Review: Calvin Klein Sports Trunks

[JamesSwim]

I purchased a Calvin Klein Sports trunk suit. This suit has a wide side seam (5") and has a center seam in front. What's different is that the drawstring is made with elastic material, is fully lined front and back, and has a solid rubber logo plate (rather than a decal you often see). It's 80/20 nylon/lycra and comes in small, medium, large, and X-large. The bottom of the suit is wide, around 4.5" .

Personally, I think the elastic drawstring doesn't allow for tightening for a snug fit, but is OK for leisure and not active swims. The drawstring also has the maker's logo printed on it and is a flat cord. Available in white, black and navy blue.

I saw some ads in magazines earlier in summer that presented this as a retro-look suit -- with people wearing the white version.
Here's one of these ads: http://www.lifeshopgirl.com/beauty/spring-2012-calvin-klein-advertising-campaign-under-the-banner-of-seduction-photos.html

The quality is good -- no stray threads or stitches. It is made in Sri Lanka.

The retail price is $58, so it's fashion suit, and not a lap suit, but at a closeout discount price as low as $20, it's priced similar to many regular suits, is an great way to get a suit that's made differently from a regular swimming brief. So if you want this as a fashion suit, I recommend it, but not for active lap swimming.

Maker site:
http://www.calvinklein.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12595748

http://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Klein-Solid-Sports-Trunk/dp/B007H5FK42

http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/39708.htm

[Torchwatch]

It looks very 1950's to me.
The era of Burt Lancaster etc.
A very wide brief rather than a squarecut

[PSDave]

I agree -- to 1940's - 1950's. I was given a pair and they were totally uncomfortable to me. Didn't like it so high on my waist, very binding when sitting down. Ended up in the Goodwill bag.

[sebbie]

Some guys seem to think a longer leg means the suit will draw less attention in a setting where there could be women and kids wandering around...I'm not sure if this is true, but that is the idea.

Mens' suits have gone back and forth in terms of leg length over the decades, almost like womens skirt lengths. When I was a kid I wore an old brief-style suit that was made of wool and must have dated from the 1940s. Then legs seemed to get a little longer again in the 50s, with the "From Here to Eternity" design (aka "Daniel Craig" design) showing up all over. There were either squarecuts or on the edge between a squarecut and a brief. This was also the era of the very closely tailored boxer suits withinner liners and about amn 8-inch leg.


By the early 60s, the kids who were serious about getting in the water all wore briefs that were about the same size and design as the cotton briefs they also all were wearing. These were often a kind of rubberized fabric, but a lot of this predates Lycra, I think.

The 70s was that great decade when competitive swimmers were vying to see who could wear the least amount of suit. In retrospect, the suit Mark Spitz wore in winning his gold medals was a full-coverage brief, and as the decade wore on the suits quickly became MUCH skimpier. My recollection is that some of the French swimmers were among the first to show up in really skimpy suits with very high sides and within a year or two that was the suit any serious swimmer was wearing. This was in the period when the camera people liked to pan the whole swimmer waiting for the race start, not just abovethe waist. TV swim meets were great fun to watch.

This continued into the 80s. Then in the late 80s, both thongs and the really long board shorts appeared, oddly enough, at about the same time. I remember an interview of a (now) Macys clerk where they discussed mens' swimsuit design, and she noted that the two popular stles were either really really minimal (thongs) or really bit (board shorts). I was able to pick from a wide selection of thongs right off the local rack at Macys. The toughest pasrt was getting up the nerve to purchase them from a live store clerk! I think this is where the idea of wearing a thong as an undergarment to a pair of board shorts came about.

The recent decade has been interesting in that on line at least we are starting to once again see more and more skimpy brief suits, tho I dont see those in my local stores,...yet. Maybe most guys would like to purchase these kinds of suits on line rather than over the counter. The fact that Swimoutlet stocks so many Euro-style and similar suit now tells me that this is not dead among the masses....

All for now...more later, maybe.