The presence or lack of a beach culture in a community seems to be a significant factor when it comes to how people react to thong swimwear.
Around here, if someone says, “Let’s go to the beach,” they probably mean the lake. Calling it a beach is generous. Any sand at the numerous lakeside parks is brought in by trucks, and you can generally walk the length of the shore in a couple of minutes. Or they might mean the sound, but many of those beaches are rocky and the water is too cold for swimming. The ocean coast is more than two hours away, and the water there is even colder. For many people here, a true visit to the beach requires a plane trip to someplace like Hawaii.
With no real beach culture to speak of, minimal swimwear is uncommon and subject to much greater scrutiny than elsewhere.
How has the local beach culture (or lack thereof) shaped the way you and the people around you view thong swimwear?
My local “beach” is a small pond really. If I want beach culture it means a drive to Lake Michigan where there are wide sand beaches and generally cold water. There are several towns in Michigan that have a beach vibe in the summer. It is an overnight trip for me to be on the big lake. The nice thing is my local beach is pretty laidback. Wearing a thong is okay there.
My beach is 30 minutes away. Just the right amount of folks to chat and interact with. Nobody cares about my attire, I wear my thong from the truck and across the street to the beach. I load and unload and even drive home in nothing else. I find once I take off my shorts it’s more or less done and I am comfortable and just go with it.
I have several Lake Michigan beaches available, anywhere from 25 minutes to overnight trip. Haven’t worn a thong on a single one yet. All of my sunning is backyard.
But I did spend some time on one of the bigger ones last week. Not crowded and the vibe seemed to be chill, so targeting that one for a thong visit soon. Then hopefully work up to the crowded local ones.
The closest ocean beach to me is 5-1/2 hours away. The closest community pool to me is 50 yards away. When I go to the beach, I wear the-bikini g-strings, custom Skinz thongs, and Cocksox thongs. My confidence level has gone through the roof as I have gotten older. As for the local pool, I’ll wear Cocksox swim trunks. I also live near a couple state parks where thongs are not permitted. However, as recent as Sunday, I wore my discontinued Cocksox Brazilian cut swim briefs. They are as small as I can go without being asked to cover up.
Our beach is 80 minutes from our home and the water is generally warm here in south Texas. I’d say maybe 10% of women here wear thongs, not because it’s frowned upon - on the contrary, I think it’s admired… but the culture is just slowly developing. My wife has worn micro thongs at the local beach or beach bar. But the truth is, we prefer a more relaxed atmosphere, so we drive 30 minutes further to a more isolated spot on our beach where we don’t have anyone within half a mile of us. That’s where I wear my translucent shorts and my wife wears her slingshots, or nude-colored micro g-strings and mesh that reveal almost everything, even though nobody’s around except for the fishermen who pass by every 10-15 minutes in their trucks where we are and enjoy the pleasant view that my wife’s body with almost nothing on offers them
It’s a very passive, very peaceful spot that allows us to enjoy the sea, the seagulls, the sunsets, and even the stars that, without urban light, can be admired spectacularly with a good glass of wine, some cheese, and as a couple
In Denmark we are close to the sea no matter where you are, i have about 30 minutter drive to a beach, in Denmark i can wear a thong or g-string at any beach if i want, it is legal to be naked if you want to. Yesterday i got the most nice thong tanline at the danish westcost
Closest beach to me is about a 3.5-4 hour drive away. So it requires at least a couple day stay. That being said, given it’s so hot and sunny here in AZ (117 tomorrow), probably 60-70% of homes have pools. So I think there’s something similar to “beach” culture. It’s just normal to spend time in/by the pool. Have pool parties. Seek out water to stay cool. As a kid, when I went to a friends house during summer I just brought a swimsuit even if the pool wasn’t planned because more often than not that’s where you ended up. When I turned 16 and got my first car I kept a backpack in it at all times with a swimsuit and a towel.
Our beach is about 10 miles from home. Add another half mile or so down the 4x4 trail behind the dunes and we’re there. It’s a public beach on Block Island Sound but due to parking limitations very sparsely attended. I usually a very brief tie side g-string. If my wife is along she wears a thong bikini. At the end of a beach day I have made it a habit of giving my ice to the occupants of nearest blanket. After lots of beach days and a lot of ice nobody has ever said a word about my ‘g’. They just don’t seem to care one way or another.
I went to my usual beach for about 45 minutes of “out and back” SUP’ing then SUP surfed another 45 minutes in the unexpected thigh high waves that showed up.
After that I set out my towel near a couple; the women had on a small leopard print thong, which was honestly a pretty great fashion choice. Families soon set up nearby in every direction. I stayed another 90 minutes to enjoy the morning sun. No side-eye from families, kids, or lifeguards even when making the long trek to the water at low tide. At this point I really do wonder why I’m still the sole guy in a thong.
Same deal yesterday, but – incredibly – no women in thongs, although a few were in cheeky suits. I can’t remember that last time that happened. My usual rule of thumb is “don’t wear anything smaller than what the women are wearing”, but I broke it since it’s my own rule.
I hear you. Don’t wear anything smaller than what the women are wearing. Today was one of those days. I was at the beach on Lake Michigan. Not one thong on the beach except for me and I was wearing a thong that has much more coverage than usual. When I got there I took a look at the scene and noted only a few cheeky cut bikinis. That had me reaching for my more conservative fuller cut thong which is closer to a cheeky cut. I set up in the general area as those wearing the less coverage bikinis and had no problems. I spent about two and a half hours on the beach.
I went back to that out-of-the-way Rhode Island beach today with my (adult) son; the beach has a small parking lot, so forgive me for gatekeeping a bit. My son goes for board shorts, but I broke my own rule again: my M67 was smaller than most of the women’s suits. We spent a few hours boogie boarding in the shoulder high waves. A pretty 30-something woman in a cheeky one-piece suit complimented my suit as she was leaving, which was nice.
Since I was not a solo guy today, I decided to run the experiment of walking back to the car in my thong, past two lifeguard stations and past quite a lot of people (and a lot of women in thongs). Zero issues, and I got a nice smile from a thong-clad woman walking from her car to the beach.
My “Beach” culture here in Utah is I’ll take my Jeep and drive a few hours up into the mountains to a secluded lake that is hard to reach without a modified 4x4. It’s very cold but fun. I have many lakes withing 30 minutes of where I live, but I don’t really have the courage to go to a more crowded lake. Maybe one day I’ll build up enough courage and go.
Here in south of France I have the choice between lakes and beach, where I wear thongs. But at the lake during July and August there are plenty of families with kids and the beach is not big so I switch to mini cheeky brief like Joe Snyder bikini which I can easily transform in a thong to sunbathe or to swim. I have leveled up my confidence now but not 100%. I don’t know for you guys but my confidence is not the same every day, sometimes high and I proudly wear my thongs, sometimes low… Here thongs are very common on women but not on men.
