User:Teknikingman/sandbox

Sungas, from fitting swim briefs and trunks As a swim and beach attire that is not too baggy for swimming - for females a bikini or One-piece swimsuit, and for males the sunga.

Sungas are defined as of a variety of styles in the Brazilian understanding, inclusive of form fitting swim briefs, trunks and aquashorts, that are used for bathing, relaxation and various sport and exercise, along with a honing of such a concept.

They:


 * are streamlined for swimming in water
 * are agile and aerodynamic not awkward on land to walk, run or do exercise in.


 * don't stay soggy and will be comfortable after leaving the water.


 * will not catch on things


 * in terms of the European or Australian understanding, sungas are just bathers that are form fitting, but in terms of England or America and in Brazil itself this takes on the meaning of enjoying their benefits as to wearing board shorts.


 * Are usually of a simple design and square cut with contours that fit the body.


 * Support the genitalia, be it of a relaxing fit or a competetion swimming fit.


 * provide an aesthetic experience to wear.

Sungas are very popular on the beaches of Brazil, given the need for a well optimized style of comfortable beach pants for recreation.

The concept of the sunga is an international fusion of swimwear such as the Australian style Speedo brief and the form fitting American style swim trunk that has been developed into a very wearable style and range of styles, well socially popularised, and identified through the non-comercial adopted African name: sunga meaning swimsuit.

The Brazilian style has gradually entered into and been made by swimwear manufacturers in many countries around the world.

Styles of Sungas
Optimal styles vary with the wearer's body type, type of activity, image the wearer wants to portray and in some countries, the social expectations of people who are present.

The Experience of Wearing Sungas
For in Brazil or or continental Europe, it is really just a matter of buying, wearing it and blending in with the locals, which will not be seen as any statement, but just ordenary and normal. It can take some people some getting used to feeling casual and relaxed in comfortable swim or sports wear.

If it is high summer a comfortable attire, may not look out of the ordenary. It can also help to have different styles or cuts available in order to match the attire for the situation. Although for the more conservative societies it could be justified to wear the sungas at home or under other clothing for a while to acclimatize to them before venturing out to the beach. In these societies there can be some feedback relating to exact situations and instances influencing decisions on what would be the best style or colour etc, concerns of which can often though be dismissed as silly.

Factors influencing optimal size and fit

 * How many centimetres stated compares with fresh measurement of that of the wearer, stated measurement is usually unstretched.


 * Sungas will stretch onto the wearer, to a lesser degree for relaxation, or tighter for workout and competition. (about 1 size difference). The sungas could be wanted for a relaxing fit or a tighter competition swimming fit, with some compression for use in an energetic workout.


 * Size names, Small-Pequeno, Medium, Large-Grand vary by country and sometimes by manufacturer, and are more likely to get confused with each other's variation, than waist measurement.


 * If to be used a lot in Chlorinated Pools which shall cause the swimwear to stretch.


 * If the wearer is a child and still growing, thus negating need for a few centimetres of stretch compensation


 * How will the fit translate in the medium and long term as things settle?


 * The style - a tight fit will exacerbate the dental floss effect of excessive briefness, but a style not so brief will better tolerate being undersize.


 * What the size quoted actually means in terms of measurement. Of the main sunga manufacturing countries Brazilian sizes are a lot larger than the Chinese sizes


 * A sunga or such active wear can appear a bit tight and be thought of as too small when dry and first worn. A lot of swimwear that appears tight can become comfortable with some wearing. and after the shakedown of a few workouts - be found of to be of quite ideal size and fit.


 * Be it purchasing online where time is available or instore, where trying on, is an option, it can be hard for the buyer to get the right size. In fact it can take some time after the purchase for a wearer to find out if swimwear is too big, just right, or too small, or for what situations it would be good for.

for adults, or no stretch compensation for growing children.

Availability
In Brazil itself, locally made sungas can be bought from shops at the beach front or department stores, where visitors are advised to purchase a few desired pairs before returning, as they could otherwise be hard to attain from back home. There is the option for people with friends in brazil, of finding the URL of the desired sunga online, and having it sent. Brazilian made swimwear is difficult to buy online from outside Brazil, as these purchases often require a Brazilian postal address and a Brazilian tax file number, CPF.

There are brands that ship Brazilian and American made sungas worldwide from within America.

