In between brief and square-cut

[JamesSwim]

What does one call a swim suit that's larger than a competition style brief and smaller than a square cut? I am beginning to see more of these, such as at H&M retail store (but not on their web site).

Some companies give it their own brand name such as the Corcovado brief linked below, others calls it a trunk. But a trunk can refer to many styles.

http://www.parkeandronen.com/corcovado-brief_c_19.html

[Byron]

Good question - so much confusion nowadays as to a common term that is clear to everybody.
In my earlier days it was simple as your swim trunks would just be whatever style or size of suit you chose to wear for the beach or pool.

For what you show I would definitely borrow from Brazil and say Sungas
(and Tangas for the bikini suits) (which so few Brazilian guys wear now)

[sebbie]

The Brazilians call that a Sunga, I think. very popular there right now.

[dorcas3]

I have been wearing a brief from Croota ( Australian). They have little form until you put them on-tie at the hips and made of Nylon-have a lot of decals on them-very comfortable especially with mild jock itch which I have from time to time.They remind e me of the trunk style in question.

[JamesSwim]

The Brazilians call that a Sunga, I think. very popular there right now.

Thanks. I found a NY Times article on Sungas

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/travel/27Foraging.html

[Byron]

A nice bit of promotion for the business no doubt but yet another example of
how ill-informed journalists confuse the descriptions even more.
This one talks of bikinis in the USA and his "racer style at Speedo" all in one line - so have bikinis become speedos or were speedos really bikinis in the USA all along?

These guys never seem to read up on their subject (just fill some empty space in a newspaper) and there is some drivel here about a sunga being the bikini equivalent of a tent dress (a failed attempt at clever writing no doubt).

Let's ignore this nonsense and just enjoy a pic of Brazilians on the beach in their Sungas:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JzOQJjUPxGM/SIzJ2in5JiI/AAAAAAAAIqw/-ra0C8ZYMCQ/-ra0C8ZYMCQ/s400/Picture%2B5.png

[Byron]

Sunga guys:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JzOQJjUPxGM/SIzJ2in5JiI/AAAAAAAAIqw/-ra0C8ZYMCQ/s400/Picture%2B5.png

[Byron]

:)


Dictionary surprise - one painful definition
I did not expect:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sunga

[Byron]

http://wordnik.com/words/sunga
This one you can't trust as what it is describing in not Sunga but Tanga

Tanga is here (small bikini or thong):
http://thefreedictionary.com/tanga

[JamesSwim]

I don't see regular places sell Sungas, but training suits, or baggies, such as Dolfin Uglies seem to similar by chance. Brazilian sungas seem to be cut looser than snug fitting suits. But perhaps sungas are still a bit shorter on the side. Opinions?

http://www.dolfinswimwear.com/swimsuit-mens-category.php?CategoryID=5

Other than eBay, I only found a site called http://www.beachbrasil.com/ that sells a wide range on the web.

[Byron]

LOL - we sure seem to have a can of worms here arising from your simple question.
I learn from the Dolfin website you give that Uglies produce something called Baggies. That's a new word for me and they certainly look like Sungas but are not considered by Dolfin to be a regular swimsuit as they are listed for training purposes (and Baggies would therefore seem to be what competitive swimmers usually call dragsuits).

A Sunga would indeed not be called a racing suit as it is often made up of double layered fabric and with a much looser fit . Here is a small but interesting blog on Brazilian vocabulary,
with a pic of three guys in their Sungas on the beach:

http://travels.sarahandgabe.com/sunga-canga-and-tanga-brazilian-beach-vocabulary

This teaches me a new word also (canga) and explains why one does not see the towels on Rio beaches as regularly to be found elsewhere. Tanga now also seems to apply only to the girls and, although long ago dropped by the boys, they were very much the beach bikini fashion for Brazilian males in the Sixties and Seventies (which brings us back full circle to the separate discussion on guys wearing girls' bikini bottoms).

