Bikini not accepted? (UK, but US perspective also nice)
yirara
Posts: 9,986 Member
I went a few times to my local pool here in the UK, and found I was the only person wearing a bikini. I did feel awkward but as I don't have a swimming suit this is what I had to wear. There was nothing in the pool rules about it, and I did phone in advance and asked.
When I was on business in the US I chose a hotel with pool to relax and to soak away the jetlag. I was not only the only person with bikini, I was the only one not covering additionally with tshirt and swimming shorts. Please can someone explain?
When I was on business in the US I chose a hotel with pool to relax and to soak away the jetlag. I was not only the only person with bikini, I was the only one not covering additionally with tshirt and swimming shorts. Please can someone explain?
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Freedom to choose whatever they want to wear means people choose not to wear a bikini and instead opt for a one piece.
I did not know there was a bukini until the furore in the news recently
The only way I would have the confidence to bare my body in public will be in a bukini...especially one that will cover my inner thighs. I need to ask some of my Muslim sister friends where I can purchase one.
For years I stayed away from pools due to lack of body confidence...now there is hope for me being a 'Michaela Phelps' in my dreams.
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i don't swim very often, but if i remember the last time i went swimming to a lanes session, i was the only person in a bikini.
a lot of women don't feel comfortable in a bikini, i put it down to that. plus a swimming costume is probably more secure for the girls if you're a proper swimmer (i'm not, i pretty much doggy paddle!)0 -
UK: My gym has a small pool and so it is unlikely that it would get used for any serious swim training but there seems to be a 50/50 split of bikini/swimsuits for the women.0
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Thanks a lot for the UK perspective. I went to the pool only (to be honest) for a sport works challenge when swimming was the sport of the week so I could bank double points
I must say thought that I chose my bikinis such that I can also (try to) swim butterfly or play in waves. Thus not a tiny lose triangle affair but a proper bikini that stays in place. Being self conscious.. hmm.. I also wore a bikini with 18kg more as I a) didn't feel quite so big and b) found it more comfy than a wet bit of fabric over my belly. 0 -
Because people are different and choose different things.6
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The simplest explanation is that nobody else wanted to wear a bikini. Not everyone is body confident and not everyone finds a bikini comfortable or practical.4
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I live in the UK and would wear a one-piece costume for 'serious' swimming (e.g. laps of a pool) and a bikini for open-water swimming, mainly so I could have it on under my clothes in case I decide to have a quick dip in the sea or a lake while out for a walk, but would still be able to go to the loo without taking all my clothes off. So practicality rather than glamour for me.1
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Thanks a lot for the UK perspective. I went to the pool only (to be honest) for a sport works challenge when swimming was the sport of the week so I could bank double points I must say thought that I chose my bikinis such that I can also (try to) swim butterfly or play in waves. Thus not a tiny lose triangle affair but a proper bikini that stays in place. Being self conscious.. hmm.. I also wore a bikini with 18kg more as I a) didn't feel quite so big and b) found it more comfy than a wet bit of fabric over my belly.
moral of the story... to each their own....
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Swimsuits are also making a comeback amongst fashion, for a while they weren't. Now they are trendy again, it is likely to see a decrease in bikinis and a rise in swimsuits.
Until Bikini's become fashionable again...1 -
I live in the states and wear a bikini top with matching boy shorts to the beach. I used to wear a bikini bottom but like the better thigh coverage of the boy shorts. At the gym pool, I always wear a one piece because I'm there to lap swim.0
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Different people do different things. Even when I was younger before I had stretched skin and stretch marks and everything it never even crossed my mind to wear a bikini. Other women always wear bikinis. We're just all different.2
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I think in the UK, due to our weather, we mostly associate bikinis with holidays. And so less likely to wear one to the pool. Body confidence is also a contributing factor.0
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Cutaway_Collar wrote: »If you saw the US on tv or movies, they paint a pretty picture with scantily clad pool ladies and buff dudes... the reality is far from it. People can be conservative and nobody goes to the hotel pool unless they are staying there for a long time and hotel pools are not the greatest. And if you are in corporate america (regular hotel users), they just don't have the time to go to the pool.
