. But long before that I had concluded that the guys who got to wear the tighty whiteys often were able to have more fun down there, and despite all the years this has never quite faded for me.

You are probably wondering how this all relates to swimwear designs. First let me say that brief-style swimwear timewise predates the Speedo/Lycra developments. I can attest to the fact that there were swim briefs designed for guys that probably date back to the 1940s. The material looked like a wool fabric and did not stretch. I found one of these swim briefs and actually wore it a few times in the water when I was growing up.

The majority of times, me and my friends wore swimsuits that looked like a plaid red or blue boxer brief, but these suits had an inner brief-shaped lining made of a thin white knit nylon material. I enjoyed wearing these suits and messing around in them. I used them as an early masturbation aid as I liked the fit and feel of the inner liner. But I soon discovered that ejaculate was tough on the liner if I just left it to dry. Oh well at that age I made do with what I had not what I would like to have. Many of the other guys were probably doing the same thing as well if they had a bit of privacy. The urge to ejaculate can get pretty intense at that age.

I have been studying the progress in swimming suits for guys by looking at what the top Olympic swimmers wore. in 1972 there are classic photos of Mark Spitz with 7 gold medals around his neck plus a patriotic red, white and blue swim brief. That brief (a Speedo, probably) is not very brief at all with maybe 5" or even 6 inch sides. The US was not present for the Olympics held in the Soviet Union. This brings us to 1984. Up until that point swimmers from countries such as France and Italy trying to increase speed by putting less suit in the water, and the sides of the briefs really started to narrow. Shows featuring male swimmers panned the swimmers revealing briefs that had shrunk drastically in size and coverage, and the US needed to look competitive.

For the 1984 Olympics, Newsweek did an article on the top US male swimmers featuring Steve Lundquist, Rowdy Gaines, and a few other guys all clad in sleek and snug swimwear similar to what they would be wearing in the competition, and this issue no doubt sold Then that was the year Greg Louganis won all his medals as well. Sad swimming welt into all the other modes with body suits etc, but things seem to be turning around. I am seeing high school students in swimming competitions wearing briefs once again!

Sebbie