Getting back to Sungas, Rufskin seem to be the only maker I can find so far and there is a UK supplier with a small range - and just to confuse matters even more they describe their Rufskins as sunga-cut TRUNKS !

http://www.banglads.com

[NJHunkguy]

While the trend is moving toward square cut, I like it. But for my own feeling, wearing square cut, seems to have the tendency to have my "wiener" slip out through the holes in between the legs. So, I always wear an extra swimsuit underneath... :p

[Byron]

Well, at least we can follow what you're telling us NJH.
There was so much stupid press hype at the last James Bond movie
release that we were given the "sensational" shot of Daniel Craig in the sea
a million times - and told that he was wearing a "bikini".

[NJHunkguy]

Yes, Byron. It was a square cut.

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1429/1009799725_3f1f5adbe9_z.jpg
Old pix...

[sebbie]

You James Bond you!

[Byron]

LOL : We have NJH as James Bond - square cut - old pix.
We have had NJH - as himself* - bubbles bikini - last summer pic.

*and with more definition

[NJHunkguy]

You James Bond you!
Yes, it (James Bond's speedo) was talk of the town back in the days !

[NJHunkguy]

LOL : We have NJH as James Bond - square cut - old pix.
We have had NJH - as himself* - bubbles bikini - last summer pic.

*and with more definition
I often set up my replies in orderly fashion, may be in sequence, making them easily for others to read and understand...

Is that what you observed ? :)

[Torchwatch]

It is nice to have NJH reply at all and share his views with us.

[NJHunkguy]

It is nice to have NJH reply at all and share his views with us.
Being a Speedo/swimsuit fan, I should give my point of view, if any thought come up .

[Byron]

:) I referred to definition meaning a good result of what you described as the changed routine in your off-topic post of 05-16-2012.

[NJHunkguy]

:) I referred to definition meaning a good result of what you described as the changed routine in your off-topic post of 05-16-2012.
Totally understood your meaning!

Getting body definition is not easy, as I LOVE to eat :D trying...

[Byron]

I wish to refer James to the Brazilian swimsuit maker's
website - for the suits with the red dog logo.

Forgotten the name - do you guys know the one I am
talking about ?

[NJHunkguy]

I wish to refer James to the Brazilian swimsuit maker's
website - for the suits with the red dog logo.

Forgotten the name - do you guys know the one I am
talking about ?
https://www.cariocawear.com/

[Byron]

Thanks NJH - that's the one - but my computer warns me off as it is a site having insecure content.
Some nice suits there but I'll just leave James to read this and decide.

[NJHunkguy]

Thanks NJH - that's the one - but my computer warns me off as it is a site having insecure content.
Some nice suits there but I'll just leave James to read this and decide.
Completely safe, I had already read through all of their swimsuit styles...

[edton]

:)


Dictionary surprise - one painful definition
I did not expect:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sunga
My waxing salon refers to that as a "boyzillian"- and if you haven't had it done it doesn't hurt that much as long as the waxer is experienced. I prefer it to shaving or topical hair removers.

[Byron]

OK - take your word for it.

(it does seem to score as pube-shaving is necessarily more frequent and causes constant itching to some as it regrows).

PS: Welcome as new member today

[JamesSwim]

I bought a Brazilian made sunga. The sides are about 6" high, and the cut is similar to Speedo-brand's striped nylon square leg. It's Nylon/Lycra and it's very comfortable. There isn't a leg, so there's no inseam like the Speedo Endurance square leg, and there's an extra panel at the bottom rather than a single seam. The leg bindings are snug, and it's lined front and back. I think many Brazilian beachgoers wear it all around, rather than just swimming, and it is different from what you typically see in the United States.



LOL - we sure seem to have a can of worms here arising from your simple question.
I learn from the Dolfin website you give that Uglies produce something called Baggies. That's a new word for me and they certainly look like Sungas but are not considered by Dolfin to be a regular swimsuit as they are listed for training purposes (and Baggies would therefore seem to be what competitive swimmers usually call dragsuits).

A Sunga would indeed not be called a racing suit as it is often made up of double layered fabric and with a much looser fit . Here is a small but interesting blog on Brazilian vocabulary,
with a pic of three guys in their Sungas on the beach:

http://travels.sarahandgabe.com/sunga-canga-and-tanga-brazilian-beach-vocabulary

This teaches me a new word also (canga) and explains why one does not see the towels on Rio beaches as regularly to be found elsewhere. Tanga now also seems to apply only to the girls and, although long ago dropped by the boys, they were very much the beach bikini fashion for Brazilian males in the Sixties and Seventies (which brings us back full circle to the separate discussion on guys wearing girls' bikini bottoms).