If you saw a movie where dude goes down to the pool or the bar and a hot chick shows up in minutes.... It's all a fantasy (script written by men). Reality is you will run into a crazy dude or woman who doesn't make any eye contact.
Also, we live in weird times where people don't want to offend anyone or go negatively viral. Islamic folks numbers are exponentially soaring so there is a higher chance you may see a burkini than a bikini
Do you truly believe the things you write?19 -
I wear a bikini most of the time unless I'm alone with all my kids, because I know I'll be chasing them around/playing so I wear a tankini for more coverage. But I think you're over thinking it. At our neighborhood pool some women wear bikinis, some one pieces, some wear those awful swim dresses (which I personally hate because I think they make people look bigger and I don't understand why anyone would want to swim with all that excess fabric floating around?) There are no rules about what you can wear in the UK and the US (actually the last time I went to the outdoor pool in the UK half the women were topless which would never happen in the US)1
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I wear one all the time and no one seems to mind, in fact people seem to stay well clear.7
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I think, generally, when people think bikini they think beach. Maybe that's why. But if you want to rock a bikini at a pool, go for it! Nothing wrong with you wearing a bikini, as long as it's not prohibited by the pool rules.0
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I would also venture to say that in the British Isles you're also more likely to see guys wearing Jammers or Speedo style swimwear. Where as here state side guys typically wear Trunk/Shorts style swimwear to pools and water parks.
I live in the midwest and from what I've noticed is people at pools typically wear Tankinis or one piece suits whereas at the local Water Parks is almost 90%-95% designer style bikinis.
Rock what you're comfortable in. If you're comfortable in a Bikini, rock it. If you're comfortable in a one piece rock it.1 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »If you saw the US on tv or movies, they paint a pretty picture with scantily clad pool ladies and buff dudes... the reality is far from it. People can be conservative and nobody goes to the hotel pool unless they are staying there for a long time and hotel pools are not the greatest. And if you are in corporate america (regular hotel users), they just don't have the time to go to the pool.
If you saw a movie where dude goes down to the pool or the bar and a hot chick shows up in minutes.... It's all a fantasy (script written by men). Reality is you will run into a crazy dude or woman who doesn't make any eye contact.
Also, we live in weird times where people don't want to offend anyone or go negatively viral. Islamic folks numbers are exponentially soaring so there is a higher chance you may see a burkini than a bikini
That's offensive.
OP - Chances are most people at the pool were there to swim laps? I would never swim laps in a bikini (okay, I'd never wear a bikini, but that's beside the point). I wouldn't worry about it, to each their own. Wear what you're comfortable in.0 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »If you saw the US on tv or movies, they paint a pretty picture with scantily clad pool ladies and buff dudes... the reality is far from it. People can be conservative and nobody goes to the hotel pool unless they are staying there for a long time and hotel pools are not the greatest. And if you are in corporate america (regular hotel users), they just don't have the time to go to the pool.
If you saw a movie where dude goes down to the pool or the bar and a hot chick shows up in minutes.... It's all a fantasy (script written by men). Reality is you will run into a crazy dude or woman who doesn't make any eye contact.
Also, we live in weird times where people don't want to offend anyone or go negatively viral. Islamic folks numbers are exponentially soaring so there is a higher chance you may see a burkini than a bikini
That's offensive.
It's the truth. I see burkinis all the time. My daughter loves the water-park at Cedar Fairs Kings Island and we're pass holders so as long as it's not raining we make a trip almost weekly and I see them every single time I am there. There isn't a week that we don't see one, or multiple.
Just because you find it offensive doesn't mean it's any less truthful.0 -
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Well, I am in Florida and bikinis are 100% accepted here as swimwear, you see them on all body types and all ages. I wear a little triangle top tie one to the pool with the grandbaby, to play with him in the splash pool while the bigger kids have lessons, nobody bats an eye. There are many people in the rashguards with sleeves but that's more for sun protection, I have done that too, and if I don't want to depilate extensively then will wear the shorts-like bottom.
