The right way to wear swim briefs

Now apart from finding the right size and style of swimwear there is another key thing to keep in mind about wearing swim briefs. This is how it frames your body. There are general guides for women when choosing swimwear that would suit their body types. For men it’s quite the opposite.

The minuscule amount of men who wear anything other than board shorts means that there isn’t enough incentive for assessment and prescription of what styles and types suits what bodies. Instead what is available is either a limited set of mainstream styles i.e. the eponymous Speedo, TYR, Nike style swim briefs, or a mixed bag of varying cuts, styles and rises from the plethora of the other men’s swimwear brands.

However at the risk of starting a movement, the best type of swim briefs for men are low rise suits that sit just at the hip. Far too often when men get lambasted for wearing swim briefs the imagery used could run the gamut from a lanky, slight build to one that’s overly rotund.

While this is a stereotypical aspersion, what often is seen in most cases is wearing suits that are not the right size or cut and often times worn too high on body.

As shown above, when wearing a suit high up on the waist it tends to cut the proportions in an unflattering way. Even on highly defined, well-proportioned men, it presents a rather awkward look. High cut suits are flattering if they are low-rise or not pulled up too high on the waist.

This style can be seen in an exaggerated fashion with women’s high waist suits. However the female body proportions are accentuated instead of the effect seen on men’s bodies as can be seen from the suits below.

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Another benefit of wearing suits lower on the hips is that it offers more comfort and full range of motion without cutting, compressing or rubbing. The material is stretchy for a reason – to mold and move with the body whilst swimming and not to be stretched to its limits whilst being stationary. Pulling suits up way too high can often times result from getting suits that are too big and in an effort to make it fit. This can put a lot of pressure between the legs which can cause severe discomfort and even injury.

Ideally when wearing a swim brief the genitals should be cupped and slightly lifted to the front of the body. There are some suits that take this to the extreme such as certain styles of Cocksox, however brands such as ErgoWear offer a more subtler version of this.

So what’s been presented here is not a dictate on how men’s swim briefs are to be worn, just a common sense esthetic approach that makes wearing suits not only functionally viable, but visually appealing as well.