Getting back to Sungas, Rufskin seem to be the only maker I can find so far and there is a UK supplier with a small range - and just to confuse matters even more they describe their Rufskins as sunga-cut TRUNKS !

http://www.banglads.com

[Byron]

Yes they do - not just a swimming item.
Glad you like it - thanks for update.

[PSDave]

It's funny to see these baggy Sungas coming out of Brazil. To me they look like and fit like the awful suits they gave us in school swim class.
Many years ago while in, or about to be in college I arrived at the beach only to be over dressed in a 2" speedo. I looked around and was in shock. The suits the guys were all wearing were these mini bikinis (we now call them Rio Cut). I had been feeling rather bold going from 3" to 2" for the trip then I saw those.
Instead of the beach I went the hotel's beachside bar. The bartender made comment about how modest I must be. After some chat he directed me to a nearby shop that sold the mini bikinis. I picked out a black one and a yellow one, put on the black one and back to the beach with a stop at the bar for another bracer and to thank the bartender. He convinced me to change into the yellow one (behind the bar) and after another shot (and some hair trimming) I took my virtually naked body to the beach. I was in love with the suits and still have many in my collection. The bartender showed up at my room that evening with a couple more for me and we hung out a lot that week. I often wonder how you go from a suit that barely covers one as big and baggy as gym shorts.

[Byron]

....to me too. After the south of France it was always the beaches of Rio to be looked at for some years for all those sexy guys cavorting in their tiny tangas.
The complete reversal in the Brazilian male psyche I cannot explain - never to be seen now (except on the girls, and maybe the guys decided that it was time to make a distinction). Whatever the reason the sudden change appeared to have happened almost overnight.

[JamesSwim]

....to me too. After the south of France it was always the beaches of Rio to be looked at for some years for all those sexy guys cavorting in their tiny tangas.
The complete reversal in the Brazilian male psyche I cannot explain - never to be seen now (except on the girls, and maybe the guys decided that it was time to make a distinction). Whatever the reason the sudden change appeared to have happened almost overnight.

The saleslady told me that most Brazilian men wear sungas smaller than the 6" side suit I got, but said the 6" version is popular for US.

They are definitely cut differently than typical briefs. In most US briefs, the back is cut larger than the front. But in these, they are similar. There's a picture of a blog that has some examples:

http://blog.brazilianbikinishop.com/en/brazilian-sunga

[Byron]

Oh dear - I started reading that Bikini Shop blog as a useful work of reference so that we had a standard by which we could all use the term correctly.

However "leave your trunks at home" and "these Brazilian Speedos" have crept into the text and muddied the waters as already so many guys have different ideas in mind when they say trunks or speedos about their swimsuits.

I would certainly like to know who exactly calls sungas mankinis - the latter belongs to Borat only IMHO.

[sebbie]

The term Mankini applies to a male brief or thong that has straps that connect from the brief to go around the guy's shoulders and neck a la Borat. If you move your neck or shoulders too much you are in real danger of inadvertently fondling yourself and getting an erection, not to mention such moves if the suit has a thong rear may pull on and cinch up the thong strap putting pressure on the guy's perineum area. Most guy's could not tolerate this without some sort of inadvertent "response". That is the unwritten part of the mankini humor, I think--etting a guy into a "predicament" with the outcome being an "accidental" erection. A Google search on mankini in the images section leads me quickly to the image below.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090606225106/uncyclopedia/images/a/a4/Mankini_commonwealth_team.jpg

I had honestly never before heard the term Mankini applied to just a very skimpy male brief if it does not have the shoulder straps before.

[sebbie]

all with shoulder straps
Some of these look pretty sexy, esp the designs on the Asian guy

http://www.trenddelacreme.com/2010/11/mankini-lives-on.html

[Byron]

...is there no end to what these "fashion" designers will come up with ?
I learn that the guy in white is wearing a Hysterie String Stola.

