Evolution of suits over the years

[Byron]

Yes, that's probably been a good way of tackling it and there has also been much past discussion on the speedoboard about a correct singular or plural designation of the garment's by-word.

My own habit has been to use S for the brand and s for all other swim briefs.
I wish in a way that the word had never been adopted at all for general usage but I would think that speedo lovers generally know what they are talking about to each other.

The problems lie with manufacturers and journalists. Just about any type of male swimwear can be found to be described as a speedo. I always was and still am annoyed to see the last James Bond actor being captioned on a pic as wearing a speedo or a tiny speedo. It was neither of course and I had steam coming from my ears when one newspaper even referred to him as wearing a daring bikini ! (in fact Burt Lancaster was more daring in his beach scene with ?.. sixty years ago).

[Torchwatch]

The trouble with men's swim suits is that they are so loosely defined, everyone having different perspectives and definitions.

To me a men's swim suit should be close fitting and exclude swim shorts, board shorts and other loose shorts used for swimming. A proper swim suit should have an elasticated waist and elasticated leg holes.
I would also exclude body suits, skin suits and wet suits as although they are meant to be used for swimming they have functions other than body cover and support built into them, eg warmth, flotation and faster movement through water.
A swim suit should have a back however brief, so I would exclude G strings and jock straps but include swim thongs.
A bikini has a fuller back than a thong but narrow sides (hips) ranging from half inch to 2 inch.
The speedo or swim brief or racing brief has sides ranging from 2 -5 inches, but has a distinct cut away leg look.
Square cuts (sangas in Brazil) lack the cut away look having full sides, resembling tight shorts, while jammers are up to knee length suits derived from cycle shorts.

Very tight brief suits and suits designed for fashion rather than speed may have a pouch front, there seems to be a fashion for pouch fronts at the moment particularly in Brazil.

Suits designed for diving, either from boards or blocks tend to have waist cords to avoid embarrassment when entering the water head first.

Many materials have been used for swim suits cotton canvas and knitted wool were early efforts. Wool is reputed to be very scratchy when dry and endlessly saggy when wet. Speedo pioneered the use of "parachute" nylon, it worked as it doesn't absorb water and just clung neatly to the body when wet. Nylon got replaced by Lycra which made suits truly skin tight although Aussibum have brought nylon back.

Seeing a picture of a suit we can spot the branding, the material and the cut and make a guess at the era and continent the suit comes from or from which the retro design is taken.

[Swimmboy]

I don't think there are any suits designed for diving - I think divers just tend to 'downsive' their Speedos or TYRs or whatever brand of brief suit the other guys on their swim team wear.

[Byron]

Yes, it is a little misleading to suggest that there are special suits designed for
"diving" , be it from platform or block - and waist cords appear in all competition suits for obvious reasons, including those worn by backstrokers who do not commence with a dive.

(but I have yet to see any competitive swimmer enter the water by the pool ladder anyway).

Nevertheless, Torchwatch gives us a very good summary and a reminder of how many styles have appeared on the market over the years and just how confusing it is to put an accurate name to each.
(I wish he hadn't mentioned wool - my mind goes back to early teens and recalls just how horrible it was to be wearing such inappropriate material !)

[Crail]

Byron. Wool ??? Gag me with a spoon !!! Unfortunately, I can relate. Long story; so I'll leave it at that

[SpeedoKid]

We're forgetting about "Ocean"!! They had "racing" suits well before Speedos started to be imported from Australia. Ocean "Champion" - a 7 or 8 inch side cut which was well over twice as much fabric as in the modern "Speedo".

And, yes, before that there were those horrible, itchy, heavy, water-logged wool suits which tended to drag you to the bottom of the pool.

Does anyone remember silk racing suits? I'm told that they existed before WW II. At that point all silk went into the war effort - parachutes.

If memory serves, Speedos were first imported into the US following the 1960 Olympic Games, I bought my first one in the summer of 1963 - a solid maroon nylon suit with ~7" sides.

[Byron]

I don't remember any silk racers but seem to have a fellow sufferer in Crail as regards woollen trunks.

Just to compare, here are swimming shorts in Dubai 2011 and in Hawaii 1953 (Deborah Kerr being the actress I could not recall in the famous wet clinch with Burt Lancaster - From Here To Eternity).

http://www.thenigeriandaily.com/2011...orange-bikini/

(Bring back Burt I say - he also made The Swimmer in 1968 of course)

[Byron]

http://www.thenigeriandaily.com/2011...friend-in-tiny orange-bikini/

[Torchwatch]

Any suit with a waist cord is designed for diving, whether you are diving from the side of the pool or from the high boards if your suit isn't totally secure it will end up around your ankles.
Suits not intended for such use may not have waist cords.

Isn't it annoying when the end of the string gets lost inside the suit.

[dorcas3]

The best way to fix a lost end is to pull the whole cord out-Pin on a small safety pin-reensert and work it back through-be surprised how fast that works.