If you are swimming LAPS for exercise, no, usually nobody is doing that in a beach bikini, though you do often see two piece athletic suits with tops that look like sport bras and full coverage bottoms, they are like one piece suits with the middle missing.
It's a random sampling on any given day, though - maybe you just went on a day when there were no other bikini wearers, randomly.
Any man in a speedo or thong will get much more gawking than any woman in any bikini, here. Men generally wear the long shorts type suits, often almost to their knees.1 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »If you saw the US on tv or movies, they paint a pretty picture with scantily clad pool ladies and buff dudes... the reality is far from it. People can be conservative and nobody goes to the hotel pool unless they are staying there for a long time and hotel pools are not the greatest. And if you are in corporate america (regular hotel users), they just don't have the time to go to the pool.
If you saw a movie where dude goes down to the pool or the bar and a hot chick shows up in minutes.... It's all a fantasy (script written by men). Reality is you will run into a crazy dude or woman who doesn't make any eye contact.
Also, we live in weird times where people don't want to offend anyone or go negatively viral. Islamic folks numbers are exponentially soaring so there is a higher chance you may see a burkini than a bikini
That's offensive.
It's the truth. I see burkinis all the time. My daughter loves the water-park at Cedar Fairs Kings Island and we're pass holders so as long as it's not raining we make a trip almost weekly and I see them every single time I am there. There isn't a week that we don't see one, or multiple.
Just because you find it offensive doesn't mean it's any less truthful.
Seeing one person out of hundreds is hardly "exponentially soaring" and data doesn't in any way support that assertion. I would just hazard an educated guess that now burkinis are more readily available (one of our main high street stores sold them this year for the first time ever, oh how the right wing press got their panties in a bunch about that) it has opened up activities to people who may just have avoided the beach or pool altogether previously. I really wish people would activate some brain cells before perpetuating total myths designed to at best unrealistic views of the modern western world.
And beach fashion in the UK is much the same as in the US, most men wear surf short style swimmers now.3 -
VintageFeline wrote: »I think in the UK, due to our weather, we mostly associate bikinis with holidays. And so less likely to wear one to the pool. Body confidence is also a contributing factor.
I agree with this..I have body confidence, happy to trot around in a bikini on holiday but at a local swimming pool I would want to swim, and swimming means a decent costume that I'm not likely to fall out of ..so I wouldn't even contemplate a bikini at the pool
Do I care if others do? Nope0 -
Ok, thanks a lot for all your experience. Some interesting insight here. On my US visit (Houston) I felt uncomfortable about how the other pool visitors looked at me (women, mostly). It really gave me the feeling that I did something I should not have done. Unexpected cultural faux pax I thought. Guess that was somehow stuck in my head when I went to the pool in the UK, as some people did look as well, but not disapprovingly as in Houston.0
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Ok, thanks a lot for all your experience. Some interesting insight here. On my US visit (Houston) I felt uncomfortable about how the other pool visitors looked at me (women, mostly). It really gave me the feeling that I did something I should not have done. Unexpected cultural faux pax I thought. Guess that was somehow stuck in my head when I went to the pool in the UK, as some people did look as well, but not disapprovingly as in Houston.
I think it's a mistake to ascribe any meaning to a "look". What you thought was a look of disapproval, might have been a look of envy, or boredom, or any number of other things. You can't possibly know what someone is thinking by a "look". I suffer from RBF (resting beyotch face). If I looked at you with my neutral face you might think I was angry, but I'm probably not thinking anything at all.
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VioletRojo wrote: »Ok, thanks a lot for all your experience. Some interesting insight here. On my US visit (Houston) I felt uncomfortable about how the other pool visitors looked at me (women, mostly). It really gave me the feeling that I did something I should not have done. Unexpected cultural faux pax I thought. Guess that was somehow stuck in my head when I went to the pool in the UK, as some people did look as well, but not disapprovingly as in Houston.
I think it's a mistake to ascribe any meaning to a "look". What you thought was a look of disapproval, might have been a look of envy, or boredom, or any number of other things. You can't possibly know what someone is thinking by a "look". I suffer from RBF (resting beyotch face). If I looked at you with my neutral face you might think I was angry, but I'm probably not thinking anything at all.
I don't even think I'd notice if anyone was looking at me like anything...1 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Cutaway_Collar wrote: »If you saw the US on tv or movies, they paint a pretty picture with scantily clad pool ladies and buff dudes... the reality is far from it. People can be conservative and nobody goes to the hotel pool unless they are staying there for a long time and hotel pools are not the greatest. And if you are in corporate america (regular hotel users), they just don't have the time to go to the pool.
If you saw a movie where dude goes down to the pool or the bar and a hot chick shows up in minutes.... It's all a fantasy (script written by men). Reality is you will run into a crazy dude or woman who doesn't make any eye contact.
Also, we live in weird times where people don't want to offend anyone or go negatively viral. Islamic folks numbers are exponentially soaring so there is a higher chance you may see a burkini than a bikini
That's offensive.
It's the truth. I see burkinis all the time. My daughter loves the water-park at Cedar Fairs Kings Island and we're pass holders so as long as it's not raining we make a trip almost weekly and I see them every single time I am there. There isn't a week that we don't see one, or multiple.
Just because you find it offensive doesn't mean it's any less truthful.
Seeing one person out of hundreds is hardly "exponentially soaring" and data doesn't in any way support that assertion. I would just hazard an educated guess that now burkinis are more readily available (one of our main high street stores sold them this year for the first time ever, oh how the right wing press got their panties in a bunch about that) it has opened up activities to people who may just have avoided the beach or pool altogether previously. I really wish people would activate some brain cells before perpetuating total myths designed to at best unrealistic views of the modern western world.
And beach fashion in the UK is much the same as in the US, most men wear surf short style swimmers now.
I never said it was exponentially soaring I said it's true that you see more burkinis than you use to. I will still stand by my word that you will be seeing them more and more often for a number of reason. The availability of them, due to Islam spreading, and people demanding them, so they can visit places the Water Parks, Beaches, and pools. And still conform to their views of wardrobe.
and I'm not going to get on the debate of Islam being a charitable religion. That's a different discussion for a different time.0 -
.Ok, thanks a lot for all your experience. Some interesting insight here. On my US visit (Houston) I felt uncomfortable about how the other pool visitors looked at me (women, mostly). It really gave me the feeling that I did something I should not have done. Unexpected cultural faux pax I thought. Guess that was somehow stuck in my head when I went to the pool in the UK, as some people did look as well, but not disapprovingly as in Houston.
Trust me you did nothing wrong. I live in the US and the bulk of the population are simply judgemental. I am not one of those as I am at an age where I don't care anymore per se.. But there is a whole slew of folks out there jealous or not, that feed off negative energy.1 -
I prefer a bikini. However, when diving the bottoms slip down (oi!). So if I were diving around and things like that, a one piece would make more sense. I sadly have a scar on my upper butt/lower back that I don't really like to show off. It's not too ugly or anything.. but the I feel lame that I got it how I did.
I find a lot of people in Canada wear bikinis. You rarely see one pieces any more, except on the older generation. Body type considerations are not taken. Most women wear them regardless of their size.
ETA: This is at a lake or outdoor venue though. I haven't actually taken note what women wear in the gym pool since I never used it.1 -
VioletRojo wrote: »Ok, thanks a lot for all your experience. Some interesting insight here. On my US visit (Houston) I felt uncomfortable about how the other pool visitors looked at me (women, mostly). It really gave me the feeling that I did something I should not have done. Unexpected cultural faux pax I thought. Guess that was somehow stuck in my head when I went to the pool in the UK, as some people did look as well, but not disapprovingly as in Houston.
I think it's a mistake to ascribe any meaning to a "look". What you thought was a look of disapproval, might have been a look of envy, or boredom, or any number of other things. You can't possibly know what someone is thinking by a "look". I suffer from RBF (resting beyotch face). If I looked at you with my neutral face you might think I was angry, but I'm probably not thinking anything at all.
Hi-5 from a fellow RBF sufferer! I can't tell you the amount of people have told me I was giving them dirty looks when in fact I didn't even see them and was thinking about what to make for dinner....1
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