In between brief and square-cut

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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/__...ealth_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/2010/1...-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]

Originally Posted by 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).

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....=index&cPath=6

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

http://www.piercemattiepublicrelatio...nched_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.