How did you get started

[Torchwatch]

As a young boy I wore some kind of nylon swim briefs, I probably had them handed down from my older brother, most of my clothes were. At secondary school I had a pair of navy bri-nylon square cuts bought for me, they had a fake fly with a functionless button at the top although they were actually held up by an elastic waistband and draw string. I never really liked them, I guess I remembered the greater freedom of the briefer suits and the fabric was uninspiring.

After school one summer's day I followed a couple of friends to the school pool, not having my swim kit with me I planned to swim in my PE shorts. The short white cotton shorts went completely see through and weighed a ton once wet. I had to keep one hand on the waistband to keep them from falling down for the rest of the swim session. Being transparent the shorts weren't hiding anything anyway. I've never really wanted to swim in shorts since then.

After leaving school and being able to buy my own clothes I bought a pair of 3" plain black nylon Speedos. They felt great and so light and sexy. First time I wore them to swim I got hard between the changing rooms and the pool, and had to dive in before anyone noticed.

It wasn't long before I bought a 2" pair, black nylon again but with red and white flashes at the sides. I just felt people were watching me whenever I wore them.

From then on I have always been looking for the briefest and brightest swim brief I could find, especially when Speedo started using Lycra.

Some time ago while looking for something to wear on my cycle and rowing machines in the loft I came across the Stitchboy swim wear patterns website and discovered I could make my own swimwear. There is something fascinating about turning a flat piece of fabric into a 3D garment that was defined by the human body.