Having no idea what is a stola I learned further from my dictionary that it was a long garment going down to the ankles as worn by Roman women !
Anyway, whatever the etymology, I remain stubbornly opposed to the blog's suggestion that sungas are also called mankinis.

[sebbie]

...on contemporary word usage. I went thru pages of images on Mankini and they all had shoulder or neck straps...nothing that looked like a sunga, which is a slightly looser fitting brief with about a 6-inch side. Some bottoms were more nearly thong-like while others looked more like a conventional brief. Its the tie between the shoulder/neck straps and the bottom that defines the mankini.

If word usage in an occasional blog somewhere is slipping in to use Mankini as a generic term to describe any skimpy brief worn by a man similar in size to a woman's bikini bottom this is an incorrect change in usage that should be corrected in the blogs that use the term that way.

Sebbie

[Byron]

James gave us useful pics in a piece called Brazilian Bikini Blog which seems to come from bikinishop but the rubbish I object to begins "The great thing about.........."

It says that sungas enable you "to catch a very good tan" (no logic there whatsoever) and "....which is why they are called..." (more nonsense about a totally different garment called a mankini).

[JamesSwim]

James gave us useful pics in a piece called Brazilian Bikini Blog which seems to come from bikinishop but the rubbish I object to begins "The great thing about.........."

It says that sungas enable you "to catch a very good tan" (no logic there whatsoever) and "....which is why they are called..." (more nonsense about a totally different garment called a mankini).

Here are some more useful pictures to see what varieties of sungas there are.

This is a link to a Brazilian beachwear maker and an interview. It shows there is a variety of cuts in their line of sungas.
http://www.tfabiano.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6

this interview states which ones were popular in August 2009 - with the "Brazilian Army Cut" being most popular

http://www.piercemattiepublicrelations.com/2009/08/fabiano_demoraes_launched_his.html

It implies that one style has its origins in army issued swimwear but it can be just a catchy name they made up.

Although the designer makes what they call shorts (longer suits), the majority are brief-style.

[PSDave]

I'm sorry but I find all the sungas ugly. They look like the horrible cotton tank suits the school provided when I was in boarding school. I would rather see a guy in trim board shorts than those things. I say make up your mind, wear a speedo cut or square cut that fits. Junk the Sungas!

[Byron]

Yes, not a swimmer's swimwear I guess and although no doubt what's preferred in Rio and Sao Paulo, they don't seem to have made great fashion inroads so far in other countries (despite the range of cuts and designs now available as we've just seen).

[JamesSwim]

I saw this article on Sunga's growing popularity..

http://www.underwearexpert.com/2013/03/the-summers-hottest-swim-style-the-sunga/

Interesting points:

1. It's not just the general size:
It's defined to be flat in front, tight around the leg and loose around the waist

2. Brazilians really care about adjusting it to look perfect.

When Brazilians put them on, they can spend many minutes throughout the course of the day adjusting to achieve the perfect look,” Douglas Coates, co-owner of Rufskin swimwear, told The Underwear Expert. “Our goal is to create the perfect fit to enhance and advertise your junk and showcase your assets. It could be classified as an art

[Torchwatch]

It seems to me that the difference between a square cut swim suit (what Byron would call swimming trunks) and sungas is that the square cut has legs (if only 1" long) while sungas are a very long sided smooth front bikini (or speedo).

The square cut will always look like mini shorts because of it's legs, while the crotch of sungas is slightly lower than the lowest point of the sides.

The square cut will tend to be made from 4 pieces of fabric (left/right front and left/right back) to make the design work, while sangas tend to be made from 2 (front and back) I do not include decoration or decorative side panels in the count.

A sanga made from non stretch fabrics will have skin tight elastic but need to be slightly baggy to fit everything in. You may enjoy this look if you are shy of a fully skin tight look or the almost naked appearance of sides that are 2" or less.

[Byron]

LOL - I never cease to be amazed at the language used when something as simple as a male swimsuit is promoted so that it constitutes a piece of living art
constantly changing appearance through twenty four hours!

As for descriptions of square-cuts, speaking for myself and the peers of my youth the simple two words of swimming trunks to cover everything (pun intended) as worn by boys at beach or pool, would be one word today - sungas (though many of us may perhaps have had difficulty in finding Brasil on a map at the time).