Chinese made sungas are quite readily available through online retailers. The online stores have live text chats that are effective in problem solving, including changing wrong purchases made in error.

Swimming pools also do sell Clorine resistant Sungas of various styles namely trunks and aquashorts, that may not necessarily otherwise be readily available in all localities.

History
In the early 1900s the originally Australian company Speedo manufactured swimwear and swim briefs, that had to go through the process of being warn on the beaches of Sydney, and thus eventually being legalized although not being neck to knee.

In a lot of English speaking countries, the swim brief got gradually confined socially to professional swimmers Post year 2000, Brazilian swimwear manufacturers developed and popularized a swim brief that was essentially not necessarily so brief, thus making it easier to convert from wearing Bermuda board shorts. This increased the uptake and rollout by reducing the shyness and modesty concerns. Brazilian style sungas were able to compete more readily with bermudas by proliferating a style with more like a 16 centimetre side height, originally called the sungao. After that they were able to gradually get briefer again although not quite shrinking to the original Australian speedo design.

Timeline of development
BCE
 * Utility string used by Aboriginal Peoples, no covering of genetalia.


 * Old societies didn't have such a problem, althouth in certain comunities, some activities and ceremonies were not mixed gender.

1700s
 * There emerged a tendancy to be any problem with being seen naked, and modesty in terms of this conceptualized.

1800s
 * very heavy swimsuits were invented for women but men swam naked,


 * loin cloths started to be used

~1870
 * first textile beaches

~1900(s)
 * textile rules and swimming bans were introduced to some beaches, though not enforced at all beaches, in reality a lot of men did still swim naked. However...
 * in the course of the 20th centuary, in English speaking countries public nudity was eventually forced into certain nisches, in reality it was quite a slow process.

~1907
 * very heavy neck to knee swimsuits were legislated for men in some jurisdictions that were known to weigh 2 Kg when wet.


 * Taboos were invented about men showing their torso, but in reality evidence shows that this was not strongly backed by social requirement.

~1950
 * Sydney protests against these swimsuit regulations
 * The first trunk style mens swimwear were worn and became popular, thus viable.

~1960
 * speedo developed the concept of men's swim briefs predating the later escalation of fear of showing one's body.

~1970 ~1980
 * Briefs and trunks were popular
 * Naked bathing was relegalised at certain official locations in many countries, often though on a very limited scale.
 * Baggy boardshorts were introduced, that evolved from the lengthening of the legs for surf board rash protection, but then got seen as general swimwear.

~1990
 * Boardshorts were common in English speaking countries at this time.
 * The requirement for modesty became social in America and some other countries and localities. It was said "you can't wear briefs unless you are a professional swimmer", however briefs did remain legal in such conservative jurisdictions.

~2000
 * Materials improved, so that elasticity could be maintained.


 * In Brazil, swimwear manufacturers popularized the concept of swim wear that was form fitting but not necessarily so brief, thus better competing with boardshorts in terms of wearability. The degree of modesty was tailored for what was needed socially. The style provided it's own type of aesthetics.


 * With this was the generic term sungao which did imply a side height greater than that of briefs.

~2005
 * In many publicly accessible swimming pools in France, and some other European countries, males were required to wear togs that were form fitting, in order not to effectively wash the shorts in the swimming pool that they had worn on the street.

~2010
 * The general term "sunga" became common in Brazil, and then known internationally, with a definition understood as inclusive of both briefs and trunks that are form fitting.  It replaced expressions in Brazil such as "cuecas de praia" (beach briefs).

Etymology
The word "sunga" is aparently of African origin, as Sunga means "swim suit" in some African languages, and in general to tie in the Shona language spoken in Zimbabwe and part of Mozambique. The type of sungas used in Australian Aboriginal culture, dance and ceromony consist of cloth that is tied on usually coloured red.

To mean sunga in the English language there are less definite expressions, thus the word "sunga" is often borrowed.


 * Trunks basicly mean traditional sungas as well as shorts or underpants.
 * The term Speedos, (although the Speedo Company makes Sungas in a wide range of styles), when used as a generic term in the English language "speedos" tends to imply the briefer versions.


 * In the Portugese language spoken in Brazil "sunga" implies a male swimsuit. The same is generally the case with the English words "trunks" and "speedos" although in that case, Speedo does also make Female swimwear.