In between brief and square-cut

[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/...